Gut check on used Kona Purchase

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David12231990

New Member
Hey everyone! We are making some car changes as we are awaiting our second child. Right now we have two RAV4s, mine is Hybrid XSE 2020 and I love it. Wife's gas xle 2021, not crazy about it. We need.. Well want really... Something bigger so I'm getting the wife a beautiful but expensive hybrid limited Grand Highlander to drive the kids around in. To not totally blow up my monthly car payments and car related expense I'm looking for a new car for me (trading in my lease for the xse with 8k equity!) So I'm looking to reduce my payments. So I found at my Toyota dealer a 2021 Kona EV Ultimate for $28,500 with 16k miles on it. I've done some research and am aware of battery issues, However this VIN has no recalls and a clean Carfax. I test drove and it was fun, albeit small. But it would be for me and my 12 mile per day commute, so it would be practical.

My question is..I guess.. I am usually a Toyota loyalist and seeing the reliability issues just kinda scares me. I'm also very befuddled about the price. KBB says it should be worth like 37000. Is this because KBB is like a pre tax credit price? Or is the market telling me to be careful? I just want to buy a car that I can pay off quick and then keep for many years without too much hassle and low cost of ownership. I suppose maybe I'm looking for reassurance. Anyways, I would appreciate some thoughts from some Kona EV owners!
 
Really cursory googling suggests $28.5 is slightly on the cheap side for a used 2021, but not eyebrow-raising out of range? I've always found KBB to be a little off when it comes to EVs anyway.

If the dealer will entertain a second test drive, you can get an ODBII adapter and read some data off the vehicle to check for red flags. The available data includes a "Battery state of health" as a percentage but I'm honestly not sure how that's calculated since on my vehicle it actually went up. Consider that a finger-in-the-wind type of indicator rather than a hard number I guess. But there's other potentially useful data; The car logs how many AC and DC charging events there were. Even if it only has 16k miles, if there's a ton of fast charge events, or they're a high percentage of all charging activity, then you'll know the car was abused a bit.

But yes the Kona is tiny for a family car, and it seems like you have that covered. It's been a wonderful daily commuter for me (~5mi one way) but has also yet to fail me on longer trips out of state. It's not mentioned in your post, but would this be your first full EV? Do you have the ability to charge at home? Getting a 240V supply installed is ideal but from my own experience, at 12mi/day you can absolutely get by with a 120v outlet indefinitely provided you can always plug it in when needed, which would be overnight maybe every 3-4 days I reckon. (Or leave it plugged in over a weekend)
 
It is true that my son, having two children, is content with Skoda Kamiq (okay, he complains a bit that it could be something more extensive), and my daughter with three babies successfully uses Toyota Proace City, but I suppose that in America all standards they are at least one size bigger ;-) So the Highlander, a huge beast, will definitely be enough to cover family trips. As for the daily commuting to work I have been using the company Hyundai Kona Electric for over 3 years, covering about 140 km round-trip every day for a long year. And I am very satisfied in terms of dynamics, comfort and driving pleasure. And complete reliability, for that matter. So much so that I am currently looking for a 2-3 year old Kia e-Niro with full equipment as a second car in the family - for daily spinning around the chimney. But if I were to be guided only by aesthetics, I would probably choose the charming Lexus LBX, which, being a noble incarnation of the nasty Yaris Cross, steals hearts despite the miserable grinder under the hood.
 
I purchased a 2019 Kona new and have never had an issue with it. I have taken it 2500 mile road trips and used for daily driving around town. In January it went to my brother and sister in-law as I now a have an F150 lightning. The kona has 20k miles on it. The battery was replaced under recall but has required no other work done on it. YMMV
 
That looks like the cars.com market rate asking price in the US. I picked up a used 2020 Kona Electric Limited with 50K miles in January and I've put 7000+ miles on it, including a 1200 mile road trip up and down the west coast. It's a good car, even for long road trips, but I have a two complaints. First, I wish it were quieter at highway speeds. I have the stock Nexen tires still, and on very long driving days the road noise wears me down. Second, My local dealer's service department fixed some minor issues under warranty, which was great, but the entire experience, mostly scheduling and communication, left a lot to be desired. My remaining complaints about the car are petty.
 
