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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
23,070 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2016 Chevrolet Volt miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2016 Chevrolet Volt Owner Comments

problem #17

Apr 152024

Volt

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2016 Chevy volt started to not shut off with the message that car needed to shift to park. Car is just over 100,000 miles (104,000) spent a few weeks jiggling shifter to get car turned off then made an appointment at Platinum Chevy of Santa Rosa. While waiting we researched the issue to find that the Shift To Park is a known issue and the Volt has in fact been named in a class action suit. Am currently at crossroad as I cannot get GM to stand behind their product. It-??s taken four calls and an escalation to management to find out that they may offer a percentage to fix the problem but because we-??re out of warranty it is a customer problem. So, to cap it off, GM has sold us a vehicle with a known safety issue with no recall and will not fix their problem.

- Santa Rosa , CA, USA

problem #16

Sep 092023

Volt

  • miles
On 2023/09/09, my Check Engine Light came on, and my car showed a "Reduced Propulsion" warning. As I continued to drive home, the car later began overheating, requiring me to reduce speed & stop frequently to let the car cool down. The local Chevrolet dealership diagnosed it as a failed EGR valve that caused the "non walk home" fuse to blow, which also disables the car's Engine Coolant Thermostat Heater (hence the overheating). Also three months later, this part is still on backorder with no estimated time of delivery.

- Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

problem #15

Apr 142022

Volt

  • miles
Action Required Shift to Park message comes up on the dash after starting the vehicle & shifting into gear out of Park. The message goes away when shifted back into Park, but the vehicle doesn't respond when shifted into gear. Reverse, Neutral, Drive, Low - none will engage. I had to repeat the process of starting the vehicle 28 times before it would operate as it should. Start Vehicle to View Application message comes up when in Park & trying to shut the vehicle off & will not power down until the driver door is opened. I worried that I'd be stranded if this continued to happen & took the vehicle to Brad Deery Motors in Maquoketa, IA for repair on 4/14/22. I paid $736.71 & the invoice states: 106128 shift to park, diag, intermittent open in the shift park solenoid, replaced shift park solenoid and jumper harness, tested working properly. I brought the vehicle home & had the same messages appear on 4/19/22. I have since read a forum on the Volt & understand that this has been a common issue & found a service bulletin: 19-NA-206, but wondering if there is an actual recall. I plan to contact GM regarding this issue.

- Davenport, IA, USA

problem #14

Sep 162021

Volt

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Failure of car's keyless remote system. I got my fob and moved the car to where we charged it in the morning. In the afternoon after it was charged I had the same fob and got in to move it back by our front door and the screen gave the message "No remote detected". I assumed the fob battery was dead and changed it and it still would not recognize the fob. Then I got my wife's fob and it would not recognize that one either. So the keyless remote system in the car had failed in some way. I went online and saw there were plenty of cases of this happening to this model and other Chevy models that used a similar system. There is some issue with this system and it is very dangerous as someone could easily get stranded if they were alone in some remote place and not understanding how to even get in their car as there is no visible keyhole on the door to put the mechanical key. To follow up just as I was going out to the car to read the mileage all of a sudden the fob worked again. Both now work. It has been about 20 hours where it wouldn't work. I tried it many many times over those 20 hours and neither fob would work but now they both do. So this as many have reported, is an intermittent problem but dangerous because at any time you could be locked out of your car and you have to know how to pry off part of the door handle and insert the mechanical key and then place the fob in the special place under the lid in the console to be able to drive. Certainly once it happens to you and you learn all that you can do it in a reasonable time frame but when it happens the first time you are really stuck.

- Cornish, NH, USA

problem #13

Jul 082021

Volt

  • miles
When I shift the car into "park" it will not register as "park" and a message comes up on the dash "shift to park." I'm unable to turn the car off at this point because it's required to be in "park" mode to accomplish this. Jiggling the shift handle will sometimes correct this but it appears to be getting worse over time. I spoke to a service tech at GM and they said they are aware of the issue and that it is a problem with this model. I was told the only fix was a costly replacement that may or may not solve the problem. A web search indicates there are many Chevy Volt drivers experiencing this same issue.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

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problem #12

Nov 202019

Volt

  • miles
Excessive condensation from water leak below the front passenger floor. It was within the bumper to bumper warranty, but 3 separate Chevy dealers did not diagnose or fix problem until after warranty expired. One dealer eventually found a bad weld resulting in a water leak and sealed it. Unfortunately, the leak has returned and there is a lot of water below the floor again. This requires removing the seats, trim, carpet, and finding another bad weld.

