Bought approved used BMW with undisclosed Tracker fitted, has since damaged car, advice?

Stringy · 8 Feb 2019 at 14:43

I bought an approved used car from a BMW dealer over two years ago, been running fine but the stop/start stopped functioning recently so I dropped it into my new local dealership (moved house since the purchase) for investigative work as I have the approved BMW warranty.

They've discovered an aftermarket GPS tracker fitted to the car (that I didn't fit!) that has caused damage to the battery, meaning the stop/start won't work, and landing me an eye watering bill to get the battery replaced as well the investigation charge from the garage, as it is now not covered under warranty.

I haven't agreed to the battery work yet (over £200 for a battery, WTF??) and won't be getting the car as it has to stay in for some recall work (I'll be getting a courtesy car). I'm yet to hear back from the garage I bought the car from as their central call centre couldn't reach anyone.

Contacting the Tracker company should be able to easily verify when the tracker was fitted (before I bought the car...) showing that I'm not liable for the damage. Anyone got any advice on how to proceed to avoid the garage wriggling out of it?

Side note: slightly concerned about the GPS tracking privacy implications of this undisclosed Tracker, I mean, what if some ne'er-do-well used it to work out when I was holiday or something? Pretty outrageous!

Edit update: Dealership I bought it from.has acknowledged the shenanigans and is looking to sort something out...watch this space.

Nasher · 8 Feb 2019 at 15:17

Yep, batteries for start/stop are ridiculously expensive. Save pocket change in fuel but spend £100s on a battery every few years lol

[TW]Fox · 8 Feb 2019 at 15:36

Nasher said:
Yep, batteries for start/stop are ridiculously expensive. Save pocket change in fuel but spend £100s on a battery every few years lol

Every few years? :confused:

Firestar_3x · 8 Feb 2019 at 15:50

Interested to know how the garage can prove an aftermarket tracker has damaged the cars battery.

Not unheard of for an AGM stop start battery to start causing trouble after 4 years (depending on vehicle usage profile), how old is the car?

Stringy · 8 Feb 2019 at 17:01

Firestar_3x said:
Interested to know how the garage can prove an aftermarket tracker has damaged the cars battery.

Not unheard of for an AGM stop start battery to start causing trouble after 4 years (depending on vehicle usage profile), how old is the car?

Car is a 63 plate. Garage (current, servicing garage) said the stop/start issue was related to a battery drain error that they've found when trying to diagnose the fault. They then had to root around to work out what was causing the drain. They've said that it will have damaged the battery (shrugs) and that it will need replacing. They imply that with the tracker disconnected, the drain issue should go away.

Selling garage has held their hands up and said they'll work out how to sort it, but I haven't heard back from them yet. *Should* run on rails, but I'll be sure to update if it doesn't...

Dup · 8 Feb 2019 at 17:55

"Should" stop the drain is not an acceptable response. Sounds like they've seen but and decided that's the issue without disconnecting it and checking that's definitely the case. A likely culprit, but I wouldn't be happy with "should". I'd want to known for sure especially if I'm getting the original dealer to come up with some sort of compensation for then situation based on that finding.

Gaygle · 8 Feb 2019 at 19:10

Hmmm, you've owned the car two years and it's never caused an issue before?

This is a well known error message for when the batteries start failing - which they often do at about 6-8 years old. My guess is that the battery is old and worn, and simply replacing it will cause the issue to be resolved.

Stringy · 8 Feb 2019 at 19:43

Gaygle said:
Hmmm, you've owned the car two years and it's never caused an issue before?

This is a well known error message for when the batteries start failing - which they often do at about 6-8 years old. My guess is that the battery is old and worn, and simply replacing it will cause the issue to be resolved.

On and off we've had an error message/notification come up like the one here when it's been sat still for a few days but stupidly we thought nothing of it, we just assumed it was due to cold weather or whatever (daft, yes, I know) and it didn't ever suggest it was something to be alarmed about. It's obviously been shutting off power to things like the tracker when it's been still for too long, but allowing the battery to keep being run down.

I don't mind if the batteries routinely get knackered or whatever, I suspect the selling garage will do whatever to sort out the fact that they unwittingly sold us a 'modified' approved used car, so if that means a free battery then great.

Dup said:
"Should" stop the drain is not an acceptable response. Sounds like they've seen but and decided that's the issue without disconnecting it and checking that's definitely the case. A likely culprit, but I wouldn't be happy with "should". I'd want to known for sure especially if I'm getting the original dealer to come up with some sort of compensation for then situation based on that finding.

Proof will be in the pudding I guess, if it doesn't sort it then it will be a warranty issue and it will go back in.

Hades · 9 Feb 2019 at 19:50

It simply sounds like battery drain when the car isn't used for a while, which is now having more impact because the battery is old. I consider a battery old after about five years and expect it to need replacing any time after that, although they do tend to last a couple more years after that.

It's not a case of *if* an old battery needs replacing but *when*. My next actions would be to ask them to disconnect the tracker to confirm the battery drain stops. Then replace the battery.