Last winter I had a bright idea: I would buy an affordable electric car for tooling around Washington, D.C. and park my old Toyota Camry at our family house on Martha’s Vineyard. That way, I could save on gas and fly in and out of the island from D.C. every summer. So I did some research and discovered that the Chevy Bolt was the most affordable electric vehicle then on the market (at a base price of $27,000) and also one of the highest rated. Its battery life extended to 267 miles compared to the Nissan Leaf’s battery range, which only lasts 226 miles before you need to recharge. And the Nissan Leaf was more expensive, between $32,000 and $38,000 (depending on which dealer you go to and what options you ask for). Both electric vehicles qualified for up to $7500 in tax rebates.
So, at the end of February, I ordered a Bolt from Ourisman Chevrolet in Alexandria, Virginia. And that’s when the problems started. Jason, the dealer I dealt with, asked for my credit card and told me that he wouldn’t charge the deposit (of $2500) until I picked up the car. I asked what would happen if the Bolt wasn’t ready when I needed it or I changed my mind, and he said he thought there would be no problem in backing out of the deal. He said he thought the Bolt would be available by the time I needed it — in early August when I came back from the Cape. Jason quoted me a total price of $31,000-$32,000; he said GM was requiring that all Bolts be made with a “convenience package,” which included an lane change alert, a side blind zone alert and rear parking assist, plus a charging device, delivery and dealer fees and taxes. I agreed to the deal and Jason said he would be in touch to let me know when the car was ordered and when it would be available. In April, I checked my credit card balance before paying the bill and discovered that Ourisman Chevrolet had gone ahead and charged my credit card for $2500 despite what Jason said. When I saw that, I called him up and explained that wasn’t what we agreed to. He insisted it was, so I then called Bob, the general manager whom I had met when I first walked into the dealership, and a few days later, Bob got back to me and agreed to refund me the $2500. And to his credit, he did.
In late April, General Motors, which owns Chevrolet, announced they would no longer be making the Bolt and instead concentrate on producing more expensive electric vehicles. When I called the general manager, he assured me that would not affect the delivery of my Bolt and that I would be able to get necessary repairs on the car for the foreseeable future. Bob also said that if the Bolt wasn’t available when I needed it, the dealership could give me a loaner car to tide me over until it came in. In late June, Jason, the dealer whom I had met with initially, called and said that the Bolt would probably be available in early August. He also said that since the District of Columbia did not tax electric vehicles, the price for the car would be $30,045.
But then a few days later, I got an email from Jason. GM, he said, was requiring a bunch of add-ons for the car (that I didn’t want, such as leather seats and an infotainment package, and so the total cost would actually be north of $33,000. I again called the general manager and Bob gave me his word that the price would be $30,045. I asked him when he thought the Bolt would be available, explaining once again that I needed it when I returned from the Cape August 6, and he said he would have an update for me the following week. I called again, left a message and two days later, Bob called back. My Bolt was going into production on July 24 but it probably wouldn’t get to Alexandria until the third week of August. I asked if he would give me a loaner car until the Bolt came in and that’s when he said, no, he didn’t think he could do that, contradicting his earlier promise. I told him that was a deal breaker and I was no longer interested in buying the Bolt. At that point, Bob said, “Well, give me a day or two and let me see what I can do.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that but agreed to wait another few days.
When he didn’t get back to me two days later, I called and left a message on his voice mail, saying I needed to know whether we had a deal by 5 pm that day, since I had to decide whether to cancel my ferry reservation or my flight back to DC (I had made both knowing I could cancel one of them). Bob didn’t call me back so I assumed the deal was off. But then the next morning, Jason left a voice message saying they would give me a loaner call after all. That was exciting — would be I getting the Bolt after all? Good thing I hadn’t cancelled my flight yet. But then I got an email from Jason saying that they were going to charge me $25 a day for the loaner car, which could have amounted to $500 by the time the Bolt came in. Talk about whiplash! At that point, I knew I couldn’t trust these guys and I wasn’t going to buy an electric car, from them at least. I called Jason and told him he could find someone else to sell the Bolt to (he probably already had). I was done.
I think Tesla is onto something now that they and other electric car manufacturers (like Rivian) sell cars directly to consumers and bypass dealers. There’s a reason some car dealerships can’t be trusted — I just learned that lesson firsthand. If I do buy an electric car or hybrid in the future, I will try to bypass dealerships as well and buy directly from the seller. And it makes me think: it shouldn’t be this difficult when someone is trying to do the right thing and wean themselves off of fossil fuel.
This blog is also posted on medium.com.
