It’s normal to be nervous when taking your car in for a recall. You might be worried about the dealer techs scuffing your upholstery or bungling the repairs. You probably don’t expect your car to end up on the news after it was wrecked in a high speed chase. For one Hyundai owner, though, that’s precisely what just happened.
Meet Ethan Blout. The proud owner of a Hyundai Ioniq 5, he came into trouble when the vehicle started behaving strangely and threw a warning code in March. Suspecting a common failure in the Integrated Charging Control Unit, he had the vehicle towed to the dealership for repairs.
Sadly, the poor Ioniq 5 ended up stranded for months while the dealership waited for parts. Then, just as Ethan was getting hopeful about picking up the car, someone else drove away with it instead. Chaos ensued. I spoke to Ethan this week to get the full story.
Hurry Up And Wait
For Ethan, trouble first struck on March 16. “I drove my 2023 Ioniq 5 to the donut shop to buy a treat for my family,” he says. “Leaving the parking lot i heard a loud pop from the back of the car and the battery warning illuminated immediately.” Thanks to his knowledge of the model, he was confident the issue lay with the Integrated Charging Control Unit, which manages charging the battery and vehicle-to-load power, among other things. [Ed Note: We’ve written about Ioniq 5 ICCU issues; they are unfortunately relatively common. -DT]
“I knew right away that my ICCU had blown since I’ve read enough stories from other owners having this problem, but I thought if I shut off all accessories I might limp the car home,” Ethan explains. “I got only a mile or so before power started dropping precipitously, and pulled off the main road just in time.” With the car dead in the water, there was nothing left to do. “I contacted Hyundai and they dispatched a tow truck, taking my car to the nearest dealer,” says Ethan.
News from the dealer was swift—the problem was indeed with the ICCU. However, there was a problem, with the dealer informing Ethan that the part was on national backorder. “Tentative date to receive one was the beginning of April,” says Ethan. He was lucky enough to receive a loaner car in the meantime while the Ioniq 5 languished. “Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months,” he laments.
The turn of May 1 brought a ray of hope. “My Hyundai app suddenly sent me notifications that my car was left on and idle,” Ethan explains. ” I used the tracking function and could see it was at the dealership in the area of the shop, so I took this as a good sign that they must have received the part.” It seemed the repair was finally progressing.
Sadly, a day later, those hopes were dashed. “I got a call at 1:53 pm from my service advisor that there was good news and bad news,” says Ethan. Unfortunately, the former was spoiled by the latter. “The good news was the part arrived and the car was repaired the previous day,” he says. “The bad news was that they could not find my car, it had been left inside in a repair bay, and they realized it was gone.”
Ethan’s car was no longer on the dealer lot; it was unclear how thieves were able to enter and start the vehicle. “I was asked to track it, and I informed them of it being in Boston and being driven,” he says. “They said it’s definitely stolen then, and that they will contact the police.” Upon providing location information to the dealer, however, they advised him to contact the police himself instead. “I wasn’t clear on why they wouldn’t report it, but I did what they asked,” Ethan says, noting he left work to file a report in person. “I told the police officer that I could see the car was parked in Boston, and that the doors had been locked but were now open, [and] they called the Boston Police,” he says.
“I then continued to track the car as I drove home, watching it start moving again,” Ethan told me. “Little did I know that I was watching the police chase!” Those who had taken Ethan’s car were on the run, but they weren’t going to make it very far. “From what I can see on the police report, the police tried to block the car in but the thieves sped off,” he says. “They then lost control, hit a fire hydrant, and crashed into a church.” Those in the car attempted to flee on foot, but all were arrested in short order.
The news report on Ethan’s stolen vehicle. Three individuals were arrested after the vehicle hit the Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan, Massachusetts.
Ethan’s car had been snatched from what should have been a safe location and became a local news story in the process. The incident was covered by 7 News Boston, Boston 25 News, and WCVB Channel 5, just to name a few.
It might have been a good result for justice, but sadly not for Ethan’s Ioniq 5. “I got a call from the police letting me know the car was totaled, and where it was being towed,” he says. “I then contacted my insurance… I got two very brief text messages from the GM of the dealership that basically just acknowledged the car was stolen but nothing else.”
