Bolt Recall Update – Batteries Incoming

For those waiting for the batteries to start shipping on Bolts needing the recall for the battery replacement, that time has come. At Donohoo Chevrolet, we were the first dealership in the Southeast region to perform the battery replacement on a Bolt. As one of the top sellers of Bolts for several years, we are excited to get to work on replacing batteries for our Bolt customers and our new and used Bolts in inventory.

We have included some photos taken during the battery replacement. Typically, it would not involve this many different people you will see in the photos, but our entire service staff took a keen interest in the recall repair. We came away impressed at the simplicity of the battery replacement as it was very plug and play when removing and reinstalling the batteries.

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GM will send you a notice when your Bolt is eligible to have its battery replaced. With the many thousands of Bolts out there, it would be physically impossible to get all batteries out for customer repair at once. If you would like our service department to complete this recall repair, please contact us and provide your information and VIN. You will need to get the Bolt to us in Ft Payne, AL, but outside of that, we welcome helping any Bolt customers we can. Our sales and service team has unmatched experience with Bolts through our high sales volume, so you can feel confident working with a dealership that is “all in” on the EV future for Chevrolet.

Some of you are still interested in getting an EV. The value of these existing Bolts is improved with the 8 year / 100,000 miles (whichever comes first) warranty on the installed battery from the installation date! In addition, 17 and 18 model year Bolts get a newer battery that means the 259 miles range instead of the 238 miles range that existed before.

If you are interested in our used Bolts, you can shop our used inventory here. There will be three groupings for these Bolts.

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GROUP 1
Some will be Bolts, where the battery replacement cannot be done yet, are waiting for clearance from Chevrolet. So the top of the first picture will say “Stop Sale – Battery Not Available.”

GROUP 2
Some will be Bolts where the battery replacement can be done, but we have not completed it because we have many to do and won’t get them all done right away. The top of the first picture will say, “Battery Available – Reserve Now.”

GROUP 3
Some Bolts will get finished, and we will be able to sell them right away. One of the pictures in the listing for the vehicle will have a COMPLETE stamp across it. The top of the first picture will say “Recall Complete.”

If you want to reserve one of these used vehicles, reach out to us to do so. On Group 1, we will reserve the vehicle for you and notify you when the battery can be ordered and replaced. At that point, we will prioritize completion as best as possible to enable you to purchase the Bolt. In Group 2, we will need to order the battery and schedule it for replacement. We ask for ten days to allow for scheduling and Chevrolet delivery of the battery to us. We think that will be an adequate amount of time to cover it, but it could happen sooner or later depending on whether the battery is available or on backorder. Finally, in Group 3, you can purchase immediately since the vehicle has been completed.

You will notice many of the used vehicles are manufacturer buybacks. We will note in our picture where the Bolt was repurchased SOLELY because of the battery recall issues. That means there were no repair gremlins as the reason for Chevrolet repurchasing it, just dissatisfaction with the recall outstanding. Chevrolet went above and beyond to try to make its Bolt customers happy.

When looking at these used Bolts, take note that when comparing this to another ICE (internal combustion engine) like a Civic. You are comparing a super reliable electric motor plus 8 year / 100K warranty battery to a similar mileage ICE vehicle transmission and engine with way less warranty than the Bolt battery. For similar ICE vehicles at these prices, you will likely see mileage outside of manufacturer powertrain coverage. However, if you can get comfortable with the charging and range, these Bolts have tremendous value. And if you have ever driven one, it is certainly way more fun to drive than a Civic.

We also have many new Bolts in the same situation as the used Bolts. We will show them on our on-order page for Bolts – click here. You can reserve one of them and get notified once battery replacement is possible on them.

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