Long wait for potential 3rd 2015 Kia Soul battery replacement

[GyrussPro]

Been reviewing some threads and discovered I'm not alone. I have a 2015 Kia Soul EV+ and in 2021 my battery was degrading rapidly. Plus occasionally the EV! and Tortoise warning light (lack of power) came on but then it would usually go away and everything was normal again except for the continuous battery degradation. Nevertheless, after many complaints on 7/1/22 Kia of Carson finally decided to replace the battery. Six months later Kia finally received the batteries from South Korea and later installed them on 1/23/23. I believe the battery part ordered was 37510-E4200R. Also the OBC (on board charger) was replaced as it stopped working shortly before the new battery was installed.
On 9/27/23 I did a BMS recall (#23V218) for risk of fire. Apparently the BMS (battery management system) was upgraded and software updated. There were also two wiring harnesses replaced.
Then two months and 1400 miles later on 11/1/23 the EV! and Tortoise warning light came on again.
By 11/14/23 there was another new battery pack (part 37510-E4202R) and transfer harness installed.
One month later on 12/28/23, the EV! and Tortoise warning light came on once again. Took car back to Kia of Carson where it has been sittting since. I get an occasional text stating "that my vehicle remains under review by KIA Corp" and no change in status thus far. Just fyi, my vehicle only has 56,000 miles and is in very good condition.
I reached out to Kia Consumer Affairs and recently got an email that my case has been escalated. They want "any documents relating to my vehicle, including to sales documents, repair orders, vehicle registration, or any other items that you may find useful for my review". Does anyone know what this may mean for my Soul future

 

[JejuSoul]

37510-E4200R and 37510-E4202R are both re-manufactured packs. They probably do not contain new cells. No-one knows what they actually do contain. We just know that this pack is ten time cheaper than a new pack. The re-manufactured packs seem to trigger a much higher failure rate in the updated BMS software than new packs. See this thread for more details :- Battery Recall for cars with E400 high-voltage battery.

 

[GyrussPro]

37510-E4200R and 37510-E4202R are both re-manufactured packs. They probably do not contain new cells. No-one knows what they actually do contain. We just know that this pack is ten time cheaper than a new pack. The re-manufactured packs seem to trigger a much higher failure rate in the updated BMS software than new packs. See this thread for more details :- Battery Recall for cars with E400 high-voltage battery.


View attachment 71

Thank you for that information.

What options do I have here. I'm putting more wear and tear and spending more money on gas on my other car and meanwhile, I lose and extra $250/week in income when I don't have my Soul EV. This tactic they're using is comparable to replacing Duracell batteries with Radio Shack batteries.

 

[jray3]

Why isn’t KIA providing a loaner car and/or paying for your mileage?

 

[GyrussPro]

Sorry Kia is providing a non-electric loaner car. Paying for mileage? No.
However, I did get a buy back offer that is well below blue book value. I'm sure they're low balling me. I would really like my car back with a new (not re-manufactured) battery while it is still under warranty. Are they not obligated to do this? My car was in very good condition. I would consider a new electric car today but, they are over priced and depreciate quickly. What to do?
Maybe a lemon law attorney?

 

[user 2236]

Sorry Kia is providing a non-electric loaner car. Paying for mileage? No.
However, I did get a buy back offer that is well below blue book value. I'm sure they're low balling me. I would really like my car back with a new (not re-manufactured) battery while it is still under warranty. Are they not obligated to do this? My car was in very good condition. I would consider a new electric car today but, they are over priced and depreciate quickly. What to do?
Maybe a lemon law attorney?

Yes, get an attorney involved. Best not to negotiate on your own behalf.

pg

 

[gnad]

This is great info. I'm going through the same thing, but I have a 2017 Kia Soul EV.

Did you use this form? How did you find a lemon lawyer? Any updates would be appreciated.

 

[spidermonkey]

Its a catch 22. How much money can you afford to spend on a lawyer? Kia is worth Billions of dollars, I bet they can spend more money on lawyers than you can. What grinds my gears here the most is that we arent asking for anything more than what the warranty provides. They put a sweet warranty on a car that has a fatal flaw. Its not like we are asking a shoe company to replace a car, we are asking a car manufacturer to honor their warranty by giving us a car to drive while they figure out how to fix the car they sold us. Not a gas burning car, not a hybrid, but an electric car. My car has been out of service for seven months going on eight, pretty soon the rental bill is going to exceed the purchase price of the car.

As far as the lawyer route, it would appear Kia is willing to spend millions in order to save thousands. I honestly cant think of anything more American than that.