BaylorBob
Active Member
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 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.
