Battery dead before test drive. Leave it alone?

matrim

I went to test drive a car used (2008) car today. I got to the dealer just before closing so they had the car in the back. The guy moved it to the front so we could have a look. During this time the car started and seemed ok. I had a look for about 10 minutes before going to start the car for a test drive, at which time, it wouldn't start as the battery was dead. Once jump started, the test drive went fine.

Is this a sign to just leave the car as there may be a bigger fault or could it just be a minor thing?

Note: The dealer said the car had only been with them a couple of days (and the add would support this) and hadn't had a service yet. It would get one before being sold which might include a replacement battery if they felt it was needed

Sleeper12

A new battery is around 100 euro. If it's just a bad battery it wouldn't bother me.

It could be a bad alternater. What type of car

matrim

Hyundai i30

bazz26

It's fairly common for cars that are laid up for an extended period of time around this time of year to have starting problems if the battery is weak. While they may only have the car a few days, its possible that the car has passed from one dealer to another so it may have been laid up longer than that. It may also be possible that the previous owner knew the battery was dodgy but didn't bother doing anything about as they were trading the car.
I'd still have a mechanic check the car over and maybe bring a battery tester with you. If the battery is losing charge then insist on a new battery fitted as part of the sale if there are no other issues with the car.

jeepcj

Same thing happened to me when i bought my Navara 2 years ago, dealer gave me a new battery which was fine, but later on I found out that if the jeep was left without starting for over a week the battery would go flat, turned out to be the alternator and that cost me 300 euro. So worst case negotiate the price of a battery or alternator.

MarkN

A battery went dead on me in a brand new unregistered M3 out of Joe Duffy in the middle of the road that goes past Charlestown Shopping Centre before. It can happen to any car. Trucks whizzing past a static car like a sitting duck is a memory that will live with me for some time!

An easy fix and shouldn’t put you off IMO.

mrs.doubt.fire

Why would any garage advertise a car for sale if it's not ready ? Meaning it's not yet serviced. Sounds like a dodgy sales man/garage to me, I'd walk away from it. Don't be quick to part with your hard earned money until your 110% happy to do so.

bucketybuck

mrs.doubt.fire wrote: »

Why would any garage advertise a car for sale if it's not ready ? Meaning it's not yet serviced.

Instead of jumping to shout "dodgy dealer" why not think about it for a minute and ask a slightly different question, why would a dealer service a car that hadn't yet been sold?

Why change the battery, then the car sits there a couple of months, the battery goes flat and come an eventual sale you have to fit another one? Why change the oil and filters, then find out at sale that the customer doesn't believe you and demands it serviced again? Why fit new tyres when its possible that the customer would rather have paid a bit less for the car and fitted his own tyres? Why put a lot of money into a car that in fact might never get sold, that you have to cut your losses on at some point? A dealer will do all the cosmetic work, but there are a lot of little things that mean it makes sense to leave the servicing/wear items until the sale itself.

There is nothing strange about a dealer jump starting a vehicle, a lot of stock sits there in yards doing next to no mileage, of course batteries will go flat. Sure, its possible there is an alternator issue there but a jump start is not necessarily evidence of that.

colm_mcm

mrs.doubt.fire wrote: »

Why would any garage advertise a car for sale if it's not ready ? Meaning it's not yet serviced. Sounds like a dodgy sales man/garage to me, I'd walk away from it. Don't be quick to part with your hard earned money until your 110% happy to do so.

Not really. Garages are flat out for the first two months of the year PDIing new cars and servicing cars they’ve sold. It’s quite common to advertise a car as soon as it’s traded in, and also not out of the ordinary to sell it before it’s even been cleaned up! Ideally you’d have all cars in showroom condition ASAP but that’s not always possible.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

ive seen a brand new audi q3 go flat a week after pickup when left in the airport for a few days .

matrim

Thanks for the feedback. Can anyone recommend a mechanic in Dublin we could use to look over the car?

jeepcj

DaDumTish wrote: »

ive seen a brand new audi q3 go flat a week after pickup when left in the airport for a few days .

Then there is a electrical fault with your audi, which the OP is hoping to avoid with his purchase. I'm not saying walk away from the sale, but just be cautious and have the charging system and battery tested