Despite the car’s newfound infamy, Ethan has been left in the lurch. He has neither a vehicle nor any sort of restitution at this point. ” I contacted Hyundai USA and opened a case, letting them know what had happened, and asking that they help to mediate and participate in some sort of outcome that is fair,” he says. As of the time of writing, though, no response has been forthcoming. “I still have not heard back from anyone at Hyundai or the dealership,” he told me on Tuesday night.
Common sense might say that the dealership has a certain duty of care when it comes to customer automobiles. When we drop our cars off for repairs, we expect to get them back again, particularly when it’s the manufacturer’s fault we had to go there in the first place. At the same time, you can head over to Reddit to read mechanics discussing this unfortunately common occurrence. They’ll tell you it’s quite common for dealerships to put legalese on their forms stating they refuse liability for things like theft and acts of God. Such situations often turn into a mess of wrangling between multiple parties, none of which want to pay up for what happened.
[Ed Note: In case you’re wondering why we haven’t named the dealer, Ethan writes on his Reddit thread about this incident: “I’m thinking I want to give them a chance to step up and do the right thing with me before I name and shame them. Then I can post a feel-good story about Hyundai and the dealership helping out a loyal owner. I could even do a news story follow-up interview about it.” Hopefully they make everything right. -DT]
We understand the frustration and inconvenience caused by some cases of extended delays with the ICCU repairs on the IONIQ 5. The delay is due to ongoing supply chain disruptions that continue to impact the availability of certain parts. We are working closely with supply partners to secure the necessary parts quickly and complete the repairs as quickly as possible. We recommend that customers reach out to their local dealer for the most up-to-date information on the arrival of their parts.
“it was unclear how thieves were able to enter and start the vehicle.”
“Those in the car attempted to flee on foot, but all were arrested in short order.”
“mechanics discussing this unfortunately common occurrence. They’ll tell you it’s quite common for dealerships to put legalese on their forms stating they refuse liability for things like theft and acts of God. Such situations often turn into a mess of wrangling between multiple parties, none of which want to pay up for what happened.”
If this turns out to be as I suspect, an inside job I doubt such legalease will offer much protection against the legal and public opinion shitstorms to follow.
“I’m thinking I want to give them a chance to step up and do the right thing with me before I name and shame them. Then I can post a feel-good story about Hyundai and the dealership helping out a loyal owner. I could even do a news story follow-up interview about it.” Hopefully they make everything right.”
Stay tuned I guess.
That’s rough buddy.
Years ago, we dropped our G6 GXP off for service in Tacoma. After they finished our car one evening, they parked it on the outside of their security fence/gate. When we went to pick it up, someone had stolen the right rear wheel, it was on a cinder block and no one there noticed for the entire day shift, they were going to let us drive it away like that. They also have a night guard who didn’t notice my wheel being stolen. I ended up having to file a claim as the dealership denied responsibility. A replacement wheel was absurdly expensive (~$1200) but not worth bothering with a lawyer.
Tough luck, it happens. The dealership owes him nothing for a stolen car. He has insurance and that’s what insurance is for.
I think you mean that the dealer has insurance and that’s what their insurance is for.
Stolen from their lot under their care. That’s their problem and their insurance problem to solve.
His insurance will 100% be taking this up with the dealers Insurer.
For sure, the most painless option is probably to have your own personal auto insurance subrogate the claim. I would trust my own insurance for making me whole versus trying to get the dealership’s insurance to pay out in a timely fashion.
I do not trust Hyundai/Kia at all. I experienced the Hyundai/Kia engine fiasco first hand when my ex’s Kia Soul threw a rod. I was the one that dealt with the dealership. Some models had the engines covered in a recall while other models with same engine were not covered. Had our engine replaced as a “courtesy” after a $400 diagnostic fee. The engine replacement took over three months. I would regularly visit the service advisor for updates. During one of my visits I heard them tell somebody with the same issue they were SOL because they were the second owner. Hyundai/Kia only honors the initial warranty (at least at that time) for the original buyer. The warranty was shortened for the second owner.
edit – I forgot to mention the KIA Boys mess. My area was littered with wrecked Kias for over a year. The kids would steal them and drive crazy until they crashed.
Half the Hyundais and Kias I’m behind blow an azure cloud as they accelerate. Yikes.
They make some attractive cars (both visually and technologically), but Hyundai is an absolute mess.
I had to buy my mom’s Elantra off of her because it kept getting stolen and/or vandalized where she lived. Hyundai would take it and hold it each time while they waited for parts. All because they can’t design an ignition properly.
