Chevrolet VOLT Reliability by YearBest & worst years, problems & recalls — NHTSA data
Comparing used Chevrolet VOLT options? We analyzed 9 model years (2011–2019) using real NHTSA complaint and recall data so you can spot stronger years, avoid riskier ones, and know what to inspect before buying.
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Model-year trends show patterns — they can't tell you whether this car was crashed, flooded, or rolled back. A VIN check can.
- Accident & damage history
- Odometer rollback records
- Open recalls & title brands
Based on NHTSA complaint data, the Chevrolet VOLT has 1,859 owner complaints and 12 safety recalls across model years 2011–2019. The most reported issue area is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. 2017 drew the most complaints; 2019 drew the fewest.
- Make
- Chevrolet
- Model
- VOLT
- Model years analyzed
- 2011–2019 (9 years)
- Total NHTSA complaints
- 1,859
- Safety recall campaigns
- 12
- Crash-related complaints
- 39
- Fire-related complaints
- 16
- Worst model year (by complaints)
- 2017 (695 complaints)
- Best model year (fewest complaints)
- 2019 (34 complaints)
- Top reported issue area
- ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- Reliability signal
- Poor
By model year
Chevrolet VOLT: which years to avoid & which to buy
Based on total NHTSA owner complaints per model year. Higher complaint counts indicate a riskier year to buy used — lower counts suggest a cleaner reliability record.
These years have the most owner complaints. Inspect carefully and always run a VIN check.
These years have the fewest owner complaints on record — lower risk starting points.
Crash test ratings
NHTSA NCAP crash test ratings
New Car Assessment ProgramNCAP crash tests measure how well a vehicle protects occupants in controlled frontal crash, side crash, and rollover scenarios. Stars are awarded per category (5 = safest). These laboratory results are independent of owner complaints and are performed by NHTSA engineers on new production vehicles.
Source: nhtsa.gov/ratings
What the complaint data suggests
PoorThe CHEVROLET VOLT has 1,859 NHTSA complaints and 12 recalls on record. 39 complaints involve crash-related incidents. This data reflects owner-reported issues submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- 1,859 total complaints filed with NHTSA
- 12 federal recall campaigns
- 39 crash-related complaints on record
- Review NHTSA complaint history for the most-reported components
- Check recall completion status at nhtsa.gov/recalls
- Verify service records for frequently complained components
Consult the by-year breakdown to identify model years with elevated complaint rates.
Consult the by-year breakdown to identify model years with fewer reported issues.
- Run a VIN check on the specific vehicle you are considering
- Verify all open recalls are completed at nhtsa.gov/recalls
- Request service records for the most-reported complaint components
- Have a certified mechanic inspect the vehicle before purchase
Problems by model year (best vs. worst)
Source: NHTSA public complaints database. Updated: Sep 2026
Safety recalls
NHTSA safety recalls
12 recalls foundSafety recalls are mandatory repair campaigns ordered by NHTSA when a vehicle defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety. Manufacturers are required to fix recalled vehicles free of charge. Always verify open recalls before buying a used car.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
STEERING
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER
SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER
SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER
HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Source: NHTSA Recalls Database. Data covers model years 2011–2019. Always run a VIN-specific check below for the most up-to-date open recall status.
Common problems
What goes wrong most often
The vehicle systems owners complain about most, ranked from all 1,859 NHTSA complaints — these are the areas to inspect first on a used car.
Owner complaints
NHTSA complaint reports
1,859 totalThese are consumer-submitted safety complaints filed directly with NHTSA. Each complaint describes a real owner's experience. Complaints flagged as crash-related or fire-related are highlighted.
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while the vehicle was shifted to park(P), the message to “Shift to Park” remained displayed. The contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that for approximately 10 minutes, the gear shifter was shifted out of and back into park to be able to turn off the vehicle. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the battery high-voltage disconnect relay. The vehicle was not repaired due to a lack of part availability. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the manufacturer confirmed that the part was on backorder. The failure mileage was 80,000.
When shifted into park, persistent error message that car was not in park. Unable to shut off the car despite numerous manipulations of shift. Few similar preceeding incidents were resolved by shift to drive then back to park. Goes to dealer tomorrow. Car running endlessly is dangerous. What if I could not stay with the car, or the car was on the local ferry. No one has inspected it yet. First time problem occured was in November 2024. Most recent more serious problem occured Friday. I am afraid to use the car since, and have not driven it since.
Driver seat frame has a loud squeak during normal operation of vehicle. Driver seat is a critical safety item, and my concern is that the seat frame has a manufacturing defect.
