Hi, I'm the guy with the Ioniq 5 that had the dreaded warning at 86 miles... here's an update

It's been a little over two weeks since I made this post regarding my 2026 Ioniq 5 AWD Limited: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ioniq5/comments/1s314qv/purchased_an_ioniq_5_today_loving_it_except/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

A LOT of things have happened since that day (and also not a lot of things), and I just wanted to give an update on what happened!

The Beginning: I've Got A Brand New Dead Car

I brought in the car to dealership, and I was given a 2026 Hyundai Tuscon loaner to drive for the day. I was told at the time from the dealership that I would likely have my car back to me by the end of the day, as they assume the problem was likely the 12V battery as you all suggested. Fast forward a few hours, and I still have heard nothing about my car. I call the dealer and get transferred to service, and I'm told to leave a voicemail. At that point, the dealership was closing in about an hour and I didn't have time to make it out, so I decided to just wait until the next day to see if I got a phone call about what was going on.

It's now the next day, and it is about 1:00PM and I still have heard nothing about the car. I had a bit of time so I decided to go over to service to ask what was going on. After waiting a moments, the head of service came in and shared the news with me that 2 cells out of the 180 cell main battery were not responding, and the entire main battery would need to be replaced. After hearing this news, I basically immediately demanded that I would get a replacement, and that I was not waiting however it would take to fix (which I was quoted about a month.) They told me that they absolutely can do that, and they would work to get a dealer trade replacement within the next week.

The Middle: The Longest Week Known To Man

It was Thursday when I had gotten the news, and I expected to have more information about my replacement vehicle (and my options) over the weekend, if not Monday. As the days went on however, I heard nothing from my dealership regarding a replacement. I looked online and saw a number of Ioniq 5 Limited's supposedly at other dealerships. On Monday, I got in contact with my dealer sales rep, and told them that those cars were there and I wanted to get a swap with one of them. They told me they would contacting those dealers and I'd hear back over the next week.

I was then told over the next week that none of the cars online were actually available, and I would have to wait until the end of the month for the sales event to be over to actually likely be able to grab any cars actually available. Finally, it was April 1st, and I certainly was the fool for expecting anything different over the next week. During this time, there was no news, no cars, no anything.

After going to the dealership again and demand that I talk to the head manager again (the one that initiated the whole replacement process), I managed to get into a meeting with him. He told me that a number of Ioniq 5 Limited's were coming in from the ports, and within the next day or two he would have a number of cars to select from that I can claim as my swap. I was incredibly excited by this news, and he let me know that he'd give me call. He gave me a fist bump on the way out.

However, after my previous experience, I was a bit untrusting of this timeline, and I was proven right only days later.

The End?: The Corporate Saga

After many days of no new news or updates, I got a random call on the phone. It was Hyundai Corporate. They wanted to know what was happening, how it happened, and a timeline for me to get approved for a replacement vehicle. I stopped for a second, and said "get approved for a replacement vehicle? I thought I already did?" they said it was escalated to them, so anything happening moving forward will be going through them, and they need to do a full analysis on both sides of the situation to see what was going on. I explained to them everything that happened, and they told me it would be a full 30 DAYS to get approval, but will call me next Tuesday as they are trying to make it happen faster.

I immediately called the manager (who I now had the personal cell number of) to ask if he knew anything about this, he did not. But he said that now that it's in their hands, there is nothing he really can do at this point outside of wait for them.

Defeated, upset, and without my $50,000 car I paid for, I now wait longer for my vehicle. I do not ever wish this situation upon anyone, and I think this might be my worst time purchasing anything ever, and I highly doubt anything will top this.

I still want the car. I really did love it for those 30 miles I drove it, and I'm starting to think attempting to get a refund will be another rabbit whole that I don't want to go down, especially now that I'm dealing with corporate.

TL,DR: I bought a 2026 Ioniq 5 Limited, the main battery was a lemon, and I've now waiting over two weeks for a replacement, and have been escalated to corporate which only increases that timeline further. I'm tired.