- Wallingford, CT, USA

problem #11

Jun 162020

Volt

  • 40,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When attempting to turn off the car it says "action required: Shift to park" and will proceed as being left on, despite being in park. This occurs about 70% of the time the car is driven and takes several tries of turning on the car, moving, parking, and turning back off before the engine shuts off without this warning.

- St Louis, MO, USA

problem #10

Jul 172020

Volt

  • 44,000 miles
Chevy Volt 2016, shifted into park, but car warning comes up "shift to park" and thus car will not turn off.

- Rockville, MD, USA

problem #9

Jun 012020

Volt

  • 42,090 miles
When I press the power button to turn off the car, it won't shut off. A message on the dash says I must "shift to park". of course, I've already shifted into park. If I put the shifter back into the "L" position several times, eventually it will shut off. This problem is getting worse by the day. Now I need to repeat this process of shifting back and forth many many times to get it to shut off. This is the 2nd time it happens to this car. GM replaced the shift assembly one year after I purchased the car to fix this exact same problem. The car was parked when this happened.

- Granite Bay, CA, USA

problem #8

Jul 122020

Volt

  • 63,000 miles
My 2016 Chevrolet Volt is exhibiting the "shift to park" issue. More often than not, when I shift to park and attempt to shut my car off, it alerts me that I need to shift in order to park. I have to turn the car back on, then turn it off again, sometimes I move the shifter or flick the shifter button to fix it.

- Portland, ME, USA

problem #7

Jun 012020

Volt 4-cyl

  • 0 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

System does not recognize when gear is in park (P) - the prompt on the screen states "action required: Shift to park" (see attached screenshot) even when the gear is already on park (P) - the work-around is shifting the gear from park (P) then L then back to park - sometimes you have to do this several times.

- Pittsburg, CA, USA

problem #6

Nov 092019

Volt

  • 27,000 miles
After putting my car into park and attempting to turn it off, the message "shift to park" is displayed on the driver information center. The car thinks it is not in park unless I either press the button on the shift stick a couple times or turn the car completely off and back on.

- Milwaukie, OR, USA

problem #5

Feb 212020

Volt

  • 39,391 miles
When parking the vehicle, the vehicle does not recognize that the shifter is in "park" and won't power off, even though the shifter is in park. A message appears on the screen to shift vehicle into park. The vehicle is stationary and shifted into park, but the vehicle just doesn't recognize this. This happens on a daily basis, and I need to wiggle the shift lever, and/or push the on/off button several times until it finally realizes that it is in park and shuts off.

- Gualala, CA, USA

problem #4

Jan 112020

Volt

  • 29,716 miles
For the last two weeks, a "shift to park" message has been occurring increasingly upon vehicle power off. Vehicle has 29716 miles. Typically occurs upon parking the vehicle and shifting into park when the vehicle is at a full stop. Upon depressing the power button to power off the vehicle, a shift to park" message appears on the instrument cluster. (which is odd since the vehicle shift is already in park.) the vehicle will not power down as long as the "shift to park" message remains on the instrument cluster. Attempts to clear the message from the instrument cluster do not seem to be detected. (tried wiggling shift; depressing the shift trigger; shifting to drive and back into park several times; open and closed door several times; depressed power button on and off several times with no apparent effect. Vehicle eventually clears the shift to park message and allows the driver to power off with no apparent connection to a clear cut method to manually clear the message. (there is no typical time that can be relied upon for the eventual clearing of the message from the instrument cluster to return to normal power off functionality.) vehicle was taken to dealership. Dealership reported that the problem was in the shift mechanism. Dealership replaced the entire shifter assembly and jumper harness, N-harness and N-control. Bill for repair was $572.26. Dealership did not cover the repair under warrantee. Dealership also communicated that repair had no existing recall notification and could not be compensated by manufacturer recall.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #3

Jan 012020

Volt

  • 52,000 miles
When trying to turn the car off a "shift to park" light comes on and the car will not turn off. When looking for an explanation I found that this a common problem with the 2nd gen Volt. When I took this car to the dealer they were well aware of this problem. This is a common problem that is a design flaw and the second gen Volt should be recalled by the manufacturer.

- Sarasota, FL, USA

problem #2

Mar 312019

Volt

  • 55,000 miles
I was driving on the freeway when I smelled smoke, then saw smoke, and then saw flames on the rear passenger floor. I pulled to the side of the freeway and pulled my children from the vehicle. Within 2-3 minutes, the car was engulfed in flames.

- Pinole, CA, USA

problem #1

Feb 122016

Volt

  • miles
While I was driving East on hwy 80 in vacaville, ca, at approximately 1:15 pm, I was literally blinded by sun from the chrome reflection on the dash board. Because of this, I almost rear ended the vehicle in fron of me as I had dark spots in my vision from the reflection.

- Elk Grove, CA, USA

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