Two incidents related to the powertrain. 1) In December, 2023, the EV battery was drained and the car would not start based on the gas motor. The dealer fixed it in our recollection. 2) On [XXX], I was driving the car out of a Detroit Convention Center parking lot, going up the ramp when the car, with no warning, completely lost power and stopped. The message on the display said "Powertrain loss" or "Powertrain lost." I wish I had taken a photo of it, but I was panicked. Cars were backed up behind me on the ramp out of the parking garage, honking and having to back up. I tried turning the car off and on, googling the problem, and was about to call a tow truck when after 12-13 minutes, I was able to restart the car. I was scared that this could happen again on the freeway. When we could do it together, my husband and I took the car to Chevrolet Suburban of Ann Arbor, which says that they can find nothing wrong with the car, cannot replicate the problem, and that the car computer does not have any error code. They and GM are not willing to do anything to fix it. If they are really unable to find an error code, then something is wrong with the car computer too. I will not drive that car again until it is fixed - I consider it to be risking my life and others' lives to do so. We are spending a lot of money leasing a replacement vehicle as they will not even give us a loaner. The car is just sitting in their lot. And if we trade it in, will they resell it to someone else, potentially putting their lives at risk? - The vehicle is available for inspection at Chevrolet Suburban Ann Arbor. - My safety was at risk. So was that of other drivers around me. I could have been rear-ended. - The problem has not been reproduced/confirmed. - The vehicle and component have not been inspected by the manufacturer, police etc to our knowledge. - There was NO warning ahead of time and no symptoms prior to the problem. The warning message displayed simultaneously with the problem INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Mileage: 38523 Engine Not Available Service Soon Propulsion Power Is Reduced Fuel Range Low: 3/4 Tank full of gas [XXX] - I was driving Northbound on [XXX] South of Castlewood in Northern California. I was driving 70 mph when I suddenly received the error messages above on my dashboard screen. The vehicle immediately had power from 70 mph quickly going below 59 mph. The traffic was extremely high and I had to quickly use my hazard flashes and carefully maneuver to the right shoulder of the frwy. The vehicle lost power so quickly I could have easily been rear ended or in a serious vehicle accident. The dealer test drove the vehicle and stated they received the errors at 95 mph. The dealership is recommending I have the entire transmission replaced with the assembly and the 45,000 mile maintenance. No other warning lamps, messages or symptoms or failures occurred. First occurrence [XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Read 14 more owner reports
While driving home one evening, the power steering suddenly failed. A warning message displayed to service the power steering. It became very difficult to steer the car. I had to pull extremely hard on the wheel to be able to make turns. For the turn into my community, I had to make four attempts to get the car to clear the turn through the entrance gate, needing to back up repeatedly and retry. Fortunately I did make it home safely and shut the car down. I made an emergency repair appointment for the next day at a Chevrolet dealership. In the morning the power steering was back. The car was inspected at the dealership. They told me a software update was needed and they charged me $450 to do that.
Vehicle lost propulsion and all power mid turn at approximately 45mph. Powe steering and assisted brakes were gone. Conditions were rainy, resulting in single car crash. Car did not restart. No codes present. Occurred again after repairs at 70mph on highway. Codes P0AC4 and P0C0E indicating Drive Motor Power Inverter B. Despite being under warranty, GM cannot repair, and has no replacement parts. GM has ignored messages requesting buyback per federal law.
I am getting "shift to park" error when turning off vehicle. Vehicle does not shut off--problem is defect in the transmission and apparently this is fairly common defect yet there is no recall???
Vehicle has developed an intermittent issue when placed in park. Displays a message "Attention Needed: Shift to Park" accompanied by audio alerts inside and outside of the vehicle. This is obviously unsafe as the vehicle cannot be parked and turned off reliably. GM Technical Bulletin 19-NA-206 issued in May 2021 (attached) specifically states that that this repair is covered for the Volt by the separate Voltec Component Warranty. GM refuses to honor the warranty.
