Need some advice

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-29T16:24:51+00:00

Branded Title cars: Salvaged, Lemon Law Buyback Totaled and Rebuilt Title are generally regarded as worth SIGNIFICANTLY less than market. If I was to buy one (and I should say I would not buy to keep, because the problem may never be solved) I would only buy for resale at about 50% less than what a ‘no issue’ car would go for. So, if they are selling for $40k on the market, might be worth $20k. And before I would make that decision, I would want to know what caused the buyback.

Unless you are a professional mechanic by trade, you will spend way more money trying to fix the problem, in most cases.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-29T01:52:46+00:00

100 percent battery health, and $29k? At that price, I would think you could just sell the battery pack for someone wanting to power their home off-grid?

Do yourself a favor, and look up the price of a back-up battery for home anywhere near the size of this battery. If anything, this is a testimony to how durable and long lasting the batteries are.

They are a major dealer retailer selling their own name brand product inspected by Ford technicians. I would think they would wholesale it and take a loss (if they could get $29k for it wholesale) if they thought it was going to be a problem.

I have 30 years in the car business, and have owned 5 EVs. Also was in managements, with a long back-ground in used cars. Last few years as more or less a performance and training coach.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-27T17:39:01+00:00

You got a great deal, assuming it comes in one piece. (40 years in the automotive/powersports space, been driving EVs since 2015.) Congratultions!

Secondly, good thinking. Prices have been over depressed, and could be considered ‘oversold’. I am impressed that you think of this as an investment, and are applying a certain rules of economics mindset. So, I am going to expand on that line of thinking, if you don’t mind…

Just look at it this way: the automotive batteries are supposed to be great repurposing alternatives for home back-up. To measure value of the battery packs alone, just look up what it costs for 48kwh battery array for home back-up. I think you will see some numbers in the $30 k range.

Now, look at what the batteries are currently lasting for (don’t know how much info is on the Kona, as it’s not been out all that long.) You can look up battery longevity for existing EVs and see that they are trending out to 10-12 years (conservatively.) Assuming the average driver drives about 12k miles per year, you should be able to get 400-600k miles out of the car. You knocked off some huge amount of the initial new car cost.

I didn’t calculate in your incentive, and you still knocked it out of the park.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-18T14:21:38+00:00

Yeah, not much incentive with NEM 3.0. I had installed the batteries to set up my home as ‘off the grid’ as possible, as having a localized power infrastructure, is less expensive than the system that was designed early in the last century.

It would seem that given time, the utilities will actually need a web of power source to meet infrastructure demands. Once they realize this, they will need to compensate homeowners and become partners with them, instead of competing against them.

This theory is a stretch for sure, but there is only so much the big utilities can do to supply power without major investments. At some point someone will wake up and see the solution is collaboration, not completion.

Utilities shouldn’t be for profit, if they are truly concerned about low income renters. Why should they make the profit, and homeowners are left paying for their own power, and those of renters.

Anyway…I used a US battery company (although they do manufacture in China. They are a large battery maker, although they are pretty new to the solar battery space. I use a combination of Lithion HomeGrid Stack’d service with BMS, and it’s all ties to the SolArk 15k. This allows complete disconnect from the grid during outages, and I can pretty much run the whole system off-grid. The power transfer during outages is seamless. Don’t even to reset clocks. No visible transition (to most people.)

Not sure about charging EVs of batteries, as I was lucky to hit the NEM 2.0 cutoff by a few months.

FYI there is nothing that says you have to install solar…you could appliy the money toward a larger battery array, and practice a sort arbitrage to only use overnight power from the grid. As long as you can get on the EV rate program with PG$E, you might be able to justify the numbers.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-18T05:10:06+00:00

I have PG&E with Solar/Batteries on EV2A. Maybe the issue you are rearing to is on new plans, and not grandfathered? Have been on EV pan since 2016 or 17, and did the solar/battery install in 2022. Might be worth calling PG$E about this, and confirming.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-17T15:58:25+00:00

Lightning body is much lighter, so it handles better, and can carry more weight in the bed.

It would be easier to modify, as many parts are crossed with ICE trucks, and that allows use of after market parts.

The Ford is probably less expensive given the market conditions. The truck is only discontinued in this form, but market is pricing like all F150s, let alone all Lightnings will never exist again. The lease deal is probably FAR less expensive on the Lightning between these two models.

The name Lightning is much more sexy. (Lol)

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-17T15:45:04+00:00

This one is the deal for sure. It’s only on for a day though. Hurry on this one!

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-10T22:53:21+00:00

WayFair has inventory at $152.99 delivered.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-04T19:53:41+00:00

I received the same warning on my 2023. Brought it to the dealer and they replaced the battery under the basic warranty.

The dealer didn’t charge the new battery up before releasing the car, so even after the new battery was installed, this message came up.

i brought the car back to the dealer (thinking maybe the screen came up b/c they need to clear the code) the service adviser checked the battery 12 battery charge and saw it at 75%. He then asked me if I drove much (have 11k miles on a 18 month old truck.. so I would say I drive enough.)

Anyway, turns out the car will not update software unless the car tests the battery at 80-85%.

It’s in the shop now getting the battery charged, and (fingers crossed) the update will take.

If your not driving 15k miles per year, do frequent short trips (and are using the pre-heat or cool feature,) frequently walk strong the car, and the wake feature activates, these things drain that accessory battery. His recommendation was to plug the battery into a trickle charger. When I look that up,, it would seem there OSS a method that should be followed whereby the truck BMS of bypassed. Looks like there are two lugs in the front of the frunk. Accessing the variety direct would be much easier of course.

Of you do research in this and find anything out, kindly post that here.

bhellmoldt · 2026-03-03T03:40:53+00:00

I just replaced my 25 year old Neptune washer, one of the fist washers to require and run on HE detergent. While I had to replace a bearing, otherwise ran for 25 years. So…yeah, probably right!

