New battery installed

I hope you live in California or another State that has a Lemmon Law. I didn't intend to post this here but I think it will fit in nicely in regard to your situation. I loved my My 2020 Kona Ultimate EV. I saw it at the October Auto Show and knew I had to have one. I had to wait a few months then in December 2019 I finally got it. I never buy cars. I always lease them for 2 or 3 years because the technology changes so much I don't want to be stuck owning the car or having a long lease. But in this case, I liked the car so much because it had everything I wanted on it re the technology and especially the HUGE Screen and the exterior and interior color I asked my dealer if I could have a 5-year lease. They said the Maximum was 4 Years which I agreed to. I put down the $3500 I got by selling my previous car to Carvana (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM) plus the $7500 Federal Rebate and my payments were $518 per month for 48 months.

I had the car for 11 months and just before Thanksgiving in November 2020 everything was fine except the car would no longer hold my phone contacts. It would download them (392 Contacts) and as soon as they were downloaded to the car, they would disappear. The dealer checked it out and said the car's phone memory was shot and the "Radio Head" unit (THE BIG SCREEN) had to be replaced. The car was still driveable and I could still make phone calls through the car's audio speakers using my Android phone so it was no big deal. Because we were in the Thanksgiving - Christmas time period instead of taking a week to 10 days to get the new Radio Head Unit it took about 17 or 18 days. The Big Screen Radio Head (as they referred to it) looked exactly the same as the one they removed and replaced in mid-December 2020. But as it turned out there are different versions of the software even though the car is the same year and looks the same on the inside and outside of the car. I soon discovered however that the radio I loved and the navigation I learned how to use and the Climate Control, all looked different and I didn't like it at all.

I told the dealer I wanted my Old Radio, Climate Control, and Navigation Back. I could go on and on with this but the upshot was after 1 month the dealer washed his hands of this problem and turned it over to Hyundai Headquarters in Fountain Valley California, about a 15-mile drive from my house. There is no way they let you in there for a face-to-face meeting with an Engineer or Executive. It is Guarded like Fort Knox. All communication is by Phone or Email. Like many of you have said you don't get phone calls or emails returned from Hyundai Customer Service. After 4 months of this, I sent a letter by FedEx to the head of Hyundai Electronics in The USA and the next day Hyundai called and said they were buying my car back under the California Lemmon Law.

They gave me back my $3500 down payment + 19 monthly lease payments of $518 + The Sales Tax + the Cost of my Car Registration + the $20 I paid for the HOV Stickers + they paid Hyundai Finance the balance owed on my lease about $32,000. My share came to about $12,000 after they took a nominal amount out for the mileage I had put on the car, about 6,000 miles if I remember correctly. The California Lemmon Law spells it all out in a formula. Hyundai was very nice about it. They used a Private company in Ft. Worth Texas (coincidently where I lived for 20 years) who called and explained exactly what they were paying me and followed up our conversation with a complete written breakdown of all the money I was getting, like by line, and the procedure, which was that I was to meet their representative at my Local Hyundai Dealers Office so they could look at the car and make sure the mileage matched what I told them as well as making sure the VIN Matched and making sure there was no damage to the car. I met him about a week after I received their documents. He said everything was in order and we went inside, sat down at a desk where I signed the Transfer Papers and he wrote me out a check for the amount agreed up. It was all simple and smooth. No glitches or surprises. IT IS NOW JUNE OF 2021. Keep reading for the best part.

While at the Dealers I asked if he had any 2022 Hyundai Kona EV's in the Exact same Exterior and Interior Color I had. He said they didn't have a single 2022 and did not expect any until the end of 2021 because of the shortage of Chips. I said do you have any 2021's? He said that whole row in front of you are 2021's. I went outside with him and asked him to give me the key fob for one of them. I turned the car on, and Low and Behold it had my Original Radio, Climate Control, and Navigation that I was trying to get back for the past 6 months. I asked if he had my Grey/Blue Color and he looked on his computer and found it at another dealer about 20 miles away. He traded for it and I went to see the car the next morning. I asked for the key fob again and CHECKED the radio, climate control and navigation. Exactly like my original and like the models he had on his lot. I then signed a new 3 Year Lease giving him the same $3500 down payment I had used for my original car. Except now, my monthly payments dropped from $518 (including monthly sales tax) to $375 per month (including the monthly sales tax). My $3500 covered all the dealer fees and the registration and HOV sticker cost. Nothing else out of pocket. I asked him how was it possible that my monthly payments had dropped $143 and instead of paying for 48 months I was now in a 36-month lease. You are going to love this. He said that besides the same $7500 Federal Rebate I was getting on this new 2021, Hyundai added another $6500 because they were having trouble selling these electric cars. End of Story. Except I am going to throw in some helpful information I learned from the myriad of people I talked with or received emails from during my 6-month quest to recover what Hyundai had taken away from me; Not on Purpose but as part of the New Radio Head Software. Never Update your Navigation Maps because the update does not just update the map. It also and most likely will also alter the look of your Radio, Navigation, Climate Control, Phone Controls, and maybe more. I welcome your comments.

