Chevy Bolt Owner Claims Empty Car Reversed By Itself, Damaging Brand-New Vehicle and Garage
Update: The owner of the Bolt followed up with “Chevrolet Forum” to say that “a GM engineer and [another rep] from Michigan are flying out tomorrow (Jan. 19) and all three will…review the situation.”
The Chevrolet Bolt EV has been getting a lot of ink lately. Green Car Reports named the Bolt the “Best Car to Buy.”After consideration from a jury of distinguished automotive journalists, the Bolt EV was recently awarded the title of “North American Car of the Year.”
However, one particular Bolt EV is not getting any of that from its owner. He claims it spontaneously put itself into reverse in his garage. He posted the following on My Chevy Bolt:
“Here is a strange one, but it seriously happened.
I was out of town (the only driver of the Bolt). I get a call saying there was a crash in the garage.
BOTH keys were out of the vehicle; car [was] self-locked and shut down in park from the previous night.
Wife heard a crash, goes to the garage and sees that the car backed up and ran into a work bench, pushing in a wall.
Granted, hard to believe, but both keys out of the car, she was in the house (no other drivers here), I was 40 miles away, and somehow the car moved????
The owner even documented how he shut off and left the car:
“I did not press the P (parking brake) button on the left side of the shifter.
I did this:
1. Hold the brake pedal down. 2. Press the button on top of the shift lever to shift into P (Park). 3. The P indicator on the shift lever turned red when the vehicle went into P (Park). 4. Turn the vehicle off. 5. Exited vehicle, and the vehicle’s horn sounded and the doors locked.”
While the owner awaits a formal response from Chevy (he currently has a case number with the automaker) and his insurance company, he has the wheels chocked — just in case. Thankfully, no one was injured. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
