Your EV discount might carry a steep legal cost:
Chevy offered rebates to Bolt EV owners who bought their cars just before a 2023 model price drop, but that discount comes with a large catch. Jalopnik and Autoblog note the rebate application requires that drivers "forever waive and release" their right to sue GM or LG over the Bolt's reported battery defect. You'd have to be content with the savings even if the car did serious damage, in other words. GM confirmed the agreement language with Engadget.
GM first recalled the Bolt in November 2020 after reports of battery fires between 2017 and 2019. The automaker tried addressing the issue with a software update in April 2021, but two subsequent fires and a second recall led the NHTSA to warn against parking indoors. That prompted a July 2021 recall where GM replaced the battery packs. The brand eventually recalled all manufactured Bolts, pledged an additional $1 billion for battery replacements and offered an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on substitute batteries.
Toasty!
(Score: 3, Touché) by Opportunist on Friday August 05 2022, @07:58AM (5 children)
Either you take the rebate and let GM get away with making a crappy car or you reserve the right to sue and let a lawyer get away with your money.
Either way you get jack while some crook gets to swindle you out of your money.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 05 2022, @09:09AM (1 child)
WOPR, the supercomputer of WarGames, says the only winning move is not to play.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Opportunist on Friday August 05 2022, @09:55AM
Hard to do when you already entered the game and bought a Bolt. Of course, shenanigans like these should ensure that new dupes are harder to find now.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday August 06 2022, @04:09PM (2 children)
If your lawyer is any good at all, you'll get the rebate plus damages and Chevy will have to pay your lawyer.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Sunday August 07 2022, @08:34AM (1 child)
You think you have a better lawyer than Chevy/GM? Who are you, Bruce Wayne?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday August 08 2022, @05:44PM
When the law is on your side, GM will settle. But you'll need a good lawyer.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org