It’s too bad because the Elantra isn’t a bad driving car, but sadly that’s not even the only problem with it. The GDI engine is a repair waiting to happen and the CVT (while actually decent to live with and the fake shifts are well done to hide rubber-banding) is another point of pain for reliability.
I used to own an ’04 Sonata a few cars back, but Hyundai/Kia is off my list as we shop for something my wife actually wants to replace her previous winter beater Forester.
So sorry to hear about Ethan’s misfortune. I hope that the dealership will continue to provide him with a loaner free-of-charge (I’m curious to know what he got as a loaner… is it another Ionic 5 maybe, or perhaps a less popular Ionic 6?) until such time as an equitable resolution is reached. IMO, Hyundai should just GIVE him a new Ionic 5 comparable (in trim level) to his original car, especially considering the fact that the car’s theft made it onto television news. But I assume they’re concerned about setting a precedent: if they replace his car outright, then other customers unfortunate enough to have their cars stolen while in dealership care will expect and demand the same.
Years ago, I had my Mercedes CLK 320 in for (yet another) repair in its first year of my ownership, and of course, their shop managed to scratch up some of the wood in the interior while they had the dash apart to access some glitchy piece of German electronica. The dealer did eventually fix the damage (and provided a loaner) but it was a disappointing and stressful experience. The same dealership also managed to scratch the paint on the bumper while the car was in for another repair, and of course, that meant a time consuming trip to their paint booth too. I’m wildly unlikely to ever buy another modern Mercedes (they’re too heavy and complicated, though I still like the older ones… say, pre-early 90s at the very latest) I will certainly never return to that dealership regardless: it was Calabasas Mercedes, out on the 101.
PS: that’s a really nice looking dark blue BMW i3 parked behind his Ionic 5 in that photo Ethan provided. You don’t see that color much and it’s great. Is that also one of Ethan’s by any chance? 🙂
Hope the theives get a good and long prison sentence. First for the theft and then putting everyone in danger with the chase.
The only bright side I see in this story is the next person whose Ioniq5 is towed to that dealership with an ICCU issue should benefit from a quick repair.
A Hyundai dealer of all things? Best of luck!
Anyone else think the timing of this thing being stolen just being repaired after sitting for months is interesting, plus apparently having easy enough access to the service bays? And what an odd thing to steal, something readily trackable remotely (I’m surprised there’s no way to lock it down remotely unless the thieves had the keys, which is unclear), an EV that will be worth approximately $5.76 in another 2 years, a CUV, and not even an N.
Seems their EVs are almost as bad as their ICE. There are three Hyundais in my extended family—Sonata, Santa Fe, and maybe Tucson (I can’t care enough to know the models, but it’s not the big one)—and all of them have needed engine replacements under warranty, with the final one sitting at the dealer waiting for an engine and all of them are driven by (lovable) nerdy types who dealer maintain and drive conservatively. There’s lemons and the odd engineering issue that causes a particular engine, transmission, or model to be a problem that any manufacturer can have, and then there’s Hyundai.
And this, kids, is why we have Gap Insurance.
File with your insurance company, pay the deductible, and let them subrogate the claim against the dealer’s insurance. Once that’s done you will get your deductible back.
You can always wait and hope the dealer steps up with a replacement, but as the saying goes, wish in one hand, sh!t in the other – see which one fills first.
The dealer is not going to give him a new car.
It’s a pretty childish assumption on the car owner’s part to think that was even possibly a thing.
It might have saved them in long term insurance premiums if they had.
Probably not. The car owner’s insurance will pay. His insurance company will sue the dealer’s insurance company and depending on the specifics of the theft they may admit a small percentage of liability and pay accordingly.
Even with laywers, this costs less than the depreciation on the used Ioniq 5.
They will blame the employee who left the door open and / or didn’t lock up the keys. He’ll get fired and will get a job at another dealership, catholic priest style.
This literally happens all the time, minus the police chase part.
Wut? How is it childish to expect the negligent car dealership to replace the car?
It’s childish to expect a new car as a replacement for a used car.
Or naiive, uninformed, etc. Choose your word. It’s a silly expectation.
Time to lawyer up, bro.
Yep, and get the local news to do a “12 on Your Side” story.
100% If he hasn’t called a lawyer yet, hes’ a fool.
Keys were in the car? If they were, it sure feels like negligence for which the dealer should be responsible.