2019 Ultimate with 30k miles on it, purchased new. Love the car, have made 4 trips to and from NY and FL and never an issue. Just the typical issues with first model year cars, a few recalls, software updates and a new traction battery. Just replaced the 12 V battery and new tires. It has never let me down and continues to amaze me, coming from a "Motor Head Family" I'll never go back to fossil fueled vehicles. 70-80 degrees F is the sweet spot for efficiency. I usually see around 350 miles available charging to 100%, no A/C or heat on. My biggest concern is parts availability, that is a problem waiting for shipments from Korea. I came from Toyota's also loved my first Prius back in 2001 up to our Prius plug-in in 2012, since then I've only owned EV's.
 
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We lease a 2021 Kona Ultimate. With 18,000 completely trouble free miles we average about 5 miles/kWh, 240 full charge miles in the winter, close to 300 Summer. The battery issues you mention involve the '19 and '20 models, to my knowledge no '21's. When the lease is up next year we intend to buy out at $22,000. The major downsides are as Ricardo mentioned the road noise (not that hard to live with, actually), and my pet peeve, the non-existent back seat leg room. Other than that I have to say it's the second-best car we've ever owned; the best is our other car, an Ioniq 5 EV. As far as longevity goes nobody can help you out there, the cars haven't been on the roads long enough to establish a history, so it's a crap shoot. I will say that on this and other Kona forums I have heard no complaints of any battery degradation which I find encouraging. We absolutely love both EV's, and to repeat what virtually every other EV owner says, we'll never go back to gas.
 
However, battery degradation occurs. For me, after 3.5 years of operation and 76kkm, after maximum charging now it shows max. 480-490km (without A/C), and last summer it was even 525km (usually about 510). Driving style and routes unchanged. Of course, it's still not a tragedy and I'm very happy with the car, although there are some new interesting designs, apart from the Ioniq 5 or Kia EV6, e.g. Zeekr 001. It is much bigger and more comfortable, and the price is very similar, it seems. I think the Chinese are preparing a nice price revolution. Tesla needs to pull up his socks, because although they are good cars, the interior finish resembles a shoddy movie set. It's supposed to be nice in the picture, but the real thing is scary.
 
Hi. I have a similar problem with my battery to yours? Were you able to fix it somehow, or has the battery already lost the volume it had?
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David12231990 said:
Hey everyone! We are making some car changes as we are awaiting our second child. Right now we have two RAV4s, mine is Hybrid XSE 2020 and I love it. Wife's gas xle 2021, not crazy about it. We need.. Well want really... Something bigger so I'm getting the wife a beautiful but expensive hybrid limited Grand Highlander to drive the kids around in. To not totally blow up my monthly car payments and car related expense I'm looking for a new car for me (trading in my lease for the xse with 8k equity!) So I'm looking to reduce my payments. So I found at my Toyota dealer a 2021 Kona EV Ultimate for $28,500 with 16k miles on it. I've done some research and am aware of battery issues, However this VIN has no recalls and a clean Carfax. I test drove and it was fun, albeit small. But it would be for me and my 12 mile per day commute, so it would be practical.

My question is..I guess.. I am usually a Toyota loyalist and seeing the reliability issues just kinda scares me. I'm also very befuddled about the price. KBB says it should be worth like 37000. Is this because KBB is like a pre tax credit price? Or is the market telling me to be careful? I just want to buy a car that I can pay off quick and then keep for many years without too much hassle and low cost of ownership. I suppose maybe I'm looking for reassurance. Anyways, I would appreciate some thoughts from some Kona EV owners!
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Hi David, I've had mine for nearly 5 years,(2019) done around 40k KMs. My range is still the same as it was on day one.(well over 500km) I treat it nicely and usually charge on a 7kw home charger. I love the car and how efficient it is. it sounds like a good option for the use you have.
If i was buying second hand I would ask them to charge to 100% and see what the range is, then compare that to the range when new. Id also check the history of driving style thats hidden in one of the menus. Just to see the percentages of economical, normal and hard driving.
Last check, apart from just the visuals, would be listening for any ticking or clicking noises on a smooth quiet road. If none, then I'd recommend.
PS, that price doesnt sound too cheap to me. similar here is Oz.
 
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