Back in mid-January I took delivery of a new £35,000 electric Hyundai Kona. When I collected it from the Slough dealership, it was only 70% charged but I was told that this was down to a fault with their charger.
But when I later tried to charge it, it would again only reach 70%. I was advised to run it down and to try again using a third charger but the same thing happened.
By April I had had enough and took it to my local dealer in north London. A week later, it informed me that the car had been sent to Tilbury, where Hyundai has its main repair place, as the battery was faulty and needed replacing.
I then spent the next few weeks trying to find out when it would be fixed but to no avail. After nine weeks, and no indication as to what was happening, I asked for my money back. It was on a lease purchase agreement.
Everyone at Hyundai I speak to utters the same mantra: “We understand your frustration but we cannot help you.” Can you?
JM, North London
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When electric vehicles work as they should, they are fantastic, and the Hyundai Kona has won many plaudits as being one of the best value EVs around. However, we are increasingly discovering that dealers of all manufacturers do not have the facilities, or the expertise, to fix any that develop serious faults – particularly where the problem lies with the battery.
Earlier this year BMW had to recall 14,000 over concerns about the electronic software controls inside its car batteries. Tesla was named this week by What Car? as the third worst brand for reliability behind Citroën and Land Rover.
In your case, you had already endured a long wait for your new car to be delivered, so were keen to see whether it could be easily repaired. However, your patience has understandably run out.
I spoke to Hyundai and it has agreed to buy back the car and refund all your lease payments in full – a more than fair outcome. It says the repair time was longer than it would have hoped “due to the global automotive semi-conductor shortages”.
You are greatly relieved the saga is over and have decided to wait and see how the market develops before buying another car.
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