2016 Chevrolet Volt

Took the car in for service to Simi Valley Chevrolet on 8/16/2023 due to the check engine light illuminated on dashboard. They determined that the EGR valve had internally shorted so they unplugged it so as not to take down the rest of the system and placed a special order for the valve. It has now been over one year and they still don't have the replacement part. The car runs rough and occasionally stalls and sputters. I'm concerned that the car could stall while driving and is unsafe.

The Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve failed. Confirmed by dealer, Culver City Chevrolet, 8/29/2024. Failed EGR valve causes gas engine to emit harmful smog forming emissions. This part is still covered by 10 year, 150,000 mile warranty. However, GM/Chevrolet has not made a replacement available and GM representatives have provided no estimate of when or if that replacement part will be made available.

Check engine light came on. Moran Chevrolet dealership says the code is related to the EGR cooler and EGR valve. They want me to pay $3,175.23 for these two parts - however, they can't guarantee that I will get the parts as they are on backorder, and no idea when they will get parts. This is outrageous. I asked, "What if the part doesn't come in?" The dealer's response, "Then we will refund your money, but, we will keep $250 for inspecting the car." "And what if I don't fix it?" Their response: "Eventually, your car will stop working." "What if the car is on the freeway and just stops?" Their response is unsettling for me and hopefully every driver on the road: "We haven't seen that type of failure, yet."

Car displayed a lower power mode on dashboard. Approximately 20 miles later car switched from gas mode to electrical battery mode. Fortunately there was some charge remaining in the battery that I was able to get off freeway and charge car for 3 hours to make the 30 miles home. Dealer thinks problem is a defective EGR valve and I am awaiting a part for this repair for 37 days and counting. The low power mode states it is limited to 35 KW of power but I was surprised when the engine cut off to battery mode. If I had used up the battery charge on the first portion of this trip I do not know how suddenly the car would have stopped on freeway.

The car has experienced a ‘BECM’ failure, which is very common on the Chevy volt. When it fails the car becomes undrivable and will slow down into reduced propulsion mode. It will not start and required us to have it towed to the dealer. The 2016-2019 Chevy volt BECM issue has been investigated by the nhtsa and gm. It is a common enough issue that gm has voluntarily issued ‘special coverage N232432680’. This covers the becm failure on 2016-2019 volts for free for up to 150k miles 10 years. We have a 2016 volt with 144k miles so we assumed it would be covered. The dealer said it wasn’t covered based on my vin but they didn’t know why our vin was left out of the coverage. Obviously if they thought our car didn’t have a suspect becm, they were wrong because it failed during the special coverage time. The repair is $2600 and gm will not assist us with this repair. I have attached a copy of gm special coverage and the bill. This seems to be a clerical error that our vin and maybe others were missed despite the fact our car falls right in the special coverage criteria. I believe this should be a full recall or 2016-2019 volts, especially if the becm has failed.

The EGR valve in the 2016 Chevy volt will fail blowing fuse 3 which will also take out the engine oil pressure control solenoid, the evap emission purge solenoid valve, the engine coolant thermostat heater, and the oxygen sensor 1 as they all share the same fuse. The car will tell you that the engine is unavailable and, if you are out of hybrid battery power, will leave you unable to move the vehicle. In my particular situation it left me stranded blocking one lane on a two lane s-bend road on a 5-9% grade mountainside with no cellphone reception. Thankfully the car stopped far enough away from the previous bend that people had time to see me and I didn't get rear-ended. If I had stopped 20 feet sooner that likely would not have been the case. The replacement part for the EGR valve is impossible to find as it is back ordered everywhere and places that will let you back order it will try to charge $1927 just for the part (no installation service included). If you live in a state without emission checks then you can unplug the EGR valve and replace the fuse but that means your producing more pollutants. Until GM gets their act together and offers affordable replacement parts I don't see another alternative.

EGR valve failed. When switched from Battery to gas car stalled and we were stuck. Dealer said it needs a new EGR valve. But it was on back order. This was a year ago and Chevy still claims the part is on back order! Now the car is ready to renew registration. But it cannot pass inspection because it must have been driven on gas for many miles for the inspection to work! The part is obviously no longer available and Chevy has not offered a solution.

I was driving in clear weather (with my ICE engine as propulsion) when an Engine Warning Fault light appeared on my dash and the vehicle slowed to 5mph with no response from the throttle pedal. I pulled into a parking lot, had the vehicle towed to an independent service shop, and had them check the codes. There were a dozen faults stored, but they found the 'Non Walk Home' fuse had blown, and faults pointed to the EGR Valve as having faulty electronics. They could not find an EGR valve for sale so they unplugged the EGR Valve and replaced the fuse, which allowed the engine to drive normally again, but with the Check Engine Light on at all times. I called my local Chevy dealer and they told me the EGR I needed was Part Number 12691147 for $243, but they were backordered and there were dozens of people in front of me for their dealer alone. Now, 11 months later, I'm still waiting on the part, I have found hundreds of other Volt owners online with the same issue, and the Part Number has been changed by GM to 19436113, with a price increase of 1100% to $2642. And the part is still not available because of "high demand" on a car that was discontinued five years ago.

There is a propulsion warning due to faulty EGR valves. Many customers are experiencing backorders lasting for up to 6 months or more, just from what I can quickly find online. I am now on my 5-month mark. I have not been able to drive the car at all. Driving it could damage the engine and put drivers at risk. Because many of these vehicles no longer qualify for lemon laws, the manufacturer seems to not take our delay seriously or even care about our limited resources in time and money. (I purchased this used car that was in great condition and passed the inspection for about $13,000 in-full. I am not wealthy so this was an expense I was carefully saving for. I was only driving it for weeks before this happened. I am now hunting for my legal options.) Not only is their response completely unethical and inconsiderate, but some desperate drivers are suggesting to unplug the EGR then replace the fuse. This can damage engines further, disallow us to pass emission tests, and cause possible danger to the driver and others on the road. Chevy and GM need to be held accountable!