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I’ve got an EX30 which I’ve barely had 6 months, and has been at the dealer for 6 weeks for the past 2 months and each time it’s had to be towed in as the car is completely unresponsive
Has anyone been able to reject a car due to the unreliability and dealers inability to fix the car? but not cancelling the lease only getting a car replaced.
I’d still want another EX30 as it’s size and feature set fits perfectly for what I need.
I’ve already phoned Motability but they only talk about early cancelation instead of replacing a car which is no longer fit for purpose.
TIA
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Given you are paying for a car that breaks down and unresponsive, leaving you stranded, it is a faulty car.
Complain about the faults and how you do not feel safe when it dies. The way the scheme works is not renewing a faulty vehicle, but ending the lease.
A few people have reported similar problems with the ex30, it is a lottery id you get a good one or a bad one. Probably wiser to look at another car, rather than the ex30.
Cupra Born all over again.
Yours isn’t the only one that has issues, i don’t understand why people stick with sub-par vehicles, if they get burned.
Yes, you can reject the car as not fit for purpose – but that’s a lease termination, the lease is for that particular car, you’d need to order a new one. The issue arises once that one starts faffing around too, as happened recently to someone with a Cupra Born (that developed the exact same fault) and MB wasn’t all too happy about rejecting that one too.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.My suggestion is to be very careful:
1. Request from Motability to send RAC representative for an assessment.
2. If they refuse- raise a complaint and ask the complaints team for the same.
3. Once the assessment completed, it will take RAC a number of days to provide a written report to Motability. Request a FULL copy: they may originally refuse as there are codes and they may not want you to have them.
4. With the report in hand, request early termination ON MECHANICAL grounds – this way you will ensure if your next vehicle is faulty too, Motability will have no choice but to agree WITHOUT charging you any extras.
P.S. Based on my personal experience and may not reflect your situation.
Sent from a mobile device.
Apologies for briefness and spelling mistakes.Motability Skoda Enyaq SportLine 85x April 2024 (unhappy customer - Ombudsman pending)
Motability Mazda CX-60 PHEV July 2023 (unhappy customer - early termination on mechanical grounds)
Motability VW Touran Family Pack May 2019 (happy customer)If you get no joy from the call centre, always email the CEO of motability. I always find that’s the only way to reach a resolution.
Heard of a few cases where a vehicle was swapped out under exceptional circumstances, especially when it’s spent more time off the road than on. Might be worth pushing harder with Motability and requesting escalation beyond the usual support line.
I have an EX30 had it almost 6 months also. No actual mechanical issues or faults, but have heard of the odd issue you speak of where the car is totally unresponsive, often its due to 12v issues and having no key it’s a big issue. As you cannot enter the car.
There is an emergency port to give the 12v some charge under the left front bumper. Sometimes though it’s just the battery itself that is faulty from the off. Had a golf in 2017 and within a few months it just wouldn’t start after a supermarket visit and needed replacing. RAC only had a bigger more powerful one and never had an issue after.
So the question is are they putting in smaller batteries to lower costs and weight and in some situations, that creates an issue. After all the 12v is a critical part of any Ev still.
I wonder do you plug the car in to charge a lot like on IOG and for long periods of time, where the car is not actually charging for periods but still creating slots and waking the car. As if the car goes to sleep it might then not wake to charge, which is another issue many EV owners suffer with.
I don’t dynamic charge you see. I set it all in the car and it is something I have wondered about. I generally don’t let the soc get below 20% and charge to 90%
Alternately it could be a hardware or software issue that stops the car from sending charge from the traction battery to the 12v, or something is draining it.
The issue is they won’t exchange it for a different ex30.
You’d have to order again and the cost of AP on ex30 is now over 4k. As it has risen hugely since 6 months ago, when it was £1999. So IMO I would look at something else. I agree the ex30 is a great little package. Suits me down to the T also and I don’t know what else I’d select, as I need something around 4.2m long to fit onto my offroad parking space.
What exactly happens.
I have sat in mine watching videos with climate on for over an hour and car has used 1 or 2 kwh and not had one issue and I also do lots of very short journeys. That power is being provided to the 12v. So it is constantly draining and recharging, Seems to be a weak link on any car. Even more so maybe on an EV.
The 12V battery in the Volvo EX30 is crucial for powering various low-voltage systems and components, essentially everything except the electric propulsion system itself.
The other problem is dealerships and getting the car actually looked at.
Autoglass broke my adas, fitting a new windscreen and it took over a month, just to get the car in to be seen by volvo. Then a wait for the part etc, another month it was actually at Volvo. Just from a stone.
So that time frame is rather normal these days. Having to wait for it to actual be seen even if it towed there by RAC. It will only be looked at if a slot is cancelled or when the next one is available. Which adds to the stress each time.
All dealerships are not equal, after all they usually part of a group. So maybe try another if its fixed and happens again. See if there tech is better qualified. As your best solution I feel would be to have the problem solved and fixed. Sometimes electrical shorts are hard to locate fix and how long do they have to diagnose the actual issue before the next customer is booked in.
I also did an AI search and it suggested
Ensure the main high-voltage battery pack is charged regularly, as the 12V battery relies on it for power. Avoid letting the charge level drop below 20% to prevent the 12V battery from also going flat.
Preventing parasitic drains: Ensure all electrical components and accessories are switched off when the car is parked to avoid unnecessary drain on the 12V battery.
Hopefully you get it back and it gets sorted but if it doesn’t your options are pretty limited.
EX30 SMER Ultra
I’ve even had to jump the car with the emergency power connector, annoyingly and thankfully when the car is dead I can get it back awake and unplugged in 5 minutes I’ve done it that often, and most of the time I take a jump pack with me everywhere and leave it with the bonnet cracked.
