Sorry this is long but it is a long story.
In March 2019 I bought a low mileage (20,000 miles) certified pre-owned Volvo V60. One lesson I learned is never buy a CPO car that went through the CPO inspection 6 months earlier and then was driven 1,000 miles by an employee at the dealer.
Yep I am a car guy and know how to catch these dealer service people in their pranks and I foolishly should have pushed for more when I bought the car. But it was a fun car to drive and I liked it - we all know what can happen with love at first site.
The tires were barely passable at the CPO inspection and then driven another 1,000 miles --- I should have said new tires or I walk.
Nine months later low battery light comes on and of course I went to the dealer because the car has a lot of warranty remaining. They found a fault and fixed it. They found a Sirius radio update and fixed it (it could be a battery drain). Now why that wasn't done at the CPO inspection is beyond me because the CPO sheet says "all updated preformed". They did want to charge me for that radio update but I squawked. They trickle charged the battery, gave it a battery is good - 12.06 and out the door. The low battery light stayed off until this september.
The light comes on if the car sits longer than a day without driving and goes off as soon as the car starts. But Volvo is involved in a Class Action suit about battery drain so back to the dealer.
Dealer says - "service tech says battery light not illuminated". Well duh I told them the car has to sit and I did already drive it to the dealer that day. Did I say I opened a case with Volvo USA?
So I get an e-mail from the dealer service department saying that nothing is wrong but they will trickle charge for the day.
"Battery Trickle Charger
Battery good/ recharge 11.93 volts 481 CCA with a 10mA draw."
From all the charts a 12.06 volt battery (January 2020 reading) is not what ya call a good battery at that time. Now the voltage is 11.93 and they still say good? This was all done in tehir shop not at zero degrees temp. My manual says the minimum batter is 520 CCA.
Then I get a call that they want to trickle charge all night and I can pick up the car on Saturday. Saturday arrives and I get another call from the dealer. Dealer says that Volvo USA want them (dealer) to do more tests before releasing the car, I can pick up on Monday. Ok...test away.
The original CPO inspection report reads "Battery (condition/fluid/level/load test - record readings _______)" but there is no recorded reading so I have no idea of the battery voltage at the time of the CPO inspection?
Now my wife during these times of Covid might not go anywhere on Saturday or Sunday but on Monday when we get in and see a low battery warning, to me is not normal. Our Honda CRV sits a lot longer and we never see any battery issues.
If there was a parasitic drain for a long time it may have gone un-noticed while the employee drove the car 1,000 miles as his daily commute car. It may have been discharging at night but the daily recharge wasn't low enough to illuminate the light. But still that long parasitic discharge-recharge cycle most likely created an early demise for the battery.
My thought is that the dealer just wants to hand the car to the lowest end tech who puts it on the trickle charger and that makes everything well for X amount of months. Then when my warranty is out they can sell me on their $300 batter install. I know that number because when I was in for my State inspection the guy in front of me was pay --- you got it -- $300 for a new battery.
I won't tell you how they tried to make me pay for a $280 front brake pad job. When in reality there was only one inner pad that was badly worn. That one inner pad was only seen because I pulled the front wheels. And wouldn't you know it, there was a TSB describing right, front, premature inner brake pad wear. And the TSB came out in 2018 long before I owned the car. Upon showing them the TSB and what needs to be fixed to stop the premature wear, they agreed and fixed it (no charge). All the other pads were almost new.
So I don't know that buying a CPO car is worth the extra expense and I feel bad for people who can't pull the wheels to look at brake pads, don't know anything about cars. I've also caught the dealer not doing an extended warranty PCV job on another Volvo. When I got home I checked their work, I squeezed the PCV tube (Volvo has a system) and it was hard as a rock. Called the dealer and said, you didn't change. They said we only change if needed. I said it is rock hard, Volvo USA is paying you for a new one. There was also intake O rings included but couldn't check. They also used a zip-tie instead of a hose clap.
They said bring the car back we will fix it. When I picked it up they had a $50 gift card waiting for me. So I don't exactly have the greatest trust in them.
Does this chart still hold true?
Battery Voltage and State of Charge (at 80 degrees F):
(NOTE: Subtract 0.024 volts for every 10 degree F drop in temperature)
12.66v . . . . . . . . . . 100%
12.45v . . . . . . . . . . 75%
12.24v . . . . . . . . . . 50%
12.06v . . . . . . . . . . 25%
11.89v . . . . . . . . . . 0%
In March 2019 I bought a low mileage (20,000 miles) certified pre-owned Volvo V60. One lesson I learned is never buy a CPO car that went through the CPO inspection 6 months earlier and then was driven 1,000 miles by an employee at the dealer.
