Car and Driver Volt/Prime

The Volt 1 is difficult to get into and out of if you have a bad back (I do). The Volt 2 fixed the ingress/egress issues, for me at least. I've never had any issues getting into or out of the Prius.

 

Octane rating begins to drop due to the age of the fuel. If you start with premium fuel, it has farther to drop before you start having detonation/pinging/knocking issues.

 

How does the back seat comfort compare for passengers?

 

I have never been in the back seat of any of them. I suspect the Prius has more leg room though as the Volt looks really tight in the leg department. The 5th seat in the center of the Volt 2 is worthless as a seat, but is certainly better than the Volt 1 for carrying groceries. LOL!

 

My Prime is a step up in quietness, comfort, and handling from my 2013 liftback. The seats seem better and the interior is not as plain. Never driven a Volt. I still like my 2013, and find it comfortable on long drives.

 

In terms of ingress/egress, driving position, roominess, and drivetrain, I think of the Volt as a GT (grand touring); sporty but not a sports car.

 

Rear leg room in the Volt is horrible compared to the Prime. With the drivers seat all the way back, the Volt has what looks to be 3". In the Prime, my legs don't touch the seat, and I'm 6'5". Rear headroom is horrible in both.

 

It was after sunset when I called the Huntsville Chevy dealer and learned they were open to 8 PM and had the 2017 Volt. So I let them know I was coming by to see the Volt they have:



It was nearly two hours after sunset when I arrived and I had no intention to taking the car out for a drive. At my request, they brought a Volt up and I had a chance to sit in one:

• Seat and steering handles my long arms - in the Gen-3 Prius I have to lean the seat back and the steering wheel as far forward and still, I feel a little cramped. In fact, my eyes are along side the "C" pillar which blocks side and rear traffic view. The longer each is an advantage for the Volt.
• Seat seems a little hard compared to our Gen-3 Prius. I won't really know until I get a chance to drive it over some patched streets.
• Small side mirrors - huh??? Like bicycle mirrors, maybe moped mirrors, their area is small and limits the field of view.
• Hatch area seems a little small. Not terribly but less than our Gen-3

So I asked for the Monroney sticker (see photos) only to discover no "adaptive cruise control." This is a deal breaker. Without dynamic or adaptive cruise control, I have no interest. I had made it clear that is what I needed to see in the Volt and they brought one up without it.

I explained why dynamic or adaptive cruise control is important to the senior sales manager. When he gets a Volt with it, I would be interested in doing a proper, day time, low traffic test drive. But for now, I am not interested and not so desperate that he needs to move 'heaven and earth' to get one in.

Now one last weakness, I can't make this call, but my wife has to sit in and get out of the car. The Volt feels about an inch lower than our Gen-3 (anyone have specs??) and the Gen-3 is about as low as we can go. But I can handle it. It is "she who must be obeyed" who makes that call. I suspect there is a 60:40 or 70:30 chance she will declare it too low and hard to get in and out.

Bob Wilson

 

My 90 year old mother can handle the back seat of the Prime pretty well. This was a concern I had, knowing that the front seat sits much too low for her to negotiate. I am certain she would not be able to get in and out of the back seat of the Volt. Much smaller back door, and sits low rather than upright.

 

I have compared both cars and bought a Prime Advanced. No cab driver drives a volt and the reason is Prius takes the beating. I was convinced to buy a Prius by a cab driver in D.C who said he had 250K miles on his Prius and just has changed tires and brake pads. Try that VOLT......

 

That brings up a good question, when do we perform oil changes? Standard is 10k miles, but most of that would be EV driving.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

i do once a year, since i only drive about 4,000 hv miles per year. others may differ, but without an oil test, it's hard to say if condensation sets in at some point.

 

Data Point: our local dealer is offering 4K off MSRP for 2017 Volt's. Comparing that to the 1K NE Prime incentive puts it at a dead heat price wise for the Prime Advanced vs Volt Premier.

 

wow, and that's with the volt $7500. tax credit vs 4500 prime?

 

Here is what I am seeing. Prime might have a dealer markdown of 600-800 off MSRP but not sure now that EOY is done.If so, that would put at dead heat.

Volt Premier with both driver confidence packages, plus adaptive cruise control, and mats had MSRP of 40,180 and dealer is showing markdown of 4K to 36,180. Minus federal of 7500 is 28680. In Mass minus another 2500 is 26380.
Prime Advanced MSRP of 33,965 - 1K Northeast rebate is 32,965. Minus federal of 4500 is 28465. In Mass minus another 1500 is 26965.

 

Read, learn understand
This car...

Volt Stats: Details for Volt #2012-07353 (sparkie)

Recently had its first mechanical service; a couple hundred spent to replace halfshaft bearings. (A common GM issue)

The guy drives like a bat out of hell and has original brakes.

He had an accident recently and we were scared but it's been fixed and put back on the road.

We are waiting to see what if any failures occur as the car marches to 500k

 

It is about 1 octane a month in a can for the lawnmower, and that alone could be why gas power tool manuals recommend midgrade.

A modern car's tank is sealed, so the drop will be slower, but premium also let the GM engineers eek a little more efficiency out of the older model engine.

Anything with regenerative braking will have have extended brake life.
Tire life comes down to rubber compound, set pressure, and driving style.

Toyota still uses an odometer timer for maintenance, so it will be 10k miles. I'd say going 10k HV miles would be safe, but in the unlikely event of oil or engine issues, going beyond the recommended oil change interval can give the manufacturer reason to deny warranty coverage.

Either way, 2 years is the longest you should go on a synthetic blend or synthetic oil.

 

Oil maintenance is easy......for a while.
Anybody who is super-anal about EV miles will be able to track those and do the math, and I'm guessing that the ICE is still only warrantied out to 60K, so if I were to get one I would follow the maintenance schedule out to 60.

I've always thought that the OCI should be 5K anyway for Priuses, and so 10K for the Prime ought to be just about right.

 

Ford recommends 2yrs or 20k miles for the plug-in Energi models. So far with a Mobil 1 1/2 price rebate, I've spent about $21 (oil $11, filter $7, washer fluid $3) on DIY maintenance over the last 3 years. It's about time to replace the overpriced cabin filter which will nearly double my costs!!!

 

According to Wikipedia, gasoline separates and breaks down slowly into gum and solids over time, which can plug up and corrode the fuel system, after 6 months or more. Adding a fuel stabilizer can extend the life of gasoline. Lesson: don't drive in EV mode all the time.