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

[GeorgeS]

Hyundai needs to e on record with this. I suggest anyone that speaks with Hyundai, record the call, of course notify the person the call is being recorded.

You don't need to record anything. This is not a court case. Hyundai has files with the NHTSA for the recall. If they do not perform it in a reasonable time, there is authority to force some action. Hyundai is not giving up selling cars in the US or anywhere. Take action that you need. I personally believe Hyundai is still trying to figure out what to do. Keep your eyes and ears open for the opportunity to do what fits your needs. When it comes along whether it is a new battery or a buy back, check out and make a decision.

 

[mikeselectricstuff]

I wonder if this may be due to the patent lawsuit that prevents them importing SKI cells to the US?

 

[MSimpsonNJ]

I wonder if this may be due to the patent lawsuit that prevents them importing SKI cells to the US?

I'm not certain but I believe that the issues involving SK and importing of their batteries into the US has been resolved (or is in the process of being resolved).

 

[Jgood]

Call me skeptical but this sounds dicey. What about the federal tax credits everyone got for purchasing a Kona? Those have been claimed long ago for most of us. We got a small state rebate too. And who's going to determine the value of your Kona? The local dealer? That sounds totally above board! More to the point...we've received an official NHTSA recall that states,...

"You will receive a second notification letter when the remedy is available,
and the Battery System Assembly will be inspected, and replaced—if necessary."
​

I'm thinking Hyundai is going to have a difficult time suddenly changing their solution now that they've already notified customers in this way. I suppose it could happen, but the rumored buy-back seems to me to be the path of greatest resistance for Hyundai.

 

[Chris Alemany]

Here's an update from what we've heard from our dealer in (Nanaimo,BC) Canada.

We received a flurry of phone calls from them (the local dealer) as news broke and they got their act together as far as how to move forward. They are offering both the buyback and battery replacement. They went so far as to say that they may rent another repair shop space so that they can continue doing regular servicing for all their customers plus dedicate two full bays in their store to the replacement process, one to store the new battery and one to do the replacement. They do not have a timeline, perhaps summer, on when they will start doing replacements. They expect the replacement process to take at least a week or two. They do seem sure that they will be doing replacements including on the models they buy back.

They definitely are wanting us to do the buy back instead though. They said we would still be eligible for the rebates that are available for new EVs (though they have dropped from $10,000 when we bought it to $7500 now), and said they would go through the normal used car assessment process. So I am not confident that we would be getting an acceptable deal when it comes to going all new.

We love our Kona and have as you know customized it with a trailer hitch so that puts us more firmly on the side of wanting to do the replacement. As far as I am concerned, I would not be willing to put down more than $2000 for a new Kona in a buyback. We own the car outright and want to use it to its fullest. We are going to go in and talk to them about the buyback anyway just to see what they offer, but that's where we are at.

If anything signicant changes Ill come back here and let you know.

 

[R P]

First I heard of buybacks in Canada. If that were feasible, I would go for the Ioniq 5 instead though.

 

[Jamas]

I will. The person I spoke to didn't want to go on record since she isn't in the finance / buyback dept. but she told me she thinks they pay the price you bought it for, minus a deduction for mileage. If that's true, it could be a very good offer. But I'm an optimist. Still, if buyback is truly their solution they must know they have to offer something pretty reasonable to get people to agree to go along with it. Admittedly I'm anxious to see how this all plays out. On the one hand I really love the car and honestly was going to be ok with a battery swap and just keep the car. But that doesn't sound like an option so I guess I will probably do the buyback. I'm certainly not keeping the car and only charging to 80% for the rest of its life.

If true, I'm curious if they will reimburse the cost of the car, minus mileage, minus the federal and state rebates?

 

[GeorgeS]

I did some research on the rebates in Oregon. Don't to how many states it may apply. In Oregon, the federal rebate is yours. You do not have to return the rebate if you sell the car (assume includes Buy Back). The state rebate however states if you own the car 2 years, you do not have to pay any back. Under 2 years it is prorated to how long you owned it. If we sell it back to Hyundai after owning it 1.5 years, we would have to give back 1/4 of the $2800 rebate or $700.

 

[Mattsburgh]

I'm not certain but I believe that the issues involving SK and importing of their batteries into the US has been resolved (or is in the process of being resolved).

That's my understanding as well, the two companies came to an agreement before the deadline.

 

[Mattsburgh]

Here's an update from what we've heard from our dealer in (Nanaimo,BC) Canada.

We received a flurry of phone calls from them (the local dealer) as news broke and they got their act together as far as how to move forward. They are offering both the buyback and battery replacement......

If anything signicant changes Ill come back here and let you know.

