Chevrolet Volt: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Chevrolet Volt: 9 model years scored from 1,859 NHTSA owner complaints and 12 recall campaigns. Worst year 2017, best year 2014.
Chevrolet Volt: which years to avoid
Across 9 scored model years the Chevrolet Volt ranges from 47/100 in 2017 to 94/100 in 2014 — a 47-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a Volt at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Electrical System (309 of them).
Avoid: 2017 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2017 Volt, which has 695 complaints and a score of 47 against 93 complaints and a score of 94 for the 2014; the years to buy are 2014, 2015 and 2019, and 2013 and 2018 are CAUTION verdicts. The first-generation car (2011 to 2015) settles after a 2013 with 308 complaints, and the second generation from 2016 has one bad year in an otherwise clean run. The 2013 car's 161 Air Bags complaints line up with 23V516000, a driver air bag inflator recall, and it also carries 18V397000 for a control module update that disabled battery cell balancing and 15V145000 for a battery that can drain if the driver leaves the car switched on. The 2017 car's complaints are Electrical System at 309, Fuel/Propulsion System at 233, Power Train at 219 and Engine at 181, a propulsion-system pattern with no recall campaign behind it. The 2018 car falls to 222 complaints and the 2019 to 34, with only seat belt and brake caliper campaigns on those years.
Read the guide
Used Chevrolet Volt, Bolt EV and Nissan Leaf: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the Volt changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2016
Mean score 85/100, about 12 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Electrical System more than anything else (294 complaints). 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2017–2018
Mean score 55/100, about 52 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Electrical System more than anything else (395 complaints). The record falls 30 points against the years before it. 2 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2014 (score 94). Worst: 2017 (score 47, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 89 | BUY | $2,912 | 34 | 2 |
| 2018 | 63 | CAUTION | $3,487 | 222 | 2 |
| 2017 | 47 | AVOID | $4,566 | 695 | 0 |
| 2016 | 82 | BUY | $3,560 | 169 | 1 |
| 2015 | 92 | BUY | $4,056 | 44 | 1 |
| 2014 | 94 | BUY | $4,267 | 93 | 0 |
| 2013 | 68 | CAUTION | $4,710 | 308 | 3 |
| 2012 | 80 | BUY | $4,732 | 245 | 2 |
| 2011 | 93 | BUY | $4,602 | 49 | 1 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Volt, through the years →
What goes wrong on the Chevrolet Volt
Across every Volt model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Electrical System700 complaints across all Volt years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Fuel/Propulsion System495 complaints across all Volt years · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement$680–$1,620
- Power Train422 complaints across all Volt years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Engine366 complaints across all Volt years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Air Bags294 complaints across all Volt years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
- Unknown Or Other190 complaints across all Volt years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Chevrolet Volt years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2017 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2017 is the weakest at 47/100, with its complaints concentrated in Electrical System.
What are the best Chevrolet Volt years to buy?
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2014 at 94/100, on 93 complaints and 0 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Chevrolet Volt problem?
700 of the complaints filed against the Volt across all its model years sit in the Electrical System group — more than any other component.
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Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04