And I believe it would be subject to Bailment laws in his state, but it’s still going to ultimately come down to negligence either way. That’s the standard.
Hopefully the dealer’s insurance company is smart enough to just pay any gap, given that even just responding to a lawsuit will probably cost them more than the gap amount. However, sometimes they want to protect themselves from precedent so they engage in what I call an Idiot Fight.
According to Mr Lehto it doesn’t matter what legalese the dealership put into forms because the law states they’re still responsible for the vehicles left in their care. Dealership needs to step up on this one and they damn well know it.
Basically the dealership and Hyundai corporate have one hell of an opportunity to make this right and reap the positive PR from it, or they can chose that other option and fully deserve what they get.
As I like to say, you can’t just waive away a law because you don’t like it. No matter what certain current political perspectives might be on such matters…
lol Hyundai Corporate doesn’t give a single fuck
That it’s in MA is on the customer’s side, too, as we tend to be far more on the side of the consumer than many other states.
I’m think Elizabeth Warren had something to do with that. LOL
Thousands of readers of the Autopian will know what the outcome of this incident is.
The unfortunate owner now has a golden opportunity to get away from Hyundai/Kia. They are nice and shiny and new and look like good quality, but all too often end up as a huge disappointment and inconvenience.
H/K has an opportunity to come out like a rose, or like a pile of…
Morgan and Morgan, meet Hyundai.
For the people.
Great. I’m in the same area bringing my Ioniq 5 in to the dealer for this same recall work this Saturday.
Don’t worry, guys. When it happens to me I will out the dealer immediately (could be the same one).
Don’t worry. My wife never booked the appointment. Apparently it involves using Hyundai’s stupid app that can’t comprehend that there may be more than one driver per car.
Based on my dealings with Hyundai/Kia, waiting around for them to “do the right thing” will just mean a very long wait.
But YMMV….. maybe. (Online experiences seem to suggest they won’t vary, however).
Nothing like that classic Hyundai ownership/dealership experience! My car had arguably the most common N problem (bad knock sensors) and before they figured it out they were talking full engine replacement with me. They said I’d be waiting a full 6-12 months at minimum if it came to that due their now infamous part shortages.
Fortunately it was just the faulty sensor and not something worse, but dear god. They sell so many defective cars that they can’t keep up with the demand for repairs. And that’s where they get you with the warranty-“oh we can fix it but who knows how long it’ll be.” I think many people just give up and cut their losses.
If the dealership is like any of the Hyundai dealerships I’ve had the uh…pleasure of interacting with I’m not even remotely surprised that they somehow managed to have a car stolen right out of their service bay. Honestly I was surprised to read that it wasn’t a dealership employee who stole the car and tried to evade police while joy riding it Ferris Bueller’s Day Off style.
In a vacuum I rather like my Hyundai. But I’ll absolutely not be buying one again, and if they want to maintain their increased market share and attract repeat customers they needed to get some of this shit under control yesterday. Their cars might be more appealing but their QC is as bad as ever and you’ll want to save time for a shower after any interaction with one of their frat house dealerships.
Why does Hyundai and Kia have such awful dealers in the states? I’ve bought kias at 2 different dealers and both have been fine. Warranty/recall work? No issues. Same with the local Hyundai dealer and friends who have been there.
The dealer group that owns everything in my city does seem to keep the shenanigans to a minimum across all their brands, that may help.
They did it on purpose so they can just offer a normal level of service at their Genesis dealers when they open them. Their customers have become so accustomed to terrible, that ‘kinda ok’ is going to seem awesome.
Corporate doesn’t do enough about it, but it’s a common problem for any manufacturer in their approximate position. While they’re moving upmarket a little, Hyundai and KIA have traditionally been low end cars selling largely to people of more desperate means. Any manufacturer in this situation tends to have worse dealers as they can get away with it.
I hear a lot of bad things about Toyota and Honda, too, but that’s more because their loyal buyers won’t buy from another manufacturer and they can get away with a take-it-or-leave-it and markup attitude. (That said, I’ve dealt with two Toyota dealers and both were great. I even got one of the first GR86s in the country with no markup and the whole experience was 1.5 hours including the test drive where they let me take it out alone, so YMMV).
Hyundai has been slinging cars for over 40 years in North America so this argument doesn’t really hold up to serious scrutiny.