Good information, thanks. I am getting my recalls done today and then I'm supposedly going to be put in touch with the buyback department so I'll also update when I know more. I am leaning towards letting them buy it back at this point and getting a Tucson PHEV or the 2022 Kona Electric but I definitely haven't decided and it will absolutely depend on what they offer me for the buyback.

 

[Mattsburgh]

If true, I'm curious if they will reimburse the cost of the car, minus mileage, minus the federal and state rebates?

I would strongly suspect not since the tax rebates did not cost them money and were an incentive for US to buy the car which again did not cost Hyundai anything. Obviously, if they incorporate the tax credit into their buyback value that would almost certainly be a deal breaker for me, at that point I would insist they replace the battery as I am not willing to accept max charge of 80% indefinitely.

 

[Mattsburgh]

I would strongly suspect not since the tax rebates did not cost them money and were an incentive for US to buy the car which again did not cost Hyundai anything. Obviously, if they incorporate the tax credit into their buyback value that would almost certainly be a deal breaker for me, at that point I would insist they replace the battery as I am not willing to accept max charge of 80% indefinitely.

One more thing to consider: the convoluted mess they'd have if they tried to incorporate tax credits and state incentives. Every state is different, not to mention just because there was a $7500 tax credit doesn't mean you got that, you had to have $7500 in taxes to credit. So for those reasons I find it very unlikely Hyundai could use that as part of their valuation. "Prove to me I got a $7500 tax credit" in other words. (in my case, sadly, I made a really stupid mistake that year and I was plowing money into my 401k and I didn't realize it but when all was said and done my annual taxes were only like $6400, so I totally lost out on $1100 tax credit b/c of my immense stupidity). But that just proves my point, they don't know how much of a credit each of us actually got. And they have no right to ask for our tax returns lol.

 

[Jamas]

One more thing to consider: the convoluted mess they'd have if they tried to incorporate tax credits and state incentives. Every state is different, not to mention just because there was a $7500 tax credit doesn't mean you got that, you had to have $7500 in taxes to credit. So for those reasons I find it very unlikely Hyundai could use that as part of their valuation. "Prove to me I got a $7500 tax credit" in other words. (in my case, sadly, I made a really stupid mistake that year and I was plowing money into my 401k and I didn't realize it but when all was said and done my annual taxes were only like $6400, so I totally lost out on $1100 tax credit b/c of my immense stupidity). But that just proves my point, they don't know how much of a credit each of us actually got. And they have no right to ask for our tax returns lol.

Too bad the credit is only good for the current year. It would have been nice if they allowed a carry over to the following year, when your tax liability might be higher.

 

[Ed C]

Here's an update from what we've heard from our dealer in (Nanaimo,BC) Canada.

We received a flurry of phone calls from them (the local dealer) as news broke and they got their act together as far as how to move forward. They are offering both the buyback and battery replacement. They went so far as to say that they may rent another repair shop space so that they can continue doing regular servicing for all their customers plus dedicate two full bays in their store to the replacement process, one to store the new battery and one to do the replacement. They do not have a timeline, perhaps summer, on when they will start doing replacements. They expect the replacement process to take at least a week or two. They do seem sure that they will be doing replacements including on the models they buy back.

They definitely are wanting us to do the buy back instead though. They said we would still be eligible for the rebates that are available for new EVs (though they have dropped from $10,000 when we bought it to $7500 now), and said they would go through the normal used car assessment process. So I am not confident that we would be getting an acceptable deal when it comes to going all new.

We love our Kona and have as you know customized it with a trailer hitch so that puts us more firmly on the side of wanting to do the replacement. As far as I am concerned, I would not be willing to put down more than $2000 for a new Kona in a buyback. We own the car outright and want to use it to its fullest. We are going to go in and talk to them about the buyback anyway just to see what they offer, but that's where we are at.

If anything signicant changes Ill come back here and let you know.

That's great if you're Canadian. But I live in the US, and right now Hyundai of America might not offer the battery replacement option.

My bigger question is, even if they did replace your battery, you have no way in knowing if Hyundai will internally set your charge limit more than their current buffer. So instead of being able to achieve 100% charge like now, you will only get 90% and you don't even know it.

Another question is we are assuming that Hyundai had found the problem with the fires, which is the defect in the battery contacts being exposed. What if that is not the case? What if after mass battery replacements, some of those cars are still catching fire? What then?

So for me, even if they offer a buyback, I am not sure if I will move up to a newer model or another Hyundai.

Even though this experience with my Kona EV is not good, I would likely want to keep my car (or move to another electric vehicle) considering how gas stations are running out of gas in the Southeast after the Colonial pipeline ransomware attack. It's comforting to know I always have an electric transportation alternative if I cannot use my gas car.

