All of the Gen 1 Volt info applies to the powertrain. It's a Li Ion battery, not antiquated NiCad. Voltec warranty (incl battery) is 8 years, so you still have lots of time, even for an early in service 2014.

Buy one, you'll love it. You'll roughly save a car payment each month on your gas savings (based on bi weekly payments). OIl changes every two years, brakes about 100 000 miles.

 

Quite a few differences between the '14 and '16 including a Performance Package W/Brembos.

 

here's a 2014 for 15K. 80k miles

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/799822551/overview/?aff=acqem100&emc=acqem100&utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_Saved%20Search_Inventory%20Alerts_PriceDrop_CarFaxC&smtrctid=6026bff68c0c274270994854e22fcd6117455f82

 

That's just crazy cheap for these cars. It's hard to believe how cheap they are for how nice they are. But personally I think it's because lack of education about these cars in general (Hybrids, Ex-range plugs-ins, etc) and also how most people don't think about the fact that nice cars are available for cheap. Your average Joe Blow driving the blankety blank sees a nice car and immediately figures "I can't afford that car or I would never be able to afford a nice car". Since they have that preconceived notion, they will never be in the market for a nice car even if it's used value is half of a new cheap car. It just doesn't register. You have to be a "Car guy" to even start researching what your used dream car is worth. Things get complicated when you want the cheap really high-end used car. You may be able to get a 200k Bentley for cheap, but parts and labor cost what 200k cars cost. Was seriously thinking about a used Continental GT but after a lot of research, I'm going to have to bail on that idea... driving an ELR is a lot cheaper and still pretty rewarding, not to mention the boatload of gas savings. ?

Still as far as price, I believe the 2016's will always hold a significant percentage price over the 2014's. Time will tell I guess.... If 2014's go much cheaper they'll be worth it for a parts car!

 

By the time I'm in the market, I expect all of them to be cheap.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Something to consider for potential ELR owners:

A major factor of the ownership experience that will be materializing soon are ELR-specific parts that are no longer carried in the supply system. Once the factory warranties for the 2016 model year expire, GM is no longer obligated to replace low-production parts that can keep a vehicle sidelined or illegal to drive. Head and tail lights are a prime example. Insurance companies will not pay for used parts, and once they do dry up, they will easily fetch $3-5k each, meaning a minor fender-bender can result in a vehicle being totaled.

The XLR is a perfect comparison case study. With five times the number of vehicles built compared to the ELR, critical parts shortages are a very big deal to current owners. GM could care less. Sure enough, as soon as the obligated factory warranty period expired, the list of unavailable parts began almost immediately. (We kept a running tally and it grew each month.)

And like the XLR, don't let a beautiful exterior at a cheap price point cloud your vision if it is meant to be a daily driver. The dedicated XLR forums, (excluding this one which has minimal activity) are overflowing with horror stories of owners who impulsively bought a beautiful car on the cheap and discovered the real price of ownership was way beyond their means. A $15k car pushing $10k worth of headlights is something to consider for long-term ownership. This is not an "if" but "when" scenario for ELR owners.

$15k for an 80k mile car is very realistic. Like the XLR, the ELR had a $70k MSRP. Both were severely overpriced and the market responded accordingly. --In the case of the ELR, the market's rejection was even stronger.

When I was finally compelled to sell my beloved XLR @ 80k, I got just under $15k for it - just as the parts issue was becoming severe. As much as I loved the car, I never looked back, and after reading so many issues regarding owners parking their XLR's indefinitely, I'm very happy I bailed when I did, since the used market for them fell apart. Informed buyers are avoiding them.

Similar to what I'm reading here, the majority of the new buyers start their first posts with, "Beautiful car, great price!" When reality inevitably slaps them in the face in a few years and the true cost of ownership emerges, the buyer's remorse posts will loom large. Don't expect aftermarket vendors to jump in - with such low volume, there's no money in repairing (or creating) hard-to-find parts.

Caveat Emptor,

CC

 

Something to consider for potential ELR owners:

A major factor of the ownership experience that will be materializing soon are ELR-specific parts that are no longer carried in the supply system. Once the factory warranties for the 2016 model year expire, GM is no longer obligated to replace low-production parts that can keep a vehicle sidelined or illegal to drive. Head and tail lights are a prime example. Insurance companies will not pay for used parts, and once they do dry up, they will easily fetch $3-5k each, meaning a minor fender-bender can result in a vehicle being totaled.

So bumper to bumper warranty is 4 years, and certified pre-owned (or other offered Cadillac warranty) typically extends 2 years more. So on paper this is 6 years of Cadillac warranty coverage. Is the general consensus that new/refurb OEM parts will be available in that full 6 year time frame (so for a 2016, 2 years from now - 2022), or better or worse?

 

Yep... XLR headlight is $5K or more.
Owning a rare car requires a certain level of bravery.
And don't wreck it!

 

GM not the only one with this issue. Honda S2000 has hard to find parts, too.