 

- I would like to know how the arbitration meeting of November 17 went. Any resolution to your problem?

 

It's good to know at least one Forum Member had the fortitude to read my entire post. LOL. Seriously this could be a Blue Print for others such as Kona Man who is wasting his time contacting the BBB. His Car qualifies for the Lemon Law. He should take advantage of it. Probably many others on this Forum are also eligible to have their cars bought back. All 50 states have lemon laws for new cars. In addition, six states have a lemon law for used cars. See the Following Links. ***General Information about Lemmon Laws https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/do-all-states-have-lemon-laws and ***Lemon Laws by State: https://www.lemonlawamerica.com/lemon-law-statutes/

 

Sorry, the 11/17/21 date was a typo. My arbitration hearing is on 12/17/21. I will update after the hearing.

 

UPDATE 12/10/2021: The new battery install triggered a problem with the electric inverter coolant pump. The corporate technical support people have not been able to figure it out as of yet. So I'm out of a car for the time being. No loaners available (my guess is the dealer probably has sold everything due to the car shortage) and no support for a rental as of yet. Waiting to hear from a corporate case manager.

 

It just takes time to get the battery. The cargo ports are all backed up. I hope they gave you a loaner.

 

Bob, thank you for your information. My 2019 Kona is past the two years of purchase date, over the 12,000 mile limit, and was immediately registered in KY instead of the state I purchased it in( Maryland). Under those conditions my Kona EV will not qualify in KY as a lemon. Since Hyundai Motor America has not fulfilled it's remedy for the battery recall in a reasonable period of time, HMA should repurchase the car.

 

Your car may still be Covered under the Kentucky Lemmon Law under TWO different provisions.

The First:
Kentucky Lemon law 367.865 INFORMAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION SYSTEM

1. Effective January 1, 1983, each motor vehicle manufacturer shall offer to the buyer a comprehensive informal dispute resolution system. By transacting business in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, each manufacturer is deemed to have voluntarily consented to participate in the system. Each system shall operate pursuant to written rules and procedures which:
   1. Ensure that the system is impartial, accessible to the buyer, and expeditious, and shall operate at no cost to the buyer;
   2. Provide that if the buyer elects to submit the dispute to the system, the manufacturer shall not refuse to submit the dispute to the system as long as the subject of the dispute occurred during the first two (2) years or twenty-five thousand (25,000) miles, whichever occurs first, of the buyer’s ownership of the motor vehicle involved in the dispute

The Second:
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act
You can read about both at this Kentucky Lemmon Law website: https://www.lemonlawamerica.com/kentucky-lemon-law/

Go to this web site to see each States Lemmon Law Ranked from A to F. Unfortunately Kentucky is number 41 out of 50 on the list earning a Score of D-
Yes, D Minus.

 

BaylorBob if you can help me win this dispute, I'd sure appreciate it. As I read this section........ as long as the subject of the dispute occurred during the first two (2) years or twenty-five thousand (25,000) miles, whichever occurs first, of the buyer’s ownership of the motor vehicle involved in the dispute;
..... I interpret this to mean that since recall Campaign200 was in place about the Battery System, the car could still be considered a lemon even though I have past the two year mark of ownership? ....Or is this simply about submission to the Dispute Resolution System and does not really qualify the car as lemon?
And,
If, within the period specified in subsection (1) of this section, the manufacturer or its agents, are unable to repair or correct any nonconformity or defect that substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of the motor vehicle, after a reasonable number of attempts,
(---- In both the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the Lemon Law, the emphasis seems to be on the number of attempts to repair.)

