[daved]

I'm planning on placing an order for a new Ampera this week, probably from Pentagon or Scottish Vauxhall, but the more I read up the more I'm concerned I might be sold a 2012 old stock model as new. How do I make sure the car I'm getting was built this year as opposed to 2012 as nearly happened to another poster on here?
Has anyone who has recently bought an Ampera from these dealers checked the build date and what was it?

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Are there any built this year?

 

[daved]

I should have said 2014 Model year I suppose. I mainly want to make sure I get the new style energy graphics and other things they changed.

 

[toms]

Doing some research into this myself and it looks like the RHD Amperas are 2012 or early 2013 build i.e all of them.. I don't think 2014MYs exist.. maybe if they sell all the stock that is kicking around they might build some!

I may be wrong about the above, as you never know with car dealers!

 

[Nick]

This link will decode model year from vehicle VIN.

http://vindecoder.eu/check-vin/1G0R86E41DU109765

 

[ALC]

Hi Dave
I took delivery of mine mid June and according to the Vin it was an April 2014 build.... The important bit is the model year though - So long as it's 2014 model year, you should get the latest upgrades. (power meter, non sticking charge flap)
And having worked for GM for too many years, I seriously doubt they would allow any cars over 360 days old left to be in stock, so you should be fine there....
Good luck with your purchase, you won't regret it.

 

[Nick]

Hi Dave
I took delivery of mine mid June and according to the Vin it was an April 2014 build.... The important bit is the model year though - So long as it's 2014 model year, you should get the latest upgrades. (power meter, non sticking charge flap)
And having worked for GM for too many years, I seriously doubt they would allow any cars over 360 days old left to be in stock, so you should be fine there....
Good luck with your purchase, you won't regret it.

I also bought earlier this year. The brochure that I received at the time was published in February 2014 but is explicitly labelled '2013 Models Edition 2' and my vehicle is clearly 2013 too. That's my VIN in the earlier link.

 

[Brooktop]

Bought mine in June from Pentagon Sheffield. It was in stock. It has the power meter and rear arm rest. Charge flap sticks some times but a press of the key fob button and it opens.

Is it meant to be a 2 stage process. 1 release and 2 opens it to 90 degrees?

Ps it's a seriously impressive car!

 

[Nick]

Bought mine in June from Pentagon Sheffield. It was in stock. It has the power meter and rear arm rest. Charge flap sticks some times but a press of the key fob button and it opens.

Is it meant to be a 2 stage process. 1 release and 2 opens it to 90 degrees?

Ps it's a seriously impressive car!

I have all those features including the sticky charge flap on my 2013 MY. It worked well initially but rarely does now. I usually end up pressing the key fob button with a fingernail under the edge of the flap.

 

[daved]

Thanks for the help guys. ALC/ Nick where did you get yours from?
The confusing part of this is that I was expecting all the stock to be sourced from the same place meaning they should all be the same age give or take a bit if dealer has bulk purchased a few dozen vehicles for later registration. Maybe they have all came over on the same boat but we are missinterpreting the data. I don't expect to receive the latest 17kWh battery or whatever they are producing in the US but I'd like the latest UK hardware/ firmware and I am concerned about storage degradation of the pack like has been mentioned with respect to some earlier Leafs.

 

[Nick]

Thanks for the help guys. ALC/ Nick where did you get yours from?
The confusing part of this is that I was expecting all the stock to be sourced from the same place meaning they should all be the same age give or take a bit if dealer has bulk purchased a few dozen vehicles for later registration. Maybe they have all came over on the same boat but we are missinterpreting the data. I don't expect to receive the latest 17kWh battery or whatever they are producing in the US but I'd like the latest UK hardware/ firmware and I am concerned about storage degradation of the pack like has been mentioned with respect to some earlier Leafs.

I bought mine via Pentagon in Sheffield, but they apparently drew it from stock held by Vauxhall in Luton.

 

[daved]

Isn't the sticky charge flap an easy thing to fix with say a splodge of silicon grease. Whats involved with the official fix? I would be more concerned about the charge connector sticking out of the side in a typical British car park with ca.300mm between cars. An expensive connector in a very vunerable position not to mention the cost if the car socket gets ripped out. It's a wonder no one offers a mod to move the socket to a safer place like the Leaf/ Zoe's front mounted socket.

 

[Brooktop]

Out of interest @daved , why the move from a LEAF?

 

[Nick]

Isn't the sticky charge flap an easy thing to fix with say a splodge of silicon grease. Whats involved with the official fix? I would be more concerned about the charge connector sticking out of the side in a typical British car park with ca.300mm between cars. An expensive connector in a very vunerable position not to mention the cost if the car socket gets ripped out. It's a wonder no one offers a mod to move the socket to a safer place like the Leaf/ Zoe's front mounted socket.

On the other hand a front inlet is probably more vulnerable to accident damage.

 

[daved]

Out of interest @daved , why the move from a LEAF?

It's in addition to the Leaf. The Leaf is such a refined car to drive that going back to the Audi was like driving a tractor and after a month using the Leaf and after getting used to the single gear style of driving there is no going back. After spending the last 3 yrs with a 12 mile each way commute, which would have been perfect for the Leaf, I now have a 78 mile each way fast motorway commute. I know the Ampera will probably not match the 86mpg gov figure or the 50 mpg at 90mph real world figure of the Audi over this distance but I'm hoping the refinement will be something to match the Leaf. I struggle to get near the Leaf these days anyway as the other half won't let me near it, she loves it.

 

[Brooktop]

Am hoping to try a LEAF, but love the Ampera glide. Did a Westfield track day yesterday and fun as it was, it felt really odd sitting in a vibrating, noisy vehicle.

 

[ALC]

Dave
I'd been talking to Motorbodies in Luton for many months (highly recommended), but then Thurlow Nunn opened up in Milton Keynes and came up with a good deal. I was made aware of the great deal at Scottish Vauxhall (Inverness), but when Thurlow Nunn told me that they'd match the deal (less travel expenses to / from Inverness), that sealed it for me.

Great service too - and the car took a couple of weeks to arrive, because Vauxhall wouldn't release it to the dealer until all the checks had been carried out (which I understand included the Charge flap fix on older stock cars where it needed fixing). So you should be fine...

I'm now only half way through my 2nd tank of fuel - after 6200 miles and averaging around 850mpg, enjoying commuting 45 miles each way on elec at around 2-3p per mile, and saving around £200 per month running costs. Where's the downside?

 

[Richard Gledhill]

I got mine in April and the VIN says it's a 2013 model car. Mine was also sourced from Luton via the dealer in Leicester. I'd be surprised if any 2014 cars make it over to the UK now...

 

[hopbackguy]

Isn't the sticky charge flap an easy thing to fix with say a splodge of silicon grease. Whats involved with the official fix? I would be more concerned about the charge connector sticking out of the side in a typical British car park with ca.300mm between cars. An expensive connector in a very vunerable position not to mention the cost if the car socket gets ripped out. It's a wonder no one offers a mod to move the socket to a safer place like the Leaf/ Zoe's front mounted socket.

You will probably find you don't do charging in a car park such as you've described. If you do end up public charging (many Ampera drivers don't) then it's likely to be in a dedicated EV bay which has more space between the cars.

 

[hopbackguy]

...oh and I wouldn't worry too much about battery degradation in the Ampera. The battery management is completely different to the Leaf and very sophisticated and conservative in nature, degradation in range has not been a significant issue with the Volt/Ampera.