Dead Battery

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by MountainBlue

Mine went @ 800 miles A-hole service writer at Galles & Davis tried to blame us. I ripped the general manager a new one over it and it got replaced. Then come to find out, a TON of people with ALL kinds of GM vehicles have dead batteries shortly after delivery.

Yes, and no. Depends on how long the vehicles are on the lot, and if the dealer is doing their required maintenance. They are supposed to charge every battery on all vehicles every so often, and most don't. So, if a vehicle sits for 60 days before being sold, good chance the battery will be dead.
The other problem is batteries, and saying "GM" is not correct. My Jeep had the battery replaced wthin six month, and I know a lady who works on another vehicle's help desk and their top calls are for jumping a vehicle.
Dead batteries is in the top ten warranty for all manufacturers; incluing Lexus. In addition, if the vehicle is located in a really hot climate, the battery warranty is higher.
Heat is bad for batteries; just look at the little air snorkel to help cool the battery while driving.

It is not right for a dealer to try and deliver a vehicle with a bad battery, but it happens.

[MountainBlue]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Yes, and no. Depends on how long the vehicles are on the lot, and if the dealer is doing their required maintenance. They are supposed to charge every battery on all vehicles every so often, and most don't. So, if a vehicle sits for 60 days before being sold, good chance the battery will be dead.
The other problem is batteries, and saying "GM" is not correct. My Jeep had the battery replaced wthin six month, and I know a lady who works on another vehicle's help desk and their top calls are for jumping a vehicle.
Dead batteries is in the top ten warranty for all manufacturers; incluing Lexus. In addition, if the vehicle is located in a really hot climate, the battery warranty is higher.
Heat is bad for batteries; just look at the little air snorkel to help cool the battery while driving.

It is not right for a dealer to try and deliver a vehicle with a bad battery, but it happens.

I'm obviously still peev'd about they way were treated more than the warratny issue itself. And it sounds like you think it is more a dealer issue than the manufacturer, which I think is true. This was also the first time I have been sold a brand new vehicle with a dead battery.

[f5fstop]

They should never have treated you that way, with a known problem...dead battery. In addition, they should have run a complete diagnostics on the battery before selling if they had to jump it to move it off the lot. It is a shame how some ignorant dealers try to circumvent the system.
If they have a vehicle that sits for a long time, and they attempt to replace the battery at delivery, it is sometimes bounced since the failure is their fault for not charging. However, if it lasts in the vehicle for a few weeks, then they can slide it through warranty.

[MountainBlue]

That's exactly what I told my wife. They knew about all the problems, but couldn't get paid for the fixes untill a customer bought it and then brought it back for warranty work. This is something that needs to be addressed at the corporate level. It hurts overall brand satisfaction.

[Urban Ops]

My battery died a week after I bought my H3. I had it towed to the dealer on a Saturday, they put it on a charger until Monday then told me they couldn't find anything wrong. 3 days later it died again, had it towed in again only to find it was a defective battery. Funny.... I told them that in the first place!

I had 2 different Dodge Dakotas for a total of 9 years and never once saw a tow truck. I have the Hummer less than 2 weeks and it's on the hook 2 times. I was really thinking I made a big mistake. 9 years prior I made a vow never to buy another GM product for that very reason. I'm glad now the H3 has been good to me.

[Desert Dan]

Just don't replace it with another stock GM Delco battery. You might have teh same problem again?

[f5fstop]

Funny thing is, I believe it is Consumers just rated the AC Delco as one of the top battery manufacturers. I guess from my point of looking at warranty reports it does not make sense, but then I place a call to a friend at Chrsyler, and guess what, their warranty is as high.
I believe it is just a nature of the wet cell battery to fail. Only battery I have had fail in years is my Jeep battery, but I did replace my Vette with an Optima (insurance against possible leakage ). Heck, I even had an Optima go bad.
But, I still travel with a 800+AMP booster box....just in case.