It even died when I was using the granny charger, and I’ve always had the car plugged in when at home and still died.
I had a call from the dealer yesterday and they are replacing the DC-DC converter which charges the 12v battery.
I’m frustrated that Motability won’t replace a faulty car they’ll treated it as a cancellation and reorder which is horse-defecation as they are getting paid to supply a fit for purpose car, if something can’t be repaired the standard course is to replace or refund but I doubt they’ll give the AP back and all the PIP payments.
I mainly don’t want to reorder as it’s £4900 now as when I ordered it was £1250 as I had a first car discount, and the only okay EV options which aren’t astronomical are the Ford Exploder and not-Capri, which would also leave me without a car for work for months and my manager is already annoyed with the headaches I’ve had with this Volvo.
I’m already looking at fitting an external plug for my CTEK charger so I can leave the 12v on charge all the time.
I’m frustrated that Motability won’t replace a faulty car they’ll treated it as a cancellation and reorder which is horse-defecation as they are getting paid to supply a fit for purpose car, if something can’t be repaired the standard course is to replace or refund but I doubt they’ll give the AP back and all the PIP payments.
Because.. that’s what it is? It’s either getting repaired, or the lease gets cancelled. Or do you expect MB to continue the lease, and just let it sit on a lot for three years while leasing a second one for you? If the car gets rejected, it’s gone.
As for refund, the customer rights act is pretty explicit on that. You get a full refund if you reject the car in the first 30 days. After that, it’s partial. In your case, you’ll get a pro-rata refund on your AP – not on the PIP payments, which makes sense considering you drove the car, and it was insured. MB isn’t going to pay for your insurance.
And no. The standard course on a lease car is not “replace or refund”, it’s “repair or refund”.
It certainly sucks for you, and i understand how frustrating dealing with car stuff is, but in the end, that’s how it is. This is a normal procedure. You can’t blame MB for the EX30 now being a much higher AP either.
The Enyaq is a better option than the Ford ID5, the Elroq is a great option too if it comes back next quarter. In regards to being without a car for work for months, the only two options here are to get a car that either comes from stock (like the Q3 etc), including phoning around if there’s a dealership willing to hand you an in-stock-vehicle, and/or calling MB to see if you could get a rental while you wait for the new car.
But, in the end, there’s no easy solutions here. I just don’t think that it’s fair to blame MB for this particular issue, since it’s just how it is.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.I’ve even had to jump the car with the emergency power connector, annoyingly and thankfully when the car is dead I can get it back awake and unplugged in 5 minutes I’ve done it that often, and most of the time I take a jump pack with me everywhere and leave it with the bonnet cracked. It even died when I was using the granny charger, and I’ve always had the car plugged in when at home and still died. I had a call from the dealer yesterday and they are replacing the DC-DC converter which charges the 12v battery. I’m frustrated that Motability won’t replace a faulty car they’ll treated it as a cancellation and reorder which is horse-defecation as they are getting paid to supply a fit for purpose car, if something can’t be repaired the standard course is to replace or refund but I doubt they’ll give the AP back and all the PIP payments. I mainly don’t want to reorder as it’s £4900 now as when I ordered it was £1250 as I had a first car discount, and the only okay EV options which aren’t astronomical are the Ford Exploder and not-Capri, which would also leave me without a car for work for months and my manager is already annoyed with the headaches I’ve had with this Volvo. I’m already looking at fitting an external plug for my CTEK charger so I can leave the 12v on charge all the time.
Indeed you shouldn’t have to go to those extremes. I certainly wouldn’t be.
Are MB not providing you a hire car while its at Volvo or until the issue is solved. Like I said I totally understand and hopefully the new part sorts your issues. I’m guessing the 1st time they replaced the 12v.
As for exchanging it for another car, unfortunately that’s not really how the new car industry works. Mb doesn’t buy the car from the dealer, they just act as a broker between us and MB and the manufacture.
They actual buy the car at a set price from the manufacture and I don’t know how that effects the whole process when something goes wrong, I.e. who takes the hit. MB have had a lot of issues with people handing back cars mid lease and have got tuff on that, but still that shouldn’t effect cars with issues that cannot be fixed. Although you need to although that process to happen. Now they are likely replacing a different part to before. I get its not ideal.
It’s more than likely you’d have to do a Rejection and get a refund if you owned the car as I have seen a few people do on the ex30 of the scheme and certainly these issues are compounded when they happen, as we are not the owner of the vehicle MB are.
I guess one needs to read the MB terms and conditions and the actual consumer law to see how that effects us, as the lessee. That’s why they provide a hire car or a Taxi allowance. It’s never happened to me via mb. So I’ve not had to look into it all and I do get your frustration and I say this with no disrespect, you band aiding the car is just or was prolonging the issue. I get why you have been doing so, I do but, I’d just call rac again and again and contact MB and Volvo. As its not my car…Not my issue to solve. By doing so you have no real evidence of the issues happening either. leaving the 12v on charge is not a solution.
A hire car would be a better solution until the issue was fixed. Maybe you need to escalate your issues higher up the chain at MB and often that’s via email or in writing to the CEO, as others have suggested.
I’d give it one last go on the phone with them and ask how you escalate it higher as the people at the call centre only can do so much. Nothing is easy these days, when stuff goes bad. When my car was fixed, it took Autoglass 2 weeks to actually pay for the car once fixed and cost them another 2 weeks car hire of a mach e premium. Which was another whole sage to get, over a basic car and that was ice.
EX30 SMER Ultra
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