【Consumer Service Report I help if you have difficulties】
"Car owners: new and old batteries are mixed, and driving safety is difficult to guarantee."
Some time ago, the special search reporter continuously reported the news that the BMW ix3 car battery module was recalled for safety hazards. Recently, Mr. Wang, the owner of Chongqing, also contacted the special search reporter, saying that after the BMW ix3 car he purchased was recalled, the problem solution given by the manufacturer made him more worried about the safety of driving.
According to Mr. Wang, he bought the BMW ix3 electric car at the BMW Chongqing Baoyu 4s store at the end of July 2021. After 3 months of use, the new car's car machine system and mobile phone APP were suddenly pushed a message, "one of the batteries may cause a sudden loss of power during driving due to cold welding problems, there are major safety hazards, and it needs to be sent back to the 4s store for technical upgrades." Only opened for three months and did not go to the 4S store to do any testing how does the other party know? Mr. Wang, who was skeptical, learned through the exchange of information with car friends across the country that the so-called technological upgrade was actually to replace the faulty set or groups of batteries for the vehicle of this type, and there were more than 2,000 vehicles in the country that needed to replace the battery. Mr. Wang told the special search reporter that in the opposition of car owners across the country, bmw factory had to report to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to replace the original technical upgrade notice with a formal recall notice, but the recall plan is still to replace a group or groups of batteries with cold welding problems.
Mr. Wang said that after learning about the operation of the BMW factory, he had a little doubt, in fact, his car was not sent back to the 4s shop for maintenance, and the 4s shop knew that the car should be replaced with several sets of batteries just by the frame number, so that Mr. Wang suspected that the car was defective at the factory, if the hypothesis is true, then the factory knows that the car is faulty, but still notifies after the sales period of 3 months or 6,000 kilometers, is there a suspicion of intentionally evading the car replacement regulations?
Secondly, regarding the recall plan, he did not approve. First of all, the mixing of new and old batteries will cause a decrease in battery life? Will there be a security risk? Secondly, can the working environment of the 4s store meet the requirements? There are also new cars that will be overhauled in three months, which is emotionally unacceptable. Therefore, Mr. Wang's appeal is to replace the battery module as a whole, rather than replacing one or several of them. After replacing the battery module, a lifetime warranty is required and certain economic compensation is given.
After understanding the situation and appeal reflected by Mr. Wang, the special search reporter also contacted the customer service of the BMW 4S store, and the staff said that they needed to verify the relevant situation, and would contact the reporter after verification. As of press time, the reporter has not received a reply from the other party.
So when faced with similar maintenance objections, how should both parties seek a solution? We also interviewed Mr. Liao Minglei of Beijing Jingshi (Shenzhen) Law Firm.
Lawyer Liao believes that according to the Regulations on the Administration of The Recall of Defective Automobile Products, if an automobile enterprise confirms that there is a defect in the automobile product, it should immediately stop the production and sale of the defective automobile product, implement the recall, and take timely measures to eliminate the defect. Measures mainly include repair, replacement, return, etc. At present, BMW has implemented a recall and provided a solution for the free replacement of power battery modules with welding defects. Combined with the product defect situation and the "Provisions on the Responsibility for Repair and Replacement of Household Automobile Products", it is generally difficult to support the demand for replacement or return in the absence of special agreement between Mr. Wang and the automobile enterprise.
In response to Mr. Wang's concern that the mixing of new and old batteries will lead to the decline in product performance, the Implementation Measures for the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products clearly stipulates that producers and operators shall not deliver and use automobile products that have not eliminated defects, and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine shall have the obligation to supervise the implementation of the recall. If there is definite evidence that the mixing of new and old batteries affects product quality, the automobile enterprise is obliged to ensure that the remedial measures achieve the expected effect and ensure personal safety, and the battery should be replaced as a whole. In addition, given that 4S stores usually do not have the ability to repair and test batteries, they should be returned to the manufacturer for repair after recall, and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine should also organize experts to evaluate the effect of eliminating defects.
Finally, under the current recall regulations, an automotive company recall only needs to eliminate the defect and bears the cost of eliminating the defect and the necessary cost of shipping the defective automotive product. The Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law only stipulates that business operators should bear the necessary expenses incurred by consumers due to the recall of goods. In response to the demand for compensation for the depreciation of vehicles, although consumers enjoy the right to obtain compensation in accordance with the law, in practice, it is difficult to make a claim, which not only lacks a specific and feasible legal basis, but also finds it difficult to determine the amount of loss. We also hope that the recall system can be improved in legislation to protect the rights and interests of consumers in all aspects.
(Note: The deadline for this report is March 10, 2022, due to the appropriate delay in the review process)