I was told today because of recall 200, Hyundai wants buy back our cars

What I'm having difficulty believing is how haphazard and opaque this process is. There were supposed to be "second letters" outlining the recall solution. Has anyone anywhere received one? And the initial recall press releases and communications ALL pointed to replacement. I can't see how Hyundai can blow up a nuclear bomb in public and in front of its customers and now try to convince us all that it was really just a firecracker. Ya, lawyers are going to be making a fortune.

 

I find it disconcerting that batteries are all of a sudden OK that were previously included in the recall to replace? That does not fill me with any confidence about having to keep my battery. I had opened a case June 10, nobody got back to me even with repeated contact to Hyundai. I fully expect them to deny me buyback, if they even get back to me. After my lease is up, I will be returning the car and not getting another Hyundai. It's too bad because I like the car but am not confident in it's safety.

 

I don't have any proof. I'm in the middle of a buyback process.
Other people have reported getting appointments created for battery replacements.

 

Has anyone heard definitively of a case where someone was offered a buyback that was later rescinded? I was late to the party, did receive the offer to buy back, but now I’m worried it won’t happen. I have definitely soured on the Kona.

 

Facebook seems to be the place where some owners are posting every excruciating detail. It seems on the face of it there's a point in the buyback process where once passed it will carry through, noting that Hyundai US is the only importer that had been doing buybacks in volume. Most everyone else in the world is patiently waiting for their replacement.

Posted on another forum, here's a US owner who's just got their car back and had the presence of mind to take a photo, not sure why they waited a month to post it.

 

After months of multiple service visits for updates, waiting for a battery swap and no clear path forward, I initiated repurchase request with Hyundai but was just denied, citing remedy now “available”. I have no confidence in a new battery seeing new fire incident of new MY Kona EV. Trading it in at this moment and value is sad in this market.

My Kona EV is 2019 limited with 21000 miles and appraised for only 24k. Next EV/ICE will definitely not be a Hyundai.

Timeline:
May 15 initiated back back
End of May was asked to get P29 done; went to the dealer in the following week
June 8 was told P29 was not properly completed
June 30 P29 done with second attempt
July 2 was informed repurchase denied and received similar letter someone posted earlier citing remedy now available.

 

It's difficult to know if these reports of battery replacements are the beginnings of the recall or simply random replacement for other reasons. There have always been batteries that have been replaced for one reason or another. Boy, I wish Hyundai lived up to its own promises and clearly communicated its intentions.

 

My memory may be failing me but I believe a small handful of people have reported bricked cars and battery replacements in the years and months prior to the recall. That's what I mean by "one reason or another".

 

True. But if my dealership is expecting and preparing to have me in for an entire week for the replacement starting just 23 days from now, I think it is safe to say the process is well on its way and the batteries are very likely on the continent.


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I totally get what you're saying and I would like to believe it too but I think my scepticism is well earned . I guess I'm saying I would be more confident in believing it if there was some coherent, consistent communication from Hyundai and if we could ALL see it happening as opposed to just getting rumours of it maybe happening. I certainly hope it happens and you'll let us know how it goes. We're all in the same (or similar) boat!

 

Which point is that?

 

You'd have to look through the many posts on global FB group Hyundai Kona Electric (EV) to gain a sense of that. I recall it being once an offer is accepted by the customer but can't be sure and I don't have the stomach to wade through all the pissing and moaning again.

What I'm concluding is that Hyundai USA initially went down this buyback route to avoid lemon-law claims but has inadvertently gotten owners riled up because of the "fear of missing out". There are many steps throughout the process with many delays and owners seemed to think they might get screwed at every point and post about their imaginary losses for no apparent reason other than venting. Yet, all owners everywhere in the world have been promised new batteries by Hyundai S.K. so no owners are getting screwed and many of our 3-year old cars will suddenly become new cars for only the cost of limited range for a year.

Bolt EV owners seem to have not cottoned-on yet to the fact that GM have left them to chance with a software patch to monitor and attempt to predict an imminent failure, much the same as one that we already have with Campaign 196. I'm becoming more convinced that the defect is the same. There are just too many coincidences, same vendor, same size cell and the photo I've seen of a older Bolt cell has a unnecessary bend in the anode at close proximity to the separator.

 

I don't do Facebook so am blessedly free from that angst. I have always had the exact same opinion as you and am trying to hold on to it: new battery, new car. I must admit though that hearing nothing new (after months of waiting) from Hyundai about how and when we move forward has begun to wear on me. That and hearing how (apparently) some people are now being told they'll get a software update rather than a new battery gives me pause.

 

Sometimes it pays to be an "early adopter" . Easy to laugh about it now. It wasn't funny at the time.

It may well be, but if Chevy can produce software updates that don't brick the car (or if they do, if they can supply replacement battery packs in a timely fashion), they could avoid many of the lemon law claims.

Interesting that both Chevy and Hyundai recommended lowering the maximum SOC as a workaround. And I am guessing that Chevy never sold the Bolt in South Korea, so any customer charging behavior that might make things worse in South Korea would never have turned up for Chevy.

 

Apparently the Bolt software patch gives more of a soft warning, puting the car into a limp mode first. And, I don't if it's true but one owners says it beeps the horn if a fire is iminent!
I think GM is just looking at this purely from a total cost perspective, relying on the simple stats that very few cars with the monitoring will burst into flames.

Having owned both a '73 Vega and '95 BMW which both had material issues with their aluminium engine blocks, at this point I can can only laugh at my poor ability to pick reliable cars despite being an engineer and even working in the vehicle test industry for a few years. Even my recently acquired used ICE car has known head and block cracking issues that I knew about before buying.

 

Has anyone gotten an "Initial Repurchase Letter" from HMA, gone through the process with Sedgewick, and then subsequently been denied a buyback?

 

Not yet but waiting for my offer.
2 weeks so far.
In New Jersey USA


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Yep. (I think you know my wife from work, Docpw)
-Nate

 

Ahh yes!

 

I have no concrete proof, but I think if you got a repurchase offer from HMA/HCA you should be fine. They would not offer this and escalate the matter to Sedgwick for calculation unless they intended to go through with the repurchase. With that said, they seem super busy with these offers so I would expect a 4-6 week wait on Sedgwick to get the final $ offer.