So I leased a Bolt EUV last August (thanks Premier Chevy of Carlsbad)…three days after delivery it was recalled due to battery fires, a week later I submitted a buyback claim, another week goes by and I get a letter from GM stating they will buyback/trade my car per CA laws.
7 months later I finally get my written offer.
They’ve agreed to reimburse my lease payments (good!) but are deducting nearly all of that for “usage”.
Now, they are claiming the usage is the last recorded number when I brought my car in for warranty work. I’ve had two, non-battery (reason for recall), issues with my car. Those issues are the only reason I brought it in for service. The second time they did the battery software update so I could only charge it 80%, but that was incidental to the service.
So instead of using the number when I first got the letter agreeing to the buyback (around 400 miles), they seem to be using a much, much larger number.
My rep at GM keeps saying they have to follow “CA Lemon Law”…which of course is BS. GM can do anything they want above and beyond the law. They can take back my car and buy me a Bugatti if they choose.
So, if my rep isn’t lying/incompetent, that means if I had never had my car serviced they would have used my original number (sent photo of odometer back in August)?
A lot more than 400! I’m sure the number they used was from my most recent visit to the dealer last month. I don’t think they made up the number, but how is it even relevant unless I’m over the 30K that I’ve bought for my lease.
Point is: I got a letter saying they’ll buy it back. I never brought in my car for service for the battery issue. Generally speaking, most lemons have repeated visits for the same issue. In my case, they went ahead and agreed to the buyback without any trips to the dealer.
Because the lemon law buyout amount is defined by the mileage when the problem is first reported for reduced usage. Your buyback deduction percentage is (1-((120000-mileage of first issue)/120000))×100%, so for example, if theyrenusing 12k miles, you should get a reduction of 10% of your total costs so far. How does that compare to their buyout based on your mileage?
According to California Lemon law, the miles to be used for the deduction calculation is the number of miles on the car when you “first delivered the vehicle to the manufacturer or distributor, or its authorized service and repair facility for correction of the problem that gave rise to the nonconformity.”
I would argue this occurred when GM told you of the defect and agreed to buy back the car. I would check with an attorney to see if GM is trying to stiff you.
Do you know why there was a 7 month delay in getting the written offer?
Everyone has been waiting for buybacks…I guess I didn’t push hard enough.
The entire process has been a joke. You would think they would give owners some sort of token goodwill freebie…like onstar for free while I wait for my new battery. Or free public charging.
I hired a lemon law lawyer for my 3 series after it sat at the dealer for 3 months waiting for new battery modules. I thought I would get all my lease payments back but instead, there is some stupid new part of the law where they’re able to subtract the usage before you dropped the vehicle off to get fixed, or something of that sort. Basically they were able to reduce the amount they owed me and ended up not being worth it.
Seems to me what they’re telling you is true and a lawyer will probably tell you the same. Lemon law lawyers only charge the manufacturer and not you. Wouldn’t hurt to reach out to one and get a different opinion. DM me if you need a good referral
