LAKELAND, Fla — After Action 9 first exposed in November the water spill that sparked a $12,000 car repair bill, the owner thought his insurance company would cover the cost, but now he’s learned it may not be that simple.
Car owner Mike McCormick said, “And it’s a lot of money, and they’re really not stepping up, and I think they’re acting in bad faith.”
Two wiring harnesses in his small SUV fried when a water bottle spilled in his back seat. The car eventually stopped running.
After Action 9 aired the story in November, his insurance company, State Farm, sent a letter saying it did additional review and would cover the loss. So, McCormick was excited, but now he claims the insurance company pulled the rug out from under him.
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Prior to this, McCormick loved almost everything about his all-electric 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5.
“I think the car looks great. It’s a good performer,” he said.
But in October, when traffic on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Lakeland slowed, he hit the brakes. A 20-ounce bottle of water in the back seat spilled.
McCormick told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal, “Kind of felt it, heard it and then I had some moisture on my ankles and such.”
Within minutes, he said warning lights on his display started flashing. By the time he got home, he said the turn signals didn’t work and the car wouldn’t shut off.
At his local Hyundai dealership, the service team determined someone sitting in the seat with wet clothes or a water spill was likely to blame and said sand on the floorboards could have also contributed to the problem.
They let him know the floor and the driver seat wiring harnesses had to be replaced at a cost of just under $12,000. Hyundai wouldn’t replace them under warranty because it said it wasn’t caused by a factory defect.
“I was stuck with a $12,000 repair bill, which is crazy,” McCormick said.
So, he filed an insurance claim, which State Farm initially denied.
But after our story aired in November, it made worldwide headlines. Auto blogs and other media outlets picked it up. Then State Farm appeared to have a change of heart. It wrote in a December letter “we have adjusted our position and will cover this loss.”
McCormick was excited. He said, “I thought, great, they’re doing the right thing. I mean, they’re being that ‘good neighbor.’”
But instead of paying the nearly $12,000 to replace the two wiring harnesses as Hyundai called for, McCormick showed Action 9 paperwork indicating State Farm wanted them to use an aftermarket repair kit at a cost of around $840.
The problem is, according to McCormick, three local Hyundai dealerships he contacted refused to do the repair that way.
McCormick, recalling a conversation with one of the mechanics, told Action 9, “He said, ‘You’d have to find a mechanic.’ You know, what he called like a back alley-type mechanic to do that.”
Hyundai’s corporate office sent him a text message, that said in part “the dealership has advised if you cut into the wiring harness that this could cause a fire hazard.”
Instead, McCormick paid nearly $4,000 out of pocket to replace one of the wiring harnesses, and for now that has his car back up and running. He believes State Farm should at least cover that cost, but so far it hasn’t.
McCormick said, “It’s important enough with the safety systems to brick the car for three months.”
Action 9 reached out to State Farm again to ask why it believes an aftermarket repair kit is better than Hyundai replacing the two wiring harnesses.
State Farm sent this statement:
We work to provide our customers with every benefit they can receive from their policy, and we always welcome additional information. We remain in contact with our customer, but due to our customer privacy policy we cannot discuss claim specifics.
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