You must not have a lot of rush hour traffic or drive very fast to get 210,000 miles on one set of pads with a non hybrid/electrical car. That almost defies physics.

Lol, early on is probably around 100k. I don't remember the exact mileage. It's Atlanta, no way to avoid traffic but I do my best and GPS helps. Also Atlanta is notorious for fast driving. Police are pretty leanient of speed and tend to only pull over super speeders.

From what I can tell, at least early Volts have common charging system related problems, related to the battery coolant control system causing the car to refuse to charge. Repair trip numbers aren't outrageous by any means, but they're also not any better than any other decently reliable 2011-2012 car.

The Prius from the same years is MUCH MUCH more reliable than the Volt. At the opposite end of the scale, my girlfriend is in the market for a new car and loves the styling of the Ford Flex for some reason. Yee gad what a POS that thing is. TSBs are the stuff of nightmares. What is going on at Ford lately? Why haven't people been fired? Their quality seemingly brand wide is absolutely in the toilet, and the ecoBoost engines are neither economical nor reliable.

I don't see why someone driving like 5,000 miles a year would bother with a Volt over a Civic, Fit, Prius, or Mazda 3. What little gas cost advantage you'd have would likely be eaten away by increased repair costs and depreciation.

I don't see why someone driving like 5,000 miles a year would bother with a Volt over a Civic, Fit, Prius, or Mazda 3. What little gas cost advantage you'd have would likely be eaten away by increased repair costs and depreciation.

It's more than just fuel cost savings. I'd like to use less gas not only for lower cost, but to use less gas. Another reason I've been interested in diesel and electric in this thread is that they are efficient means for exceptional driving feel. Low end torque makes driving more fun around town and makes the car feel more premium, such as a V8 caddy or 12 cyl rolls or something. These cars also tend to have the latest electronics and more standard features than penalty box cars that are truly the 'lowest cost' vehicles on the road.

I could go buy a 53mpg Prius C right now for say $17k new (or $14-15k used) but it wouldn't be enjoyable and I couldn't carry any passengers with legs. People say even that isn't the cheapest route to go, buy a Versa or something for $12k and get mediocre mileage cause the price difference pays for a lot of gas. It doesn't get much more penalty box than a Versa, I mean, the highlights listed for the car include a 2 speaker am/fm radio.

Or I could buy a Volt like above at $12-14k and fully charge for $1 every 3rd day, get lots of standard features and good driving experience.