Battery Recall for Canadian Kona Owners

A slightly odd twist in my battery recall story:
I just got a call from a dealer I have never done business with because my original dealer emailed them asking them how they seemed to be actually DOING battery replacements while mine is not. The upshot is that I have an appointment in two weeks for the preliminary scan/check after which they can (try to?) procure the battery. It's about 75km away but could be worth the drive.

I'll see if I can find out why my original dealer seems to be unable to do the job while this other dealer can and has been for a while now.

 

Got my car back, and everything seems to be OK. Had to reset a couple things, but that's normal after being in for service. In the garage, I noticed now that the little orange light in the grille emblem is on, so I suspect they may have have depleted my 12V battery a bit. Will keep a close eye on things for a while, and with charging. But this dealer has done a quite a few batteries already, so assume they know what they are doing.

Now at 40K kms, I effectively have a new car again. And no worries about fires or battery bricking on me. All is good,... for now.

 

My dealer told me that the importer would contact me directly regarding the battery replacement, implying they were not involved. There are probably only about 3 early Konas local to the two dealers in my region so I doubt either would acquire the lifting equipment and training. I don't mind taking it some distance and staying overnight as long as it gets done.

 

We have a different system in Canada (no "importer"). Here the dealer is supposedly King, the sole contact regarding recall and warranty service. That's why when our dealers are a bust we're pretty much stuck. I'm happy to go on a short road trip if it moves things forward. I just hope that nothing goes off the rails when I involve a second dealer in the process. It's feels potentially fraught.

 

I don't think it matters which dealer you use. I bought my car at a different dealer than where I got the battery replaced. You get to choose which dealer you go to with your recalls, and you can change that anytime you want. I actually asked that of Hyundai Corporate when I was talking to them about my $250 gift card, and that is what they told me.

But I do like my local dealer here, as they have communicated with me very well, incl the service manager calling me at home several times to give me updates on what was going on. Even Roman of Hyundai Corp called me a couple times. So I have absolutely no complaints about Hyundai and how they handled my battery recall and the other recalls and service (ie motor and gearbox replacements).

And I have never kicked up a fuss with them, as I have heard so many on this forum do. Maybe I just have more patience. Or maybe it is where I live. My other car is a Subaru, and have also always had great service from them, too. But we do have about 5 or 6 dealers of each in my area. So maybe the competition is what keeps them all more motivated in doing a good job.

 

My dealer is perfectly nice and I trust them but they just don't seem to be getting stuff done. I don't hold Hyundai blameless. I think their communications with their dealers is as crappy as it is with its customers. And I also think they play favourites; bigger dealer groups get better treatment than smaller ones.

 

I am not sure what you mean by nice. Is he getting the job done for you, and is he your advocate with corp? Action is what counts. Not sure exactly where you live, but maybe you should go see another dealer if they are not too far away.

 

Wut?

An OBD2-level tester cannot inspect cathodes, anodes, or any other physical innards of a battery pack's cells.

I cannot understand why this mythology is still being bandied about. *Stop it*.

_H*

 

RP did you ask about the $5.00 a day they owe you

 

I forgot, but will follow up. Usually the service mgr calls me afterwards, so will remind him. We have talked about it before and he said they will submit it, similar to the $250 gift card.

 

Whoa cool your jets a bit. You know its rubbish and I know it. I am just reporting the exact language as per my work order. You might want to direct your cease and desist orders towards Hyundai.

 

Let us know if the motor mount kit works. My dealer is ordering one to deal with that issue. I’m not convinced. My battery was also “tested” today and apparently I won’t get a replacement. Still skeptical.

 

Congrats. What dealer do you use?

 

Got my battery replaced 2 weeks ago now. I also have 40k KMs on it and everything seems to be good. They also replaced the knuckles on the front wheels to stop the clunking sound when making a slow left or right turn. Basically feels like a brand new car now. I took it to Murray Hyundai in Whiterock.

 

That's where I bought my Kona. But I get it serviced in Langley, which is where I live. Yeah, am pretty happy with mine now, and yes, feels like a new car, at least in my mind.

 

Hi Kathryne, the revised motor mount did indeed fix my drivetrain chatter. I hope it does for you as well.

 

I am now without my wife’s 2021 since mid August and the latest I’ve been told is not to expect a battery until February (not believing that)! If I could get my money back at this point (minus the 3 months we were driving it) I would take the cash and run.
We feel cheated and very frustrated by this turn of events especially as we were assured the battery problem we were worried about was no longer an issue.

 

That "chatter", is that different than the barely audible card in the spokes sound (tick, ticking) at very low speeds when taking off and stopping?

 

Looks like my new battery was manufactured on June 29, 2021. Also see a V02 bar code on the side. Does that mean anything?

 

I'm currently on the battery wait list at Murray. How long did you have to wait?