Honda and Toyota took about half that time to establish a decent dealer network. Analogously, In my experience VW still has pretty a bad dealer network as does Audi and they’ve been here far longer than Hyundai.
The parent corporation could police its dealer network and remove lower quality dealers, but it doesn’t appear to be interested in doing so.
They started as a value brand in the US. So they accepted pretty much anyone with a dealer license to get a dealer network. Those dealers were used to dealing crapcans to financially illiterate people. Being a mainstream brand that has to appeal to a wider audience is a fairly recent development.
They’re awful in Canada too. I checked out a new sonata about a decade ago and the dealer experience was a nightmare. I’m surprised they manager to sell anything. I’ve avoided the brand since then.
I did check out the ionic when it came out but the 2 yr waiting list thankfully kept me from making that mistake.
That would increase the top speed and resolve any wind noise issues.
This is the type of pedantic shitposting I come here for
OK Hyundai.
Meanwhile earlier in the evening, a nearby Staples reported a mysterious break in that involved the theft of a large quantity of USB cables. How Ioniq.
It’s a terrible situation but how can you blame the dealership?Blame the thieves who broke in and stole it.
If I let a friend borrow my car and it’s stolen because he leaves it running with the keys in it, some of the fault is his.
My standards are higher for a factory-authorized business who should be responsible for the safe storage of my vehicle while in their care.
Why not both?
You’re kidding, right?
Parking lot owners often have liability for thefts that occur on their premises and you somehow think Hyundai should not be held accountable for a theft that occurred while the car was INSIDE their own repair bay, potentially with the keys in it?!?
It’s a mess and possession can make it messier hopefully between the insurance companies they can work it out. Gap insurance might be a good thing to have if buying an EV. I wonder if a key fob was stolen from inside the service department.
That’s no joke, gap insurance for the drop in value that is surely happening if you buy one instead of lease
Yeah, even the big time ev guys are saying just lease now. They are more like tech then a car so it makes sense. On the plus side you can get a used one for almost nothing.
Having worked at dealerships, can virtually guarantee the keys/fob was just sitting in the cupholder with the driver window rolled down. Someone didn’t lock a bay door, quite possibly on purpose for some cohorts, although wouldn’t be shocked because the lube tech stayed late to smoke weed and forgot. Most Hyundai dealers DGAF and are managed to cut every corner, pinch every penny, and fuck over every customer possible, so having some shitty hoodrat employees or broken/non-existent security systems is hardly a stretch. Rounding up keys each evening, ensuring vehicles are locked, and putting them in a lockbox in a secure/alarmed area? Pfft, what do you think this is, Lexus?
Probably the case. Kia / Hyundai dealers have gotten extra scummy. I’ve had to go in a few because they claimed to do work on people’s cars and didn’t ended up reporting them to the state AG office. Really crazy stuff for low mile few year old cars.
The dealership should have security cameras, and could see who grabbed the keys, and how easy it was for them to get the key and the car.
Wouldn’t it be best to just file with your own insurance and they go after the dealer in subrogation? That’s literally what they’re paid to do.
Agree, treat it like it was stolen from anywhere else.
If it were stolen from a supermarket parking lot, you wouldn’t expect the supermarket to be liable. Not sure how this is any different.
Eh, I think it’s pretty different. You don’t hand the supermarket your keys.
The article says “it was unclear how thieves were able to enter and start the vehicle” meaning perhaps the keys were not involved.
OK but like…you didn’t give the grocery store custody of your car. These things are not the same, sorry.
legal concept … bailment … you bail your car over to the dealership … there may be some contract language disclaiming any fault for theft, but that’s just plain stupid to enforce when you are talking about a warranty repair on a couple year old car …
I would think so too. Your insurer has a much bigger hammer to swing around.
I guess, but that dealership has got to be insured for loss due to theft and that policy has to be WAY bigger than the individual driver’s policy
They are paid to do it … but they’ll 100% ding you for it in the long run, for something that is the opposite of being a risky insured – taking your car to the dealership for a repair. Can’t believe the dealership didn’t submit this to their insurer ASAP and let the customer know that they would fully make it right. I mean, I can believe it, but talk about torching good will, sheesh. There are grey areas. Your car could totally be stolen anywhere. But this is not a grey area, or shouldn’t be, regardless of legal fine print.
The problem is that ‘making it fully right’ in the mind of the dealer, the insurance company and everyone else without pokemon window stickers is a check for the present value of the car.
Lmao