does anyone think the Volt is worth the money?
No, and neither does the government or GM. That is why there is a large tax deduction/credit for cars like this.
Worth the money to whom, by what criteria, and for what purpose?
GM prefers that you lease the car instead of buy it. I suspect that it is a risk reduction move on their part. It seems to me that if they own it and there are problems, they just replace it with an updated version under the existing lease. It’s a lot messier if you own it and they replace it. You could pay taxes on each transaction, and that would cause already unhappy customers to go ballistic. I don’t know this to be true, but I suspect it because the Volt is such a new car for them.
For the most part, hybrids have not been worth the money because you could buy a similar, if not identical, gasoline version for less, even after fuel is taken into account.
The Volt “will” be worth considering if the miles per charge where twice what it is. That would be if the Volt were the same price as a Prius. There is nothing in the engineering in a Volt that makes it worth more than a parallel hybrid which is common place.
Still no.
No.
Just read something where they’re projecting the cost to be about $17k after the lease term is over with. Factor in the $41k price tag, minus the $7500 government reduction, if you care, and it was something like 46%
Not worth the $$, but…if you want an EV, I’d get it before I’d get a Leaf, with its 70 mile or so range before requiring recharge. I don’t let my car get to less than a 70 mile range before filling it up, but that’s the STARTING point for a battery-only Leaf. Not an option to me.
Since there is a waiting list of cash buyers for the Volt, SOMEBODY must feel it’s worth the money…
Sure, the same people naive enough to be on the waiting list of a lot of other over priced automotive failures. These people usually have more money to burn than math skills.
It’s worth the money to many people, to others it isn’t. Some people think anything more than a 20 yr old Corolla isn’t worth the money. My guess, if you have to stop and ask it may not be worth it to you. Personally I don’t think a $40,000 SUV that gets 12 MPG is worth the money, but that’s just me.
Just after WW II, there was a waiting list to get any new car. I remember back in the late 1950s when there was a waiting list of at least 3 months to get a new VW Beetle. In the early 2000s, there was a waiting list for a Toyota Prius. In all cases, the purchasers paid a premium price. However, after a couple of years, the demand was satisfied and the prices that the later customers paid dropped. My guess is that the same will happen with the Volt.
We had some neighbors when I was growing up purchased one of the first Edsels in the fall of 1957 when the Edsels came out. I am certain that there was little discount on the car. They lost quite a bit in depreciation when they traded the car.
Many new things on the market are not worth the money. But there are always “early adopters”, a marketing term for those who have to have the latest thing. These people are not necessarily visonaries or smart buyers; they just want the latest and be able to brag about it. I have to admit to paying $3000 for a 50" Panasonic Viera high defintion flat screen TV. If I had waited three years, it would have been available for less than half. But we enjoy it just the same.
Whereas you can make a good case for buying a Prius, or a VW diesel, if your driving pattern fits it, I’m pulling my hair out as an economist and engineer to justify a Volt. So far I have not seen or heard of any taxi driver who wants one.
The most useful role the Volt played was as a propaganda machine for GM to get federal bailout money. It demonstarted that they were serious about green driving machines.
As long as I can buy 2 very economical Mazda 2s or 2 Hyundai Accents for the price of one Volt, it makes no sens e to me. However, if gas goes to $7-8 per gallon and electricty prices stay the same, I might have second thoughts.
Enjoy your TV without buyers’ remorse, Dr. Nick. My Dad and I remember being floored by the ads for these HDTV’s in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s when the price was closer to $30,000.
“…Still no. …No.”
c’mon pal, tell us what you really think.
And about that 70 MPG on the Leaf - that’s if you don’t use accessories. If you run the AC or heat it is more like 40 MPG. Commuting becomes an adventure then.
mleich: it is not so much buyer’s remorse as a demonstration of the cost curve of any newly introduced product. We wanted the 50" set to enjoy the Beijing Olympics in 2008. We have 3 other perfectly functioning TVs of the older CRT design. We knew the prices would come down further.
I have kept Sears catalogues since 1975. The first microwave oven in it was a puny 500 watt unit that sold for $850! The standard price for these is now $69 at Walmart. A hand calculator was $94 when first introduced. Staples is now selling them for $2.58 on special this weekend.
When I graduated in 1965, my first job was selling computers (mainframe) for Honeywell (yes, they made computers in Framingham, Mass). A typical model cost $1,000,000 and needed a large airconditioned room. It had 16-32K memory!!!
Later an IBM mainframe salesman made fun of Apple’s PC efforts, and told me desktops would “never amount to anything”.
GM is betting gasoline will soon be $5=$6/gallon. The Volt looks MUCH better then…They will have a proven vehicle, de-bugged and ready for mass production when and if that happens. Same with the Leaf…
These are both low-production cars built to establish market position and to familiarize the dealers with the technology. You can’t do that overnight…If gas stays below $4 these cars will not be a great success. While gasoline consumption in the U.S. is static, it’s exploding in both China and India, countries that represent 2 Billion people…You think the price of motor fuel is going to to move downward??
“These are both low-production cars built to establish market position and to familiarize the dealers with the technology. You can’t do that overnight…If gas stays below $4 these cars will not be a great success. While gasoline consumption in the U.S. is static, it’s exploding in both China and India, countries that represent 2 Billion people…You think the price of motor fuel is going to to move downward??”
Who says we don’t have stars?
While purchasing a Volt outright may or many not make sense, I believe leasing a Volt could work out well for the right individual. For a 3 year lease you’d be out of pocket $12,600 excluding taxes and license. Further, making a BIG leap of faith that the Volt will only be worth $17,000 at the end of 3 years, you could then purchase the vehicle. Your total out of pocket expense would be $29,600. But there is more. Since the Volt delivers at least twice the mileage of any other gasoline powered vehicle, you’re going to save at least $3000 on your gas bill over that 36 month period versus a vehicle that gets say 30mpg and perhaps more depending on how much you can plug it in versus using the gasoline engine. Yes you’ll incur added electric costs, but I believe that compared to the price of gasoline you’ll still be way ahead of the game. In the end you’ll still have a low mileage vehicle with plenty of years and miles left in it that will continue to save you money for years to come.
So, does the Volt make economic sense? That is for each individual to decide, but I’ve outlined one scenario where it could very well be the most attractive choice in the marketplace at the present time.