Although most of the Lemon Laws vary from state to state, each individual law usually require a warrantor to cure a specific defect within four to five attempts or the automobile as a whole within thirty days. If the warrantor fails to meet this obligation, most of the lemon laws provide for a full refund or new replacement vehicle.

This is the one thing that might help me to win this case is the statement repaired within a reasonable opportunity.

......However, you are not required to allow a warrantor to tinker with your vehicle indefinitely in the hope that it may eventually be fixed. Rather, you are entitled to expect your vehicle to be repaired within a reasonable opportunity. To this end, both the federal Moss Warranty Act, and the various state “lemon laws,” require repairs to your vehicle be performed within a reasonable opportunity.

I don't expect HMA to roll over and repurchase the car just because it seems fair to me. But it is not ok for them to tell me " someday we will fix your car". There has to be some legal justification. The more clearly I can state that in the arbitration meeting the more likely I am win. I wish I had a law background.

 

Kona Man, I wish I could but I am too busy trying to run my business. Google "Lemmon Law Lawyers" in Kentucky and you should find some. Where I am I found about 30 or more between Los Angeles and San Diego. They will evaluate your situation for free and take your case (if any) on contingency. Under most Lemmon Laws the Car Manufacturer would also be responsible for any Attorney Fees. If they take your case you won't even have to go to their office. They handle everything nowadays by Email. I did not use or need a Lemmon Law Lawyer. Hyundai just offered to buy my car back way before any lawyer would be needed. Good Luck and keep us informed.

 

My replacement battery arrived approximately 9 weeks after being ordered by the dealer that I took it to.

 

Got our replacement high voltage battery replaced yesterday on our 2019 Ultimate. Dealer ordered the battery back in mid-September and got a call last week that it had come in. Dropped the car Sunday evening and it was ready by 4p Monday. Paperwork does not show hours for labor or costs.

Charged the car last night on our L2 and it successfully charged to 100%. GOM is showing a range of 299 miles, but I know that will adjust down as we continue to drive with the new battery. Very happy to have our Kona back at full capacity!






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Why do think your mileage will go down? Most people report that their mileage increases, not decreases. At least that is what I see on this forum. I find that if I let my battery get down to around 5% and let it charge to 100% my mileage increases by 10 or 15 miles until it reaches a plateau. My last plateau was 316 miles up from 305. Try it and see what happens. Make sure you are at your home charger before you let the battery get any lower or you will need a tow truck instead of a charger. LOL.

 

Well, I am in Sunny Southern California and maybe that makes a difference. I don't know. Electriceddy I defer to you. I recently found that I had a Winter Battery Setting on my Car which was checked in the On Position. I unchecked it. Although with the weather we have been having and which is continuing with Snow, even in areas of Southern California, maybe I should put it back on.

 

Correct, I’m in NC and our winter temps dip into the 20’s and 30’s here. Also, BaylorBob, no battery warmer on my 2019, but we love her just the same


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I've got an arbitration meeting coming up here in the next day or so. I'm curious how yours went. Was it a cut and dried offer that made you happy? Was there an argument to be made or is there really not much of a discussion at all and the arbitrator handled it all?

 

My arbitration meeting on 12/17 was interesting. It was a Zoom call hosted by a BBB representative with me, a representative from Hyundai, and an independent arbitrator. The Hyundai rep informed the group that she was not a Hyundai employee, she was a private contractor hired for the hearing.I had 20 minutes to present my case without interruption. At that point the Hyundai rep had 20 minutes to speak. She merely apologized for the inconvenience of my not having my vehicle for 75 days and getting zero help or information from Hyundai. She revealed that she had no information about my case but said that Hyundai had not violated the warranty and therefore denied my request for repurchase. The arbitrator had five minutes to ask questions as did I and the Hyundai contractor. I then had the opportunity to sum up my case and I was followed by the contractor who simply said, "...we're sorry for the inconvenience but we deny your request". The arbitrator then closed the call and promised to have her decision in 3 business days. I was contacted by BBB on 12/22 with the arbitrators decision which ruled in our favor requiring the repurchase of my Kona EV. I was contacted by Hyundai on 12/23 and a very friendly case manager indicated that I would be contacted by the repurchase team in 3-5 business days. Today is the third business day and I'm eagerly looking forward to their offer. I can't say enough about the support and procedures of the BBB automotive division, everyone I contacted was outstanding!

 

thanks for this info. How did you get the charging details shown in the attachment?