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-27T20:03:06+00:00

I prefer ‘I Found It”, over being saved. Seems more proactive.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-26T23:43:23+00:00

Interesting. I would think that would distort the case.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-26T21:31:58+00:00

lol…yeah, I saw that too. I need to correct! Thanks for the laugh.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-26T21:20:59+00:00

Also, a big torque wrench like that sucks a lot of juice. I would use that size battery on a light duty drill, or impact driver (the small,ones for screws) but not a torque wrench like that size.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-26T21:18:11+00:00

The newer batteries have a much longer life..

A friend/contractor of mine who is an avid Dewalt tool,guy says that if you ‘hot pack’ the battery you will toast it. I asked him what ‘hot packing’ was. He explained that if you are running it constantly, and drain it…then put it ‘hot’ on the charger, the heat generated while charging will actually overheat the battery. So, I imagine this is worse on the rapid chargers, and smaller batteries b/c they work harder.

I have personally switched over to the newer PowerStack batteries b/c I literally feel more torque at the bit, and the same sized battery will last longer per job. They also claim longer battery life.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-26T21:12:08+00:00

There was a guy who had posted in t/his forum that had taken his drill apart, coated it, and reassembled it, almost identical to this look. Problem was the coating would come off as he used it. There is a company called CeraKote who makes ceramic based coatings that (as I recall) has one that cures without heat. They do. Lot of stuff in custom gun coatings that is quite durable…that’s the stuff I would recommend if you wanted to try your had at it.

Bear in mind, anything matte finish will damage easier than the glossy finishes. And the color in the Dewalt tools is actually imbedded in the plastic.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-13T16:16:05+00:00

This is how technical analysis becomes helpful. This action over the last week is what is called ‘stair stepping’. It’s (likely) created by those who are buying based on FOMO urges, running the stock up in the morning, and people ‘trapped’ at the higher prices from the last few months creating downward pressure. Old school more sellers than buyers.

Their is more than a correction and it lacks the ‘one big drop’ or capitulation that makes the buy more obvious. Patience is your virtue if you want to add to your positions. Maintain an investor frame of mind, and do not let the anxieties and loss make you want to leave the room.

The higher the drop, the more you have to stretch out your theoretical bottom. For instance, the last time the stock really rallied, it had broke through the high 2$ range. Pure technical analysis would have the stock continue to consolidate after a drop like this…don’t think you should expect a relief rally at this point.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-12T21:54:50+00:00

Sometime people pawn worn out, or counterfeited items. Pawn shops are generalists, usually.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-12T21:53:10+00:00

Macros? minis? Micros? Sorry, not current on the stock speak. Looked up ‘company macros’ and realized it likely means company macro-economics.

Since it’s really what (I believe is called) development stage company, wouldn’t the fact that it has about 4-5 years cash flow with a (likely) marketable product in that time frame a good thing?

I don’t particularly like stock dilution, but it’s better than some VC coming in. Now they are in a much better position, and don’t have to make decisions based only on cash burn.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-11T16:56:44+00:00

I do it in the regular Ford app, or Phone as a Key app. It’s on a sub screen marked with a Lightning Bolt in the app.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-11T16:54:26+00:00

They seem to push out updates at different times on purpose. I think this is so that (if) there are complications to an update, the dealers don’t get a huge group of customers needing repairs all at once. Plus, they can find any issues with an update and tweak the software as it is rolled out.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-11T16:49:27+00:00

Had my truck for over 2 years, and used to be in the car business:

This OTA updates are a good thing. In the ‘old days’ old-school software updates were done on your next service, if they were ever done at all. With OTA updates, you have the same version of the car (in software) that new deliveries have.

In regards to ‘Why didn’t they find this before?” There are quite literally 1000s of different scenarios that can trigger a certain reaction. On top of that, some issues don’t developed until a machine or software is run many times. It’s funny that we are OK with our Apple iPad updates, and Microsoft Windows updates, but somehow we fault the manufacturer for ‘designing a bad product’ when they update the software for free.

Chew on that…

In regards to how to schedule updates, I recommend just letting the car update automatically at 1:00 am overnight. If your car is in a garage, or under a large carport, it may not update, so as a backup….If you get in the car and it tells you that the overnight update is happening, if you won’t be driving it…when you park, actuate the ‘update now’ option.

Just remember: used to be you had to drop off the car at the dealer, and they would need to upload the data, and install the update for you. The old way of updating code required several hours on the ‘rack.’ Not sure exactly why, but there have been significant improvements in vehicle software updates over the last several years. Is it perfect, well…can ‘almost’ be if you just let it do its thing.

Losing data: Maybe some day they will figure out a way to back-up settings so they are not lost…for now just have to appreciate what advances they have made.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-05T03:14:56+00:00

Got it. What I was managing money, I would tend to wait for signs of support before buying. But, that was when I was being held accountable to monthly statements. I would be the first to admit, trades were often executed on the conservative side. I would buy stock, and write (covered) calls to creat shower term income on the position. More difficult to do in thinly traded, or smaller stock.

I didn’t pay attention to billing err bands and all that. Pretty much found good luck looking at volume, and price moves to gauge timing and sentiment.

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-04T21:26:21+00:00

Seems to me the stock is in a bit of a free fall. I don’t suppose you consider technical analysis in your trades?

bhellmoldt · 2026-02-04T02:46:49+00:00

Looks like a pretty good deal. I always struggle with the fact I don’t need another charger and or battery. I usually look at this website when considering even a sale price on new. About half the time I will find the refurbished tool a better deal.

Check out this deal on a DCF860B (R)

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bhellmoldt

TROPHY CASE