Yep I am a car guy and know how to catch these dealer service people in their pranks and I foolishly should have pushed for more when I bought the car. But it was a fun car to drive and I liked it - we all know what can happen with love at first site.
The tires were barely passable at the CPO inspection and then driven another 1,000 miles --- I should have said new tires or I walk.
Nine months later low battery light comes on and of course I went to the dealer because the car has a lot of warranty remaining. They found a fault and fixed it. They found a Sirius radio update and fixed it (it could be a battery drain). Now why that wasn't done at the CPO inspection is beyond me because the CPO sheet says "all updated preformed". They did want to charge me for that radio update but I squawked. They trickle charged the battery, gave it a battery is good - 12.06 and out the door. The low battery light stayed off until this september.
The light comes on if the car sits longer than a day without driving and goes off as soon as the car starts. But Volvo is involved in a Class Action suit about battery drain so back to the dealer.
Dealer says - "service tech says battery light not illuminated". Well duh I told them the car has to sit and I did already drive it to the dealer that day. Did I say I opened a case with Volvo USA?
So I get an e-mail from the dealer service department saying that nothing is wrong but they will trickle charge for the day.
"Battery Trickle Charger
Battery good/ recharge 11.93 volts 481 CCA with a 10mA draw."
From all the charts a 12.06 volt battery (January 2020 reading) is not what ya call a good battery at that time. Now the voltage is 11.93 and they still say good? This was all done in tehir shop not at zero degrees temp. My manual says the minimum batter is 520 CCA.
Then I get a call that they want to trickle charge all night and I can pick up the car on Saturday. Saturday arrives and I get another call from the dealer. Dealer says that Volvo USA want them (dealer) to do more tests before releasing the car, I can pick up on Monday. Ok...test away.
The original CPO inspection report reads "Battery (condition/fluid/level/load test - record readings _______)" but there is no recorded reading so I have no idea of the battery voltage at the time of the CPO inspection?
Now my wife during these times of Covid might not go anywhere on Saturday or Sunday but on Monday when we get in and see a low battery warning, to me is not normal. Our Honda CRV sits a lot longer and we never see any battery issues.
If there was a parasitic drain for a long time it may have gone un-noticed while the employee drove the car 1,000 miles as his daily commute car. It may have been discharging at night but the daily recharge wasn't low enough to illuminate the light. But still that long parasitic discharge-recharge cycle most likely created an early demise for the battery.
My thought is that the dealer just wants to hand the car to the lowest end tech who puts it on the trickle charger and that makes everything well for X amount of months. Then when my warranty is out they can sell me on their $300 batter install. I know that number because when I was in for my State inspection the guy in front of me was pay --- you got it -- $300 for a new battery.
I won't tell you how they tried to make me pay for a $280 front brake pad job. When in reality there was only one inner pad that was badly worn. That one inner pad was only seen because I pulled the front wheels. And wouldn't you know it, there was a TSB describing right, front, premature inner brake pad wear. And the TSB came out in 2018 long before I owned the car. Upon showing them the TSB and what needs to be fixed to stop the premature wear, they agreed and fixed it (no charge). All the other pads were almost new.
So I don't know that buying a CPO car is worth the extra expense and I feel bad for people who can't pull the wheels to look at brake pads, don't know anything about cars. I've also caught the dealer not doing an extended warranty PCV job on another Volvo. When I got home I checked their work, I squeezed the PCV tube (Volvo has a system) and it was hard as a rock. Called the dealer and said, you didn't change. They said we only change if needed. I said it is rock hard, Volvo USA is paying you for a new one. There was also intake O rings included but couldn't check. They also used a zip-tie instead of a hose clap.
They said bring the car back we will fix it. When I picked it up they had a $50 gift card waiting for me. So I don't exactly have the greatest trust in them.
Does this chart still hold true?
Battery Voltage and State of Charge (at 80 degrees F):
(NOTE: Subtract 0.024 volts for every 10 degree F drop in temperature)
12.66v . . . . . . . . . . 100%
12.45v . . . . . . . . . . 75%
12.24v . . . . . . . . . . 50%
12.06v . . . . . . . . . . 25%
11.89v . . . . . . . . . . 0%
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