Questions, questions, questions.

 

[Mattsburgh]

I look forward to hearing from someone who has gone through the buy back process. Did you get Hyundai to pay for the sales taxes and new car registration fees? Had you modified your Kona? Did you have custom accessories? Were there other issues that affected negotiations?

I'm right there with you. I wrapped my car 2 years ago to change the color and that cost about $3600 or $3800. Obviously since that wrap should easily last another 5 years, I'm going to be mentioning it to corporate when they talk to me about buying it back.

 

[Mattsburgh]

Too bad the credit is only good for the current year. It would have been nice if they allowed a carry over to the following year, when your tax liability might be higher.

I know. I bought solar panels a few years ago and that credit was allowed to be carried over if needed, for 3 years.

 

[Chris Alemany]

My bigger question is, even if they did replace your battery, you have no way in knowing if Hyundai will internally set your charge limit more than their current buffer. So instead of being able to achieve 100% charge like now, you will only get 90% and you don't even know it.

Another question is we are assuming that Hyundai had found the problem with the fires, which is the defect in the battery contacts being exposed. What if that is not the case? What if after mass battery replacements, some of those cars are still catching fire? What then?

It might be worth noting that the Chevy Bolt (2019 model and earlier I think?) used the same LG batteries and have the same risk. This recent article,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brooke...sues-and-fire-risk-two-cases/?sh=2a0d0c151bc0
relates a story wherein the author says:
"After several weeks of back and forth, GM has agreed to replace his Bolt with a new 2021 Bolt or buy back his Bolt (which falls within the 2017-2019 model range). The fact that GM is willing to go this far shows that GM is taking this seriously."

If their biggest competitor is doing it perhaps there will be three options from Hyundai in due time:
Replacement
Buy Back
Repair

 

[Alejo]

Any of you guys have experience with buybacks, how much should we expect to be offered and how much will they deduce for the mileage. I do like the car but service since day 1 is not good here in Montreal compared to my old car (VW). With all that is coming I don't have high expectations

 

[Jamas]

I just got off the phone with Hyundai to ask about the buy back vs. battery replacement. I don't know if the person I spoke with was confused/ill-informed or if her information was accurate, but she told me the following:
- Battery Replacement doesn't fix the problem so they will not be doing that
- Hyundai is looking into other solutions - so remedy is still unknown
- Hyundai is not currently initiating buy backs other than for customers who want it

So basically, this call created more questions for me than answers :-(

 

[Mattsburgh]

I just got off the phone with Hyundai to ask about the buy back vs. battery replacement. I don't know if the person I spoke with was confused/ill-informed or if her information was accurate, but she told me the following:
- Battery Replacement doesn't fix the problem so they will not be doing that
- Hyundai is looking into other solutions - so remedy is still unknown
- Hyundai is not currently initiating buy backs other than for customers who want it

So basically, this call created more questions for me than answers :-(

Although this is not exactly the same thing I was told (your person sounds like they have a bit more information) it does mesh with everything I was told. My rep didn't tell me the replacement doesn't fix the problem, but did strongly suggest battery replacement is not what they plan to do as a remedy. I clearly stated that 80% max charge for an indefinite amount of time was not acceptable. I told her that if they were willing to promise me something reasonable like the battery replacement would take place "before end of June" (for example) then that would be different, but that's not what they're saying. She obviously (correctly) took that to mean that I was looking for another solution. I expected them to possibly offer a loaner but no, she went straight to asking me if I would be interested in a buyback.

One other thing, at the dealer today, they are a dealer for both Hyundai and Nissan. The service manager I dealt with talked to me for quite a while about the car and situation, as he himself wanted to buy a Kona Electric but their dealership isn't allowed to get any (not one of the 12 states Hyundai ships them to). Anyway, he pointed out how Nissan had a big problem with Rogues or Muranos (I think?) awhile back with the airbags and then he also mentioned another major recall that I don't remember the details of but the point was he said that Nissan had the dealership put everyone in rentals from Enterprise and he said that basically they wiped out Enterprises' fleet all over the country and it was costing Nissan $1600 a month per car. So Nissan eventually just started buying back the cars instead of paying all that money for rentals indefinitely. His point , which I think is sound, is that perhaps Hyundai doesn't want to get into a situation where they're paying for thousands of rentals for a long period of time and instead they're like "if customers aren't ok with waiting, let's buy the car back". The bad news here of course is that this might mean Hyundai thinks it's going to be a long time (months) before they figure out what all needs to happen to insure the fix really does fix the problem. It makes sense that they want to be absolutely sure; imagine you got a new battery along with 80,000 others and a few weeks later... one of them catches on fire. There goes any/all confidence that the problem has been fixed.