Honda asks S2000 owners which parts should be manufactured again

Instead, Honda is helping owners keep their aging drop-tops on the road by relaunching production of hard-to-find parts. The earliest examples are old enough to drink, and finding parts is becoming increasingly difficult because they don't regularly appear in junkyards, so Honda hopes to make...

www.yahoo.com

Zero chance of any new body part (plus many other parts) for a Merkur XR4Ti.

 

14 15 16 Cadillac ELR LED Headlight Lamp Right RH Passenger OEM 2014 2015 2016 for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 14 15 16 Cadillac ELR LED Headlight Lamp Right RH Passenger OEM 2014 2015 2016 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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Used one is a grand, which is really not too bad for any LED headlight.

 

Well, wouldn't you just know it...Yesterday the transmission in my "13 ATS 2.5 began to fail, and this is after I already had to have it rebuilt 3k miles ago. The car has 82,360 miles and I really like it, but I think it's time to unload it. I'd rather bite the bullet than pay to have it repaired again. The shop that did the original rebuild is now out of business so I'm SOL...A local Buick dealer has a '14 ELR with 38k miles for $21,795 and I'm definitely interested. There is no shortage of used Cads in this part of FL, so I'm sure I be driving something else very soon...BTW, thanks to all who have posted some very useful info here!

 

Hi All,
New to the ELR and this would be my first hybrid.

I am purchasing a 2014 ELR with 60,000 miles. Is there anything I should know going forward on the car. I am a bit worried about the hybrid battery life. Can the car continue to run on fuel only if the hybrid battery were to someday fail?
I am also having trouble finding an actual cost for a hybrid battery repack or replacement.

 

Can the car continue to run on fuel only if the hybrid battery were to someday fail?

It may depend on how the battery has failed.

This is correct - depends on the failure. From personal experience, I did have the car die on me once for an undiagnosed reason, and it had both battery charge and gas at the time. But this is when it had the well known 'unable to charge / service high voltage charging system' fault, so I wrote it off to that. But nonetheless, at least one scenario where the gas engine won't run if the high voltage battery system is unhappy.

 

I think the car can continue to operate as gasoline only. It may depend on how the battery has failed. On the Volt forum I read about a guy with about 240K miles on his Volt, who just uses the car in gas mode. The battery would half to have enough life to accept the generator output and apply it to the drive motors.

 

If a section of the battery has actually failed, then no, the car will not operate on the ICE. The car is propelled 100% of the time by the battery, even when the engine is running. When the dash reads 0 bars on the battery, it's not actually empty. The car starts the ICE to maintain enough charge in the battery to run the car and maintain the buffer. You can also select Mountain Mode to charge the battery to a higher level. There is no way to drive the car with a dead battery.

 

That is interesting and I did not know that. One thing I'll say about the ELR is it's a dog! So if you've got the need for speed pass on the ELR. LOL

 

Having trouble with the battery of our ELR bought in 2014 recently. It only has a 41K mileage, and the battery is now depleted. It only charges up to 25miles max, fully charged overnight and can only use 10m and gas engine kicks in. I believe the battery is leaking, depleted or something. I am a 60 yr lady and don't know much about cars, my husband bought it in 2014. We bought the Chevy Bolt EV from the same dealer which we use with our daily errands. The ELR is being used for long distance travels. We brought the ELR to the dealer today since we thought it will be a guaranteed battery replacement without cost. The dealer seems like they are not being cooperative with the warranty, but they fixed the other components we're having issues with like the driver assist system, and another issue that costs $600 out of pocket but we turned it down for them to fix, since we brought the ELR for battery diagnostics which costs $135. I guess we will have constant electrical component problems since the battery is leaking. I believe our car is under warranty and the dealer seems like not wanting to share their fair share of replacing the battery which costs about $10K. We will know when we pick up the car tomorrow. Who do I go to file a complaint in case we will be treated badly? Thanks for reading, hopefully someone will give us an idea on how to deal with this and where to go to next.

 

"We brought the ELR to the dealer today since we thought it will be a guaranteed battery replacement without cost. The dealer seems like they are not being cooperative with the warranty, but they fixed the other components we're having issues with like the driver assist system, and another issue that costs $600 out of pocket but we turned it down for them to fix, since we brought the ELR for battery diagnostics which costs $135. "

These kinds of assumptions without getting confirmation via the Service Manager, (not, "The Dealer" which holds no one accountable for your satisfaction) prior to the commencement of repairs are the biggest sources of misunderstandings between customers and Service Departments. "Well, the Dealer said" . . . Who is "the dealer?"

If it isn't specifically stated in whatever warranty you're praying toward, stand by for potential disappointment. Do not rely on the Service Advisors - EVER! They are invoice-writing, customer buffers between the Service Manager and the tech that works on your vehicle. The majority of Service Advisors don't last very long. You may get lucky with a knowledgeable one that just happens to be a tech on light duty, but technically savvy-SA's are far too rare. Always get judgements and rulings from the Service Manager - and preferably before any warranty-related repair starts!!!!