I purchased this vehicle from East Bay BMW in Pleasanton, CA on April 8, 2023. On August 28, 2023, to September 4, 2023, I began to receive messages on the dashboard stating shift to park. The shift lever was in park but was not registering this. I had to wiggle the shift lever to get the message to go away and be able to turn my vehicle off. On September 5, 2023, I had the same issue but this time no matter what I did the message would not go away and I was not able to turn my car off for 10 minutes. On September 5, 2023, I called the dealership and spoke with [XXX] -the Service Advisor who told me he would need to speak with his colleagues and get back to me. As of today September 5, 2023. I have no solution to this problem and cannot drive this vehicle for fear I won't be able to have it recognized when it is in park. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
This is a Legitimately Serious Concern regarding GM Vehicles (including Chevrolet) and Dealer Service Compliance with "Safety Warnings" and Reliability Warnings as in Factory Service Manuals. Specifically "Single Use Fasteners" and "Do Not Use Air-Impact on Brake System Fasteners" and "TTY Fastener Dual Pass Torque-to-Yield Specifications" . . . 1.) Widespread Non Compliance with Single Use Brake Components (Fasteners, Seals, Bellows) - every set of Brake-Pads / Rotor Replacement should show corresponding Parts Billing. 2.) Shortcuts to Brake System Service by using Air-Wrench removal / installation using Torture-Sticks. 3.) Multiple Different Torque Specifications for each Component / Fastener (upper/lower/front/rear) likely also 'Shortcuts Taken by using Air-Wrench Torque-Sticks vs Precision Torque Wrench (Pass1=Torque, Pass2 = Rotation Degrees) Seriously these are all called out in the Factory Service Manuals. To inspect, without biasing discovery, but easily, a video (shop security cam) review would easily confirm NONCOMPLIANCE of Impact-Wrench Use on Brake Component Fasteners and TTY Fasteners Protocols and a Simple Review of Brake Rotors should show at least 2 NEW TTY Fasteners per each New Rotor used (check invoices for Rotor Replacement Services). This is NOT A Trivial Picky Customer Concern . . . It is a *Serious Safety Concern* . . . Check the Factory Service Manual, note that most likely inventory control doesn't show TTY Single use Fasteners / Rotor Replacement correlation . . . See Service Manual WARNING . . . Consult your Liability Attorneys to estimate the Cost of Urgent Safety Recall for Dealer Serviced Rotors/Brakes. . . . Compliance is not a Nice To Do Thing . . . Compliance is Mandatory Engineering Factory Service Manual Specifications. Period. Do Not Neglect Action on this Factory Specifications Compliance Mandate as spelled out in detail in the Factory Service Manuals for most GM Vehicles serviced by Certified Dealer Service
Started in late summer/fall of 2022 getting 'shift to park' error. The vehicle is in park and unable to turn off the vehicle when I get this error. I have noticed the error is more prone to come on when the parking break is also engaged or if it's on any sort of hill but I cannot pinpoint the cause of the annoying error. Sometimes I could spend 5 minutes or more getting the error to clear--usually am able to clear by doing a combination of moving/turning on/off the parking break, the shift and/or turning on/off the car and/or opening the door.
2019 Chevy Volt gave a Shift to Park message when vehicle was already in Park. Could not turn off vehicle. Had to restart Volt, then take out of park, but back in park and message disappeared and was able to safely leave vehicle.This happened approximately 6 times in one outing. Also somehow the electric parking brake light came on the dash console but I had not applied the parking brake yet!! No symptoms, warning lamps, or messages before this happened. Have not made appointment yet to take to dealer to get repaired - hopefully under warranty.
I was getting on the I15 freeway. After I entered, I set the cruise control and it immediately began to accelerate the vehicle to maximum speed. I was unable to turn it off and had to repeatedly push the brakes to keep the speed below 70 + mph. Smoke from the brakes began to fill the passenger compartment. I got off the freeway and when I slowed to about 20 mph, I heard a clunk under the dash and the cruise control turned off. I drove home the rest of the way without cruise control without incident. I am taking the car to a Chevy dealer today to investigate the cause.
Car just stops when the battery control module stops working. Potential to leave us stranded in traffic. Confirmed as a defective part by the dealer.
Intermittent shift to park message when in park. Unable to turn off vehicle.
Shift car issues. The car would not shut off because it doesn’t recognize that the gear is in parking.
Intermittently, the car would not turn off, starting in about July, 2022. After shifting the car into park and pressing the On/Off switch, the car displayed a message like "Action required. Shift to park". It was impossible to know if the car really was not in park, and would roll into someone, and it was certainly unsafe to walk away and leave the car "on". A Chevy forum showed that this problem is COMMON and pointed me to GM TSB 19-NA-206 (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10171895-9999.pdf). The TSB exactly describes the symptom I observed and lists one of the exact parts that the Huston Chevrolet service department replaced on 8/3/2022 - 84733196 N-Harness. The dealer, Chevrolet customer service, and GM customer service all told me that this repair was not covered under warranty, though the TSB says this on page 4: "Specific to the Volt model, repairs are covered under the Voltec (Electric and Hybrid Vehicle) Warranty." GM said that I would have received a letter if the TSB applies to my specific car. I paid Huston Chevrolet $446.79 to repair this problem, and believe the manufacturer should 1) reimburse me for the cost and 2) notify other owners about this common and dangerous manufacturing defect.
