What should I do about this lemon situation?

Seeking Advice Forum
1

I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

2

Take the refund and wait for the 2025 models to come out.

3

Wow, that’s quick! My GT has been in the shop for over 75 days, and I’m just now getting assigned a ‘level 3’ case manager.

If Kia repurchases the car, you’ll have to pay for the mileage you used, typically around $0.40 per mile.

If you’re okay with that, then I’d say do what others are suggesting—take the refund and wait for the 2025 models.

4

I’d take the $7,000 and wait it out. That’ll cover a good chunk of the depreciation.

5

zendaya said:
I’d take the $7,000 and wait it out. That’ll cover a good chunk of the depreciation.

Yeah, I’m leaning towards this too since it’s a lease. It feels like the safest option.

6

zendaya said:
I’d take the $7,000 and wait it out. That’ll cover a good chunk of the depreciation.

Someone mentioned to me that I might be able to negotiate for more money. Do you think that’s possible?

7

izael said:

zendaya said:
I’d take the $7,000 and wait it out. That’ll cover a good chunk of the depreciation.

Someone mentioned to me that I might be able to negotiate for more money. Do you think that’s possible?

You can always try to negotiate!

8

izael said:

zendaya said:
I’d take the $7,000 and wait it out. That’ll cover a good chunk of the depreciation.

Someone mentioned to me that I might be able to negotiate for more money. Do you think that’s possible?

The market’s in your favor right now, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Dealers are struggling to sell these cars.

9

Honestly, I’d take the refund. It’s a solid option. I’ve heard about the battery draining issue too—it tends to happen when the battery is under 20%. I usually try to charge at 40% to avoid that. If I were you, I’d ask for the refund and maybe push for back pay, given that you’ve been without your car for two months.

10

I’d choose either option 2 or 3, but I’d lean toward option 3. If you go with option 2, make sure they do something about the lease payments you’ve been making while the car’s been in the shop.

11

izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I’m curious why it’s taking so long for the repair. Around here, ICCU or battery repairs take about 3 days to a week.

12

emma said:

izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I’m curious why it’s taking so long for the repair. Around here, ICCU or battery repairs take about 3 days to a week.

I’m not sure. A few weeks ago they mentioned needing a higher-level tech to work on it, but they’ve given me very little info or updates.

13

izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Option 1 could work if you’re not paying for the lease while the car’s in the shop. But if I were you, I’d take option 3 and go for a 2025 model.

14

izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

15

Randy said:

izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

Should I just take the $7,000 and get a new battery? Does deleting the app really fix the drain issue?

16

izael said:

Randy said:
izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

Should I just take the $7,000 and get a new battery? Does deleting the app really fix the drain issue?

Yep, deleting the Kia app fixed it for me. The app prevents the car from going into sleep mode, which drains the battery. Once I removed the car from the app, I never had battery drain problems again.

17

Randy said:

izael said:
Randy said:
izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

Should I just take the $7,000 and get a new battery? Does deleting the app really fix the drain issue?

Yep, deleting the Kia app fixed it for me. The app prevents the car from going into sleep mode, which drains the battery. Once I removed the car from the app, I never had battery drain problems again.

Actually, the Kia app doesn’t cause the car to stay awake just by being installed. The car should still go to sleep as normal unless you’ve linked your Kia account to a third-party service, which might be constantly polling the car for data and preventing it from sleeping.

18

Robert said:

Randy said:
izael said:
Randy said:
izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

Should I just take the $7,000 and get a new battery? Does deleting the app really fix the drain issue?

Yep, deleting the Kia app fixed it for me. The app prevents the car from going into sleep mode, which drains the battery. Once I removed the car from the app, I never had battery drain problems again.

Actually, the Kia app doesn’t cause the car to stay awake just by being installed. The car should still go to sleep as normal unless you’ve linked your Kia account to a third-party service, which might be constantly polling the car for data and preventing it from sleeping.

That wasn’t the case for me. My battery died twice, but once I deleted the app, the issue stopped completely.

19

Randy said:

Robert said:
Randy said:
izael said:
Randy said:
izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

Should I just take the $7,000 and get a new battery? Does deleting the app really fix the drain issue?

Yep, deleting the Kia app fixed it for me. The app prevents the car from going into sleep mode, which drains the battery. Once I removed the car from the app, I never had battery drain problems again.

Actually, the Kia app doesn’t cause the car to stay awake just by being installed. The car should still go to sleep as normal unless you’ve linked your Kia account to a third-party service, which might be constantly polling the car for data and preventing it from sleeping.

That wasn’t the case for me. My battery died twice, but once I deleted the app, the issue stopped completely.

It sounds like you either used the app a lot or authorized a third-party service (like a charger or power company) to access your Kia account. This is a known issue that can drain the 12V battery because of frequent polling.

If you use the app excessively (like checking it a dozen times a day), that can also cause the battery to drain. Some people, like ride-share or delivery drivers, might use it a lot for remote A/C or heat.

Otherwise, it could have been a bug with your app. Deleting and reinstalling probably fixed it.

20

Randy said:

izael said:
Randy said:
izael said:
I leased my EV6 GT Line at the end of January. Unfortunately, I ran into the dreaded 12V battery drain issue and took my car to the dealership at the end of July for repairs. It’s now been almost 60 days, and my car is still in the shop.

They gave me a loaner (Kia Forte) about 2 weeks into the repair, and I’ve been stuck with it since. I contacted Kia America at the 30-day mark, and now I have an offer. I can either:

  1. Get $7000 and keep the lease while waiting for the repair.

  2. Switch to another vehicle at the same price point.

  3. Get a full refund and have the EV6 bought back.

I’m really not sure what to do. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I had the same battery issue with my 2022 GT AWD. I took it to AutoZone, got the battery recharged, and deleted the Kia app since I barely used it. Problem solved. That was back in April/May.

Should I just take the $7,000 and get a new battery? Does deleting the app really fix the drain issue?

Yep, deleting the Kia app fixed it for me. The app prevents the car from going into sleep mode, which drains the battery. Once I removed the car from the app, I never had battery drain problems again.

Thanks! I’ve heard of people swapping out the 12V battery for a different one, and that seemed to fix the issue. Would that work, or would deleting the app be necessary?