2012 Chevrolet VOLT - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 Chevrolet Volt has an excellent overall safety rating of 5 out of 5. This model excels in various crash tests, including front crash and side crash ratings, with impressive scores across the board. It also received the highest rating for rollover protection. Additionally, the Chevrolet Volt is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances the vehicle's stability on the road.

However, this particular model does not feature forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems. While these advanced safety technologies are not present, the overall safety performance of the Chevrolet Volt remains top-notch.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that there have been 231 complaints reported for this vehicle, along with 2 recalls. Despite these numbers, the Chevrolet Volt's strong safety ratings and stability control system contribute to its overall safety profile.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

231

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

3

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2012 Chevrolet Volt 4 DR FWD(Early Release-no field upgrade) Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Chevrolet Volt 4 DR FWD(Early Release-no field upgrade)

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 Chevrolet Volt 4 DR FWD(Early Release-no field upgrade) Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Chevrolet Volt 4 DR FWD(Early Release-no field upgrade) Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2011 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating 4 4 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2011 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear 5 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating 5 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2011 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Rollover Rating 5 5 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating 5 5 5

Complaints for the 2012 Chevrolet VOLT

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. the contact stated while operating the vehicle, the front passenger’s side air bag warning light remained illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the front passenger’s side air bag passenger sensor system was faulty and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact was informed that the part to repair the vehicle had been discontinued and no repair was available. the manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the part was discontinued. the failure mileage was 100,000."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-01-07
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. the contact stated while driving at various speeds, the "service air bag" warning light intermittently illuminated. the contact notified a dealer about the failure and was provided a diagnostic fee. the manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was provided the same information. upon investigation, the contact discovered nhtsa action number: pe19013 which was linked to the failure. the nhtsa investigation was later closed. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 127,000."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-12-10
Complaint:
"airbag sensor harness underneath the passenger seat comes disconnected from moving the seat back and forth causing a warning on the dash. gm has a tsb about this and should rewire the harness for free. the passenger presence module is undetected when the seat moves forward but is detected when moved to its full rearward position."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-10-08
Complaint:
"defective front passenger seat occupancy sensor. the defective sensor makes the passenger airbag unusable, sacrificing passenger safety."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2019-01-01
Complaint:
"the 2012 chevy volt passenger airbag sensor was an issue that the nhtsa investigated. it will cause the passenger side airbags not to deploy in a crash. i can reproduce the airbag warning light by pressing on the passenger seat. it has also been confirmed by an independent service center. there is supposed to be a reduced cost replacement program (according to the nhtsa) but both dealers and the chevrolet support center do not seem to know about it)"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2017-01-06
Complaint:
"the passenger seat occupancy sensor is malfunctioning and needs replaced."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2022-01-11
Complaint:
"seat sensor for passenger air bag is not working. it picks up a passenger and turns on air bag then turns it off. then back on then off. getting service airbag light. i see this was investigated by nhtsa and chevy was supposed to build a replacement program for 12-13 volts but when i call chevy they see no such program even though it is reported as a known consumer concern and was part of agreement when closing nhtsa investigation as per articles on this from journalist."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2021-11-08
Complaint:
"airbag light is on due to faulty passenger seat sensor that is a known defect by manufacturer. your investigation was closed with the note that "gm created a program to replace the passenger sensing systems in 2012 and 2013 model year chevy volt vehicles". i am trying to get them to fix the issue, but they say there is no program for this repair. and the repair consists of replacing full passenger seat for over $1000. it looks like gm is misleading nhtsa that they have a program to correct the problem."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2022-01-08
Complaint:
"regular faulty warnings referring to air bag component"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2022-01-01
Complaint:
"in mid 2020 i began to get an intermittent warning of a problem with the passenger side, front seat occupant sensor. the problem has become much more frequent. the gm service department was familiar with the problem in 2020, but said there was no recall. if the passenger moves around the sensor will activate or deactivate. i assume that the airbag would not dependably deploy in an accident. today i discovered a discussion of this problem in the gm-volt forum. the forum mentions the same problem with other gm models. this is obviously a safety and manufacturing issue. repairs are quoted in the $800 to $1,000+ range with no guarantee the problem won't reoccur."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2020-01-09

Recalls for the 2012 Chevrolet VOLT

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 volt vehicles manufactured august 25, 2010, to june 26, 2013. if the driver exits the vehicle without turning off the electrical system, the battery may drain low enough that the gasoline engine will automatically start itself to recharge the electric battery."
Consequence:
If the engine runs for an extended period of time in an enclosed space, there may be a build up of carbon monoxide, increasing the risk of personal injury.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the engine management software to limit the time that the stationary vehicle can be left in the ON position, free of charge. The recall began April 15, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14617.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM > IGNITION
Date of incident: 2015-03-13

CHEVROLET Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

CHEVROLET ranks 2 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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