How Reliable Is A Used Chevy Bolt? Here's What J.d. Power Says

The second-generation Chevrolet Bolt is expected to driblet for nan 2027 exemplary year. This caller procreation is much of a refresh than a complete redesign, but there's astatine slightest 1 awesome difference. The first-gen Bolt had a seven-year accumulation run, but General Motors has decided to springiness people 18 months to buy nan caller type earlier sidesplitting it again. With that successful mind, it's astir apt a bully thought for imaginable buyers to commencement researching nan 2027 exemplary now, truthful they're fresh to spell erstwhile nan car hits dealerships. With nan adjacent relationship betwixt nan 2 generations, that intends we tin commencement by looking astatine nan reliability of nan first.

Now, location is 1 very ample caveat present. Nearly nan full tally of nan first-gen Bolts – astir 110,000 vehicles – went done a bid of battery-related recalls for occurrence risk, which yet required replacement packs for each models. Beyond that awesome issue, location was different monolithic callback conscionable months later for occurrence risks unrelated to nan artillery pack.

On nan different hand, you could reason that those were fundamentally teething pains for nan Bolt. If you judge its reliability much connected J.D. Power's dependability rankings — wherever nan model never dipped below an Average standing successful nan years it was tested — you tin astir apt consciousness optimistic astir nan caller generation. After all, Chevrolet itself was classed third among mass-market brands successful nan 2026 Vehicle Dependability Study. Evidently, those recalls are acold from nan only factors affecting nan Bolt's reliability.

From nan Chevrolet Bolt's motorboat successful 2017, it recovered itself pinch a Great rating of 82/100 for Quality and Reliability from J.D. Power. It besides managed a Great standing of 87/100 for driving experience, apt acknowledgment to its expertise to recreation 238 miles connected energy unsocial — astatine a clip erstwhile nan Nissan Leaf was constricted to just 107 miles. Considering each of these traits, it makes consciousness that nan '17 Bolt was chosen arsenic J.D. Power's champion mini car of nan year. And yes, that put it up of well-regarded rivals specified arsenic nan Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. 

J.D. Power didn't supply a dependability standing for nan Bolt successful 2018. It still vanished up of nan Fit and Yaris successful nan wide small-car ranking for that exemplary year, albeit pinch nan Chevy now successful 4th place. Its reliability went unrated again for 2021 and 2022, while its remaining years – 2019, 2020, and 2023 – each saw nan car successful nan Average area for dependability, pinch scores ranging from 72 to 77. On nan different hand, nan Bolt did recapture nan apical spot among each mini cars successful nan wide rankings for that last year.

With some this and nan aforementioned recalls successful mind, we deliberation nan newest of nan aged Bolts (from 2023) are nan champion prime connected nan utilized car market. No uncertainty helping matters, these models besides boast a larger artillery battalion and disposable fast-charging, neither of which could beryllium recovered connected pre-2020 Bolts. The 2023 type besides retains Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, making it a perchance much compelling prime than nan resurrected 2027 Bolt, which uses its ain proprietary system.