[Sammoj]

Hi

When I went to test drive the above car it had to be jump started and after purchasing it I was told the battery had been replaced. Over the last few weeks it has been reporting ‘aux battery saver’ most mornings indicating the car has topped up the 12v from the main traction battery.

The car has been at the garage today for software upgrade and I have been told it has failed the battery test at 75% and needs a new 12v battery.

Clearly either the garage did not change the battery before i had the car delivered or it fitted a defective battery.

I am now being told no 12v batteries are available in the supply change and I will get an update on Thursday on availability. This seems crazy to me, is this 12v battery something particularly special or does a specific Hyundai branded battery need to be fitted?

The car was a 2019 Aug reg that has been sat since then before i purchased it in Sept 2020 so never been used and i can understand the original battery being dead but 2? Anybody else had issues either with these failing or availability?

John

 

[Peter Cittern]

Check out the 12v vampire drain thread on here

 

[finchlean]

I don't think they changed it after your test drive! Typical dealer mentality!
The replacement is a standard battery, but get them to provide an in warranty replacement

 

[Sammoj]

Check out the 12v vampire drain thread on here

Old specification so no blue link.

 

[Peter Cittern]

Ah, OK. At one time I thought Bluelink might be to blame but it seems not.
My problem (at least the 4th time the battery died) seemed to be non-protected passenger side door locks shorting out in the wet, then that keeping the car awake and draining the battery

 

[Sammoj]

It hasn’t overall been the best of experiences this car I am afraid. I love the car, love the range compared to my old LEAF 30 but the service from the dealership hasn’t been fantastic. I am at day 28 since purchase and am thinking of formally advising them i am rejecting it and starting again. If this is genuinely the 2nd battery that has had to be replaced then what else is going on here...there seems to be a few people reporting Hyundai 12v battery issues inc Kona owners, mind I think Kona owners have bigger batteries to worry about from what i have read!

J

 

[Peter Cittern]

I was in a similar frame of mind to you a while ago but now having found and hopefully sorted the problem with the door locks am soldiering on. Did any of your dead 12 volt episodes happen after rain or washing the car?

 

[Electrickery]

I doubt the dealer changed the battery. For the sake of a £50 battery they have just annoyed a customer and created a lot of extra work for themselves. Doesn't surprise me though.
But you may not have any actual issues with the car, other than the battery. It seems likely the battery just went dead after sitting unused for so long. It will jump start but unless it is then fully charged it will still be in a low state and the aux battery saver probably won't give it long enough to get to a decent charge.. Chances are if the battery has been empty for that long it will be virtually useless, but if you have a normal 12V charger you could try giving it a good 12 hours or so at 5Amps, it may be ok, at least for now until dealer will replace it.

 

[Sammoj]

I doubt the dealer changed the battery. For the sake of a £50 battery they have just annoyed a customer and created a lot of extra work for themselves. Doesn't surprise me though.
But you may not have any actual issues with the car, other than the battery. It seems likely the battery just went dead after sitting unused for so long. It will jump start but unless it is then fully charged it will still be in a low state and the aux battery saver probably won't give it long enough to get to a decent charge.. Chances are if the battery has been empty for that long it will be virtually useless, but if you have a normal 12V charger you could try giving it a good 12 hours or so at 5Amps, it may be ok, at least for now until dealer will replace it.

Well I finally got to the bottom of it today.

Someone at the dealer thought it would be a good idea to replace the battery on my car with one that was exactly the same age and had been used as a display model at some local attractions. They thought it would be ok as it had a few 100 miles on it so had been used unlike the one in my car that had 7 miles on it when i test drove it.

@Electrickery spot on.

So I now have 3 choices....

1. Reject the car and get a full refund including my part-ex amount.
2. Reject the car and get a refund of the difference i paid and my old Premium SE Hybrid back as its still there
3. Take the car back with a 3rd party battery in it and when a proper Hyundai one is available it will be swapped.

My heart says take option 1, walk away with the cash and look for something else.

My head says take option 3, I like the car and only mentioned the aux battery message because it was going in for software updates.

I do know that looking at the car reporting it has 100% SOC using an OBD2 dongle, it looks like the main battery is good.

There may be a 4th option as they have a Premium SE same age, colour etc with 12k miles on it at roughly the same price so i could ask for a swap to that on the grounds i know it has been used and not left for 13 months standing. My Premium thats in the garage has 450 miles on it.

Going to sleep on it and call the dealer tomorrow with an answer.

John

 

[Electrickery]

I don't understand why they fit such non standard 12v batteries to these, it's only a 40Ah lead battery, but I'm not sure whether standard sizes fit..

 

[HandyAndy]

Amperas seem to get through batteries in as little as 3 years, and other EVs also seem to hammer them for some reason. AGMs seem to be better than simple cheapo lead acids, and some guys reckon deep discharge batteries are probably better still. Not my area of expertise tho. I change my Ampy battery the instant I see < 12.0V .

 

[Sammoj]

I have just got the car back tonight. It has a Yusa battery fitted for now 057 I think was the number. Will see how it goes over next week but have been promised a Hyundai one once they are back in stock.

have to say handing back the hybrid SE loan car and getting into my BEV premium felt like a world apart. So much more refined in BEV.