Market research independent Servicing and Maintenance

[jamessmith1]

Hi everyone!

We are a team of students researching the need for an independent service of the EV-Market.

Can't find a qualified independent garage to service your EV and fed up of being limited to the manufacturer for maintenance?

Then please help us with our new market research project:

http://www.ev-care.com

Thanks a lot!

 

[dangerHV]

One of the main reasons I haven't purchased a Spark EV is the lack of ANY qualified service available. I'll keep dreaming. (No other EV that I could afford is acceptable to me)
Good luck on your endeavor. Your link goes to a survey that I won't complete.

 

[NORTON]

danger,

Isn't there a Chevy dealer in your town that services Volts?
Would they really turn you away? Would Chevy corporate allow that policy?

I talked to my Chevy dealer, they said bring it on!
Only it never needs anything, other than tire replacements, due to the FUN nature of this car !!

I may do the scheduled 97.5k mile 'Drive Unit ATF change' early, just because....

 

[dangerHV]

I guess I just don't have enough faith in dealer service abilities, yet. I've been reading too many comments here like "unable to duplicate customer complaint". I don't have the patience for that scenario.
Maybe a while after the Bolt comes out - nationwide - I'll have more confidence. Or a much better paying job. (I'd still get the Spark EV, regardless of money).

 

[NORTON]

...I've been reading too many comments here like "unable to duplicate customer complaint". ....

I understand your concern. But I can almost guarantee any car on the market gets this response from the service department at times.

Cars are getting more and more complex all the time.

With an EV you might as well face it, you are at the mercy of the manufacturer to get it fixed, and that means finding a dealer with a trained tech that really wants to work on EV's.
To me, that last part is the hard part. :?

 

[Neon]

After a lot of thought and research I bought a 2016 Spark ev. My main concern was that it is a Chevrolet, generally considered less reliable than the brand of car I've always had in the past. I think the things that make it an electric car are less likely to be unreliable than the other things common to all Chevys, like the MyTouch I had an "unable to duplicate customer concern" problem with. (That problem, a blank screen, has not reoccured. Yet.) So for me, I assumed the electric parts would be reliable, the rest of it, not so much. But I bought (not leased, mind you) it anyway. And I love it. Besides, it's cheap for a new car, even if turns out to be a mistake. I don't see a lease as any kind of gamble at all.
I'd never buy the Bolt, or any car other than a few Japanese, in its first year.

 

[wywa]

It would seem logical for any primary GM dealership to view a Spark EV owner as a potential Bolt purchaser, thus they would seriously try to please.

In my long experience I've concluded that when GM makes a great car that car will prove to be a great car for the owner. Apparently the Volt and Spark EV have proved to be great cars and we can expect likewise from the Bolt.

My used 2014 Spark EV arrives tomorrow.
--

 

[nikwax]

I guess I just don't have enough faith in dealer service abilities, yet. I've been reading too many comments here like "unable to duplicate customer complaint". I don't have the patience for that scenario.

for any vehicle, two or four wheeled, that I've owned in the past 20+ years I've gotten those responses from dealer service departments. I think it's partially down to the economics of reimbursement to dealers for warranty service.


Case in point: I owned a Subaru Outback with the audio controls on the steering wheel. They worked when they felt like it, which was about half the time. Online forums had many many reports of them failing and being replaced. When I took mine in, after a day at the dealer they came back with "no problem found". WTF. "It has to be in a failed state for us to replace it, otherwise the factory won't reimburse us for the work. Maybe just keep driving the car around until it stops working and then bring it in." Needless to say, that was the beginning of the end of that car for me.