About half the time, when I put the vehicle into park, a warning comes up telling me that the vehicle is not in park. I can make the problem go away by wiggling the shift lever. But it is a recurring problem, and it is getting worse.
Showing 20 of 1,859 total NHTSA complaints. Source: NHTSA Complaints Database
Check the exact car
Before you buy, check the exact Chevrolet VOLT
These pages show model-year patterns across 9 years. Enter a VIN to verify the exact vehicle's accident history, title brands, odometer records, and open recall status before purchase.
The basics
How to read this data
Complaints, recalls, investigations — here’s what each number actually tells you about a used Chevrolet VOLT, in plain English.
What is an NHTSA Complaint?
An NHTSA safety complaint is a report filed directly by a vehicle owner or driver describing a safety-related issue. Anyone can submit a complaint at NHTSA.gov. The number of complaints is a signal of how common a problem is — but complaints per model-year matter more than raw totals, since popular vehicles naturally receive more reports. The Chevrolet VOLT has 1,859 complaints on record across 9 model years.
What is a Safety Recall?
A safety recall is a mandatory campaign issued by NHTSA when a vehicle component poses an unreasonable risk to safety or does not comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards. Unlike complaints (which are owner-reported), recalls are formally investigated and confirmed by regulators. Manufacturers must fix recalled vehicles free of charge. The Chevrolet VOLT has 12 recall campaigns in the NHTSA database.
What Are Crash Complaints?
Crash complaints are NHTSA filings where the owner indicates a crash occurred as part of the incident. 39 of the Chevrolet VOLT's 1,859 complaints involved a crash. This metric is particularly important because it indicates how often defects resulted in actual collisions — a key safety signal beyond general reliability.
How Is the Reliability Verdict Calculated?
The reliability verdict (Poor) is generated by analyzing the vehicle's total complaints, recall history, crash complaint ratio, fire complaint ratio, and top component failures relative to class averages. This verdict gives buyers a quick interpretation before they review year-level details and VIN-level history. It should be treated as one decision input, not a substitute for a VIN-specific report.
Why Do Newer Years Have Fewer Complaints?
Newer model years appear to have fewer complaints because there has been less time for owners to file them. Complaints accumulate over years of ownership. A 2020 model year vehicle will typically show fewer complaints than a 2015 model year even if it is less reliable — simply because fewer owners have had time to report issues. Focus on complaints per year of market presence when comparing across model years.
Fleet Data vs. Individual VIN
Everything on this page reflects aggregated data across all Chevrolet VOLT vehicles on the road — not any specific car. Two Chevrolet VOLT vehicles of the same year can have very different histories: one may have been in three accidents and have an open recall; another may be clean. A VIN check gives you the individual car's history: accidents, title brands, odometer records, service history, and real-time recall status.
What Are NHTSA Investigations?
When NHTSA receives a pattern of related safety complaints, it opens a formal investigation. A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) is the first stage — NHTSA determines if a safety defect may exist. If evidence is strong, it escalates to an Engineering Analysis (EA), which can result in a mandatory recall. The Chevrolet VOLT has 0 investigations on record (0 active). Investigations listed above may have already led to the recalls shown on this page.
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By state
Check a Chevrolet VOLT by state
Title-branding rules, flood-damage exposure, and salvage laws vary by state. Run a free VIN check or explore state-specific vehicle history guidance before buying a used Chevrolet VOLT.
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Chevrolet VOLT reliability — frequently asked questions
Is the Chevrolet VOLT reliable?
Poor. The Chevrolet VOLT has 1,859 NHTSA owner complaints and 12 recall campaigns across model years. A commonly reported issue area is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. Use year-level data as a pattern guide, then verify the exact car with a VIN check before purchase.
Which Chevrolet VOLT years to avoid?
Years with the most NHTSA complaints: 2017 (695 complaints), 2018 (222 complaints), 2019 (34 complaints). Use these years as a shortlist for deeper inspection, and always run a VIN check on the exact vehicle before purchase.
What are the most common Chevrolet VOLT problems?
Top reported issues: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (700 complaints); FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM (495 complaints); POWER TRAIN (429 complaints).
Does the Chevrolet VOLT have recalls?
Yes — 12 NHTSA recall campaigns have been issued for the Chevrolet VOLT. Check nhtsa.gov/recalls or run a VIN check to see if your specific vehicle has open recalls.