Bought one, and immediately modified...

..... modified the look. If it was my choice, I would have gotten an LT with leather, but LTs don't come with leather, only Premiers. However, I preferred the LTs for having less chrome (door handles, roof rails) and plain silver wheels which I planned on having powdercoated in gloss black by an independent shop.

I'll let the result speak for itself. Bolt styling is rather complex, with creases and bulges which reflect light in various ways. The LT's silver painted wheels and the Premier two-tone wheels IMO draw attention away from the body's nuances in styling, so I wanted to tone down the wheels' interference in appreciating those special styling aspects.

Check it out. The chrome strip above the rocker panel suddenly shows up, and becomes important. Body reflections of light on both sides become visible and meaningful. The black strip running along the beltline from the headlights, through the side mirrors and into the outside door frames and back to the lift gate suddenly makes sense as it plays off the blackened wheels.

None of your picture links worked. If you can fix them, I'd love to see what you've done!

The Bolt certainly has a unique style. I'm not a huge fan, but it's growing on me. Then again, even the Leaf's styling grew on me, but I had been driving one for quite a while before that happened. I'm glad to have a Bolt in my driveway now instead!

Here's a link to where the pictures do show up.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?306457

It's a shame the black trim is more like flat black...

Looks good. How much did it cost to get the wheels powder coated? Did you take the tires in ready to paint, or did you just drive up and they removed the tires and rubber, then remounted everything? Basically, was it a one-stop-shop?

Now you need the windows tinted And I need my rims powder coated lol

I dropped the car off at the shop on a Thursday and picked it up early the following week - they did everything. Cost per wheel was $150 + $20 tire fee for a total of $680.

LeftieBiker said:

It's a shame the black trim is more like flat black...

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I did consider doing a satin or semi-gloss black because of that trim, but thought a gloss would better work together with the glossy black beltline accent. Now I'm thinking of getting the brake calipers painted.... tiger stripes, maybe??

SmokingRubber said:

Looks good. How much did it cost to get the wheels powder coated? Did you take the tires in ready to paint, or did you just drive up and they removed the tires and rubber, then remounted everything? Basically, was it a one-stop-shop?

Now you need the windows tinted And I need my rims powder coated lol

Click to expand...

What percent tint is that? Looking to have ours tinted as well...

That's 20% all around

My modification was to remove the rear bow-tie. I used a dozen or so pieces of dental floss to cut the double-sided tape GM used to attach it, and then some paint thinner to remove the residual adhesive from the glass. I also blacked out the gold on the front bow-tie using flat black Plasti-Dip spray, keeping the chrome surround,

The bow-ties seem too large for the car. Plus, I felt the car had too many colors: White, Black, Silver, Blue, Gold. I'm happy with the results.

Cost per wheel was $150 + $20 tire fee for a total of $680.

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Not helping the cause with that one. ;>) A frenemy of EVs saw this and said "Yeah, right, you EV owners are all about lower operating costs. Right up there with the payback of $125,000 Teslas, must be that a Bolt saves enough in fuel costs in a week to pay for $680 wheel powder coating.

jack vines

PackardV8 said:

Cost per wheel was $150 + $20 tire fee for a total of $680.

Click to expand...

Not helping the cause with that one. ;>) A frenemy of EVs saw this and said "Yeah, right, you EV owners are all about lower operating costs. Right up there with the payback of $125,000 Teslas, must be that a Bolt saves enough in fuel costs in a week to pay for $680 wheel powder coating.

jack vines

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Depends on what "the cause" is. For me its not about lower TCO (otherwise, I'd still be driving my old paid-for car) but about the freedom from oil and petroleum. I can chose my energy source, and pretty much none of my choices are imported from the middle east.

plj said:

My modification was to remove the rear bow-tie. I used a dozen or so pieces of dental floss to cut the double-sided tape GM used to attach it, and then some paint thinner to remove the residual adhesive from the glass. I also blacked out the gold on the front bow-tie using flat black Plasti-Dip spray, keeping the chrome surround,

Click to expand...

How about one of these to replace the bow-tie?



With a simple badge change, you'd be driving the Model Y prototype.

GetOffYourGas said:

Depends on what "the cause" is. For me its not about lower TCO (otherwise, I'd still be driving my old paid-for car) but about the freedom from oil and petroleum. I can chose my energy source, and pretty much none of my choices are imported from the middle east.

Click to expand...

Hope you noticed I was smiling when I posted, because I agree with your above completely. Some here get into the nano-cents of cost-justification. I did the numbers and our Bolt will never pay out in savings, but it's a pleasure to drive locally and a bonus never to have to go to a gas station or do an oil change ever.

jack vines