Bolt Front Seats Recall Media Campaign

[LeftieBiker]

The first Leaf 2 cars built this Fall will have 40kwh packs (not 45) as best we can tell, with a 60kwh pack following sometime next year.

[flamaest]

Leaf 2 specs....

http://electrek.us9.list-manage.com/tra ... 9bed1a6247

[mnm1945]

I have been reading on this forum for quit some time as I prepared to buy a 2017 Bolt Premier trim. Was initially a little concerned about the potential seat issue so I thought I would sit in the car for a while before I actually signed on the preverbal "dotted line". Went down to Connell Chevrolet this afternoon and sat in a black premier and a red LT. I immediately noticed the side bolsters pressing into my shoulders on both trims. The seats are very narrow and had very little room on the bottom of the seat as well. However, the seat backs were by far the biggest issue for myself. I am 5'7"and weight 158Lbs. I consider this a big fail. How could Chevrolet let the seats pass through engineering. I am wondering if all the interior engineering was done in North Korea? I have decided to pass on the Bolt and looki into the BMW I3. I am very disappointed GM!!!

[iletric]

I have decided to pass on the Bolt and look into the BMW I3.

GM, another on bites the dust.
Can you afford it? Really?

[devbolt]

I have decided to pass on the Bolt and look into the BMW I3.

GM, another on bites the dust.
Can you afford it? Really?

So long as their sales numbers keep increasing, yes, they can easily afford it. Most people don't have a problem with the seats.

A vocal minority have legitimate complaints about the seats, but without the ability to quantify the number of lost sales solely due to seat issues, GM will not aggressively pursue a redesigned seat, or a TSB campaign to alter existing seats to mollify a minority number of owners.

[elpwr]

Bolt sales are doing pretty good. Even while being held back by the slow rollout.

It's outselling the antiquated Leaf in spite of the huge Leaf incentives and discounts. New Leaf with only 150 mile range and ineffective battery thermal management is a big disappointment. Nissan has clearly blown their initial lead in EV's and is now in catch-up mode.

https://www.autoblog.com/2017/09/08/che ... -ab-tile-6

[d2170]

I'd echo that last thought. There is no seat controversy. There are just incontestable facts. But they have to be stated precisely and without exaggeration in either direction. It's real easy to change a few words and make a misleading statement.

1. Some potential buyers have turned away from the Bolt because the seat they sat in was painful or uncomfortable.

2. Some Bolt owners encountered seat problems post-purchase. Some of them found the problem so bad they purchased cushions or had the seat modified by a seat shop.

3. Some of us have sat in multiple Bolts, and found seat A awesome, and seat B painful. So it's not an issue of having a "big butt", as some have suggested. Same butt, one seat hurts, another feels great.

4. GM is aware of the problem. See the comments by the GM Customer Care representative on this forum. And GM has a suggested solution if you own a Bolt - contact your dealer first, and contact customer care directly if you dealer doesn't give you satisfaction.

5. This thread will keep growing until it has consumed all the computer storage on the planet Earth.

As explained in #5 above, we all agree the seat problem is of biblical proportions.

[elpwr]

" we all agree the seat problem is of biblical proportions". - a totally false statement.

Many Bolt owners and potential purchasers find the seats completely satisfactory. Myself included.

[Allelectric]

" we all agree the seat problem is of biblical proportions". - a totally false statement.

Many Bolt owners and potential purchasers find the seats completely satisfactory. Myself included.

"We all agree" is not accurate, I agree with you there. But I have had 6 people at work drive my car because they are (sorry were) interested in buying one. Only one (5'2" and probably 110lbs) thought the seats were "alright, but very hard". The others, all various size males and none over weight, said the seats were unbelievably narrow and very uncomfortable. They also all drove my Kia Soul EV. They all loved the seats. Same size car so apples to apples.
If you haven't yet read the Doug Review thread and watched the video review please do. He only has 3 gripes in the car. The seats are one. He was told they were narrow but he says they are even worse than he thought they would be (his words not mine) and he is not a big guy.
Me and my wife fight over who gets to drive our Kia Soul EV each day, for one reason only......... really, no BS, it's the only reason. We both think the Bolt is fantastic, except for the seats which make us want not to drive it.
And my wife is 5'6" and 135lbs.
The seats are too narrow, full stop. Add to that the almost complete lack of padding in the base and seat back. Add to that the high hard plastic seat base shell, and the pronounced hard side bolsters on the seat back.
The seats are at best for some "satisfactory", for many terrible and even painful.
My car is heading to the dealer for a repair of the seat back that has split away and a loud cracking noise when you lean against it. Others on this and another popular forum have had the same issues (some more than once now.
A leading car maker aiming to break new ground should be making sure that "Satisfactory" is the way someone who doesn't like the seats describes them.
They are losing sales because of these seats. If the don't make wider, more padded alternate seats available, they will lose me as an owner as soon as someone comes out with a car to match the mileage (that I can actually buy, not put a deposit on).

[elpwr]

I have to ask: If spending only a few minutes in the car you find the seats so unbearable - why did you buy the car? That's tanamont to admitting that you didn't do a very careful assesment of your potential purchase.

The same can be said of complaints about the suspension. Even a reasonable test drive allows you to evaluate seat comfort and ride quality. These are fundamental characteristics that should be plenty easy to assess.