Getting dealer to replace battery

[Spiffy]

My truck is in for several things. One is the battery and charging errors. Just when the truck went in the error on dash went away but the hard codes in the truck show multiple low battery nags.
My dealer says come pick up the truck, everything is fixed. I asked what about the battery? Did you remove it and do the long version test? They kind of skirted my question and said there doesn't seem to be any issues. I told them that there are 18 or so updates that are not completing because of battery and I can't remote start. I told the service guy that if they replace the battery i will spend the time doing the updates otherwise if they continue to say nothing is wrong I'm going to force them to do all the updates. There is a ton.
They said I might have to leave the truck up to five days. I said exactly. You will have a bay locked up 5 days and likely not get reimburse fully.

Is there anything else I can do?

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[Highway 11]

You can go buy an aftermarket battery and move on. You'll get a much better battery and save yourself some grief.

 

[Spiffy]

I do plan on doing that but I would like to have a fresh h6. I have several other trucks. Besides I have warranty and backed up by ford's service bulletin.
I really don't want to do all the updates but I will if I get a new battery.
What is the extended test they need to do? He said it shows 14.5 volts. That's just the surface charge. After 5 days sitting it drops to 12.4.
Not enough to do a auto start.

 

[Jmitchelltfo]

Napa or Walmart will be your quickest and most trouble free option IMO. Buy an H7 (and a new AGM aux battery) and be done with it.

 

[Spiffy]

No skin off my nose if they have to spend 5 days. I have several trucks. I know it's easier to buy a battery. Why should I have to. I payed 80k for this truck.
I want the new battery. My question is what have some of you done to press the issue? I got all day.

 

[Jmitchelltfo]

No skin off my nose if they have to spend 5 days. I have several trucks. I know it's easier to buy a battery. Why should I have to. I payed 80k for this truck.
I want the new battery. My question is what have some of you done to press the issue? I got all day.

If you don't mind making the calls back and forth, then I guess you made the decision already.

I've already decided to buy my own replacements if my OEM batteries ever act up. I can't stand the back and forth with the dealer and playing the games of picking vehicles up, only to head back over in a day or two with the same issue. Been there and done that with a Nissan Titan.

 

[cjm83]

I agree with both of you. Im in the process of ordering a new PB and have been reading endless posts about the battery issue. It really is ridiculous to spend $85k on a brand new truck and immediately have to go to costco or walmart to get batteries that aren't POS. Its literally the most asinine thing.

And to make it even worse... the fact that its such a pain in the ass to get Ford to make it right, you are forced to just bend over and take it up the ass by buying your own batteries, putting them in, and being done with the issue cuz its the path of least resistance. And thats not right. We as consumers should not have to do that to fix such a simple issue.


such is life i guess.... first world problems... ?‍

 

[Severdog]

My truck is in for several things. They said I might have to leave the truck up to five days.

Is there anything else I can do?

I think that you have to put a price on your time.

You can probably wear them out and get them to replace the battery, but how long will this take and how much of your free time will you burn? Probably a day or two at the shop, the driving back and forth, etc. You might incur as much as 50 hours of lost utility. Can you put a price on that?

I figure no one gets my time unless it's worth at least $100/hour to me. I had the same issue and the time involved was not worth the price of a new battery. $300 and one year later, not even a peep of low battery.

 

[Old Hat]

It's not just the time and hassle of taking it to and working with the dealer. I'd rather do all the work I can on my own in my garage, and yes, even pay for a battery just to avoid the risk some other damage happening while in the shop. No one will be more careful with my truck than me.

 

[cjm83]

I think that you have to put a price on your time.

You can probably wear them out and get them to replace the battery, but how long will this take and how much of your free time will you burn? Probably a day or two at the shop, the driving back and forth, etc. You might incur as much as 50 hours of lost utility. Can you put a price on that?

I figure no one gets my time unless it's worth at least $100/hour to me. I had the same issue and the time involved was not worth the price of a new battery. $300 and one year later, not even a peep of low battery.

You are absolutely right. And that unfortunately is the problem... Your take on the matter should not be right.

 

[Je1279]

My thought was if it was a batch of bad batteries, I would go through the hassle and try to get it replaced under warranty. However, everything points to that not being the case. Because of this, I would likely be back in the same position in a year and a half. I ended up spending $200 on a new battery, but if it fails in the next 4 years, I get a free replacement. Seemed like the best choice for both my time and my sanity.

 

[Severdog]

Your take on the matter should not be right.

Look at the trends in today's society.

You can't find a customer service "person" to take your phone call. Presione uno para español

There is continual pressure to improve margins. Ford (as a company) has a huge financial ball and chain with pension plans and labor costs. Hands-on skills are in decline as kids are plopped in front of an iPad to occupy themselves, and hit the job market unable to solve typical complex issues that are not mapped/scripted out for them.

AI is going to make this issue even worse going forward, if your problem does not fit neatly into a little box. No error codes? No battery replacement.

I think that those who will thrive in the near future will be "renaissance men." Anyone who is self-sufficient and controls their own outcomes will stand out and be free of the "suck."

 

[Jean Deaux]

My truck is in for several things. One is the battery and charging errors. Just when the truck went in the error on dash went away but the hard codes in the truck show multiple low battery nags.
My dealer says come pick up the truck, everything is fixed. I asked what about the battery? Did you remove it and do the long version test? They kind of skirted my question and said there doesn't seem to be any issues. I told them that there are 18 or so updates that are not completing because of battery and I can't remote start. I told the service guy that if they replace the battery i will spend the time doing the updates otherwise if they continue to say nothing is wrong I'm going to force them to do all the updates. There is a ton.
They said I might have to leave the truck up to five days. I said exactly. You will have a bay locked up 5 days and likely not get reimburse fully.

Is there anything else I can do?

I had to leave my truck at dealership to check and replace 12V battery under warranty for couple weeks or so. I believe the reason is that this kind of a job must be performed by one of their electronics specialists and those are big time overbooked (taking into account the majority of electronics issues in our computers on wheels comparing to analog mechanics). I didn't mind since they provided loaner trucks for that period.

 

[roadPilot]

I told the service guy that if they replace the battery i will spend the time doing the updates otherwise if they continue to say nothing is wrong I'm going to force them to do all the updates.

Hate to break it to you, but they don't have to spend a single minute upgrading firmware on ANY of the modules in your truck unless (a) you're paying them or (b) the upgrade(s) are required to address a warranty claim that Ford is paying for. No, they don't have ot update 18 different modules because your battery went/is low. It doesn't work that way.

 

[Parthery]

Ford won't reimburse the dealer for the cost of the battery if it doesn't fail completely. If it's low but recharge they will tell you to drive the truck.

My truck was a month old and I went through the same drama. After the 3rd visit, I went to the sales manager and he made a call to service. 20 minutes later I was out the door with a new battery. I can only assume that the cost of the battery was billed back to sales.

Good luck.

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