Woke up on friday (my birthday) and car was dead. Had acura tow it to the dealer and they said the battery had dead cells and replaced it. Charged me $109 and I got upset... but they claim it's normal wear and that the warranty for the battery is different than the car itself so the charge is valid.

Car is only 1 year old?

Argh.

 

I believe that the battery should be 2 year free replacement and then it gets pro-rated after that. If the car is only 1 year old then you should contact acura customer service and get your money back.

 

call acura customer service and make them refund you ur 109 dollars.

 

B.S. Not after 1 year....ream them a new a$$hole and get your money back. Then, find a different dealership. Thats just crap.

 

same thing happened to me. but i started to notice it a couple of days before it really died. my car had a rough time starting and lights were flickering when trying to start. i took it to pohanka acura and they replaced it for free.

 

My car was sitting for 20 mins listening to the radio waiting for someone. I went to go start the car, and it wouldn't start! 2nd time its happened, I talked to the dealer, they are going to replace it, if the battery fails the test.

 

Wow! Did you buy the car from that dealership??? If so, that would be the last car I buy from them. I don't care if the charge is legit...they should eat that for a failure in a year.

That dealership has big brass ones....

 

Quick question while we're on the subject. Do you lose all the nav/radio/HFL settings when replacing the battery?

 

:rippedoff

OH
OH
DEALERS...

THAT'S WHY I DON'T LIKE THEM...

 

I'm going to call acura client services tomorrow... what is the number to use? I googled but found only a number on a cnet review or something for acura client services, is that the one?

 

Being that I work for an Acura dealership I can tell you that I'm with everyone else here on making your dealership refund your money. Defective Batteries are covered 100% for the first 2 years from the cars in service date then prorated there after. As long as your car did'nt go into service in October of 04 then the dealer ripped you off.

 

Battery got tested, it didn't fail!!! He said they tried leaving it sitting for 20 mins, but the car started. He said he had the tech run the test 3-4 times, and it passed each time. He said, the car has amps and a subwoofer that can draw a lot of power. That may be true, but I doubt it would drain the battery to the point the car can't start after 20 mins!!! He said he can't prorate the battery till it fails the test. I'm taking it in for service tomorrow to get some switches replaced, he said he'll try the test again then.

 

I had my battery replaced for free because it was still under 2 years new. It just wouldnt crank when I had the lights or radio on when the engine was off. So when I arrived at the dealer for service at the carport, I turned off the engine & turned on every electrical accessory. Such as the lights, radio, A/C, seat warmer, outside mirror defroster & rear defroster,
phone & ipod charger, and lowered & raised the windows a few times before I got out the car. The car sat like that for about five minutes 'till the service advisor tried to turn on the car, but it failed. I didn't want to comeback to pickup my car & be told that nothing was wrong w/ the battery. That is why I left everything on in the car while I waited to be attended.

The battery test showed I was below 300 CCA which wasn't enough juice to crank the engine. Good luck.

 

Same thing happened to me with my 05. Drove the car for an hour, and all was ok. After it was parked for an hour, it was dead. Got a jump and drove it to dealer.

They showed me a leaking battery and terminal. It was replaced for free, without loss of Xm or Nav memory.

Seems fine now.

 

Good idea, I'm gonna do that tomorrow

 

[this is pinky_ttc]

Anyways, I want to update you guys on what has happened. First of all, thanks for letting us know all that helpful information.

I just called Acura customer service. Great service. I told her everything about what happened and what the service advisor had to say about the dead battery. He said it was normal and it will happen from time to time.

She denied that it was 'normal' for any car.

She told me a lot of useful information such as the battery is covered for 4 years. [page 28 of your warrenty booklet]

She sent a complaint to the service manager about the issue and his incompetent service advisor.

I really hope his ass gets chewed out.

We're going to the dealer in the next couple of minutes to sort things out and get our money back.

 

Agree. Went in for an oil change and as part of the service they test the battery. Mine amp output was low and they decided to replace the battery at no charge. BTW the car/battery was 16 months old.

 

Got my money refunded today by another service advisor. They don't know why the first service advisor told me i had to pay for the battery and that the warranty was only 1 year. When I asked for a service manager, initially, they got him on a walkie talkie and asked him to come talk to me, and he said he wasn't in the building and didn't want to come.

Anyway I'm just glad to have my money back, but very much finished with this dealer except for very routine stuff (if that)

 

You should check your battery every 3-4 months; or with the beginning of new seasons (major temperature changes). Two things specifically: 1. corrosion at the positive negative connections (easy to do); 2. checking the distilled water level in ALL 6 battery cells (by lifting up the two plastic cover plates). All 6 cells should be fully immersed. If you can see the cells, you need to add distilled water accordingly. If the cells are not covered by distilled water for a longer period of time, they lose their ability of providing voltage (2 Volts each); even after you add distilled water. That’s why 1 year old batteries can die – so much for maintenance-free batteries (just a sales catch).

The above is especially important where temperatures are really high or really low, or change drastically as the seasons change.

Remember: checking the oil, transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, battery is always your responsibility.

Rgds,

 

I didn't see a Nav in your description. There is a recall on the cars with a Nav system. Mine was affected but I was never notified. The problem is that cars with Nav have some electrical component that does not entirely turn off even with the key off. So the battery gets totally drained. It happened to me. The symptoms are the rear defroster works intermittently and the Outide Temp gauge does not work ( I think it displays dashes --- ).

I was really PO'd that Acura knew about this problem and that it affect my VIN but I was not notified. A dead battery after a red eye flight home was not what I wanted.