Factory battery went bad at 32k miles... dealer zero help... anyone else??

Demon-HeMi · Aug 12, 2017

my battery on my 2014 lasted 2 years and 20k miles, like said above, mileage doesnt matter on the batter but thats just what it was at, it seems to be common to only get a couple years out of dealer batteries, ive seen quite a few new cars of various makes batteries crap out even after 1 year

Bdersch · Aug 12, 2017

Flip-er said:
Wish RamCares would chime in on this
curious to what they say......

definitely interested to see their response on the loaners and on the battery itself. I mean not even 1.5 years old and it died?

SD38-2 · Aug 12, 2017

My previous truck was a 2nd gen dodge cummins, a 2002 to be exact. I bought it with 37k on the odometer in 2005 and I sold it in the spring of 2014 with 260k miles on it. When I purchased it the batteries were from the factory. I ended up replacing them at 100k miles and 225k miles. I used Interstate batteries both times and was very happy with them. Now my 2014 ram 1500 has 42k miles on the original battery, it seems to be holding up so far. When it goes I plan on replacing it with an interstate battery. My local dealer will give out loaners and if they run out of loaner they will pay for an enterprise rental for you.

Bdersch · Aug 12, 2017

SD38-2 said:
My previous truck was a 2nd gen dodge cummins, a 2002 to be exact. I bought it with 37k on the odometer in 2005 and I sold it in the spring of 2014 with 260k miles on it. When I purchased it the batteries were from the factory. I ended up replacing them at 100k miles and 225k miles. I used Interstate batteries both times and was very happy with them. Now my 2014 ram 1500 has 42k miles on the original battery, it seems to be holding up so far. When it goes I plan on replacing it with an interstate battery. My local dealer will give out loaners and if they run out of loaner they will pay for an enterprise rental for you.

I see you are in Indiana... are you near Indianapolis?

SD38-2 · Aug 13, 2017

Bdersch said:
I see you are in Indiana... are you near Indianapolis?

I live in Valparaiso, about an hour from Chicago.

Bdersch · Aug 13, 2017

SD38-2 said:
I live in Valparaiso, about an hour from Chicago.

I just moved from valpo to indy in June.

smiley · Aug 13, 2017

I suggest you buy a load tester. Voltage won't tell you if it is bad really because it could just be drained but still a good battery. You can buy a load tester at Walmart it tell you the truth about the battery without having to count on someone else. I still have my battery from my 09 I use it in my boat to run my trolling motor

smiley · Aug 13, 2017

Also I have mentioned before the best place to get a battery for our trucks is advance auto online. You can use like crazy $50 off coupon and pick up in store. Biggest battery cold cranking amps I could find for ours. They are agm like the factory ones too.

Remember there are only about 4 actual battery makers and nearly every battery to find will be from one of them even if labeled some other way. East penn/deka, Johnson controls, exide, and odyssey.

Bdersch · Aug 13, 2017

smiley3303 said:
Also I have mentioned before the best place to get a battery for our trucks is advance auto online. You can use like crazy $50 off coupon and pick up in store. Biggest battery cold cranking amps I could find for ours. They are agm like the factory ones too.

Remember there are only about 4 actual battery makers and nearly every battery to find will be from one of them even if labeled some other way. East penn/deka, Johnson controls, exide, and odyssey.

Appreciate it but I got a duralast. Was stranded and needed to get home lol

smiley · Aug 13, 2017

Bdersch said:
Appreciate it but I got a duralast. Was stranded and needed to get home lol

I know sorry I wasn't in time! I think the duralast are Johnson controls. Might have changed we don't have an autozone around here.

MdMassey · Aug 13, 2017

O'reilly's and Autozone are both Johnson controls but they are not the same battery. Duralast... dontalast very long but they have a warranty. Lol. Wall mart/Sams club, Costco and Napa are also Johnson Controls but they all have different plate designs. Advance when I worked there has Exide made batts and they were ok. I really miss the batteries from CSK they were Exide made but they were really good. They have not been made since 2009 and every now and then I get them in as cores almost 9 years later.

Guess they don't make 'me like they used to...

Bdersch · Aug 14, 2017

Side note- dropped my truck off at the dealer today for some issues and found out I actually have free first day rental. I forgot my truck came certified pre-owned which has the 100k powertrain/ drive train warranty

RamCares · Aug 14, 2017

Bdersch said:
I sucked it up and dropped the $200 so that I could get home, get to sleep and stop talking to people lol.

But can anyone from RamCares who is watching or reading add anything about the loaner car issue? Is it not standard practice for them to do loaners? Or is it dealer to dealer? If not how do I find a dealer that does loaners?

Hi Bdersch,

Since our dealerships are independently owned and operated there isn't a standard practice regarding loaner vehicles, some dealership have a fleet of loaners and some don't. Others are affiliated with an Enterprise location and work through them to provide rentals to customers. I apologize we didn't see this thread sooner, if you ever have any questions about dealership service please don't hesitate to PM our page to reach us directly!

Andrea
Ram Social Care Specialist

Boat freak · Aug 14, 2017

ramcares said:
Hi Bdersch,

Since our dealerships are independently owned and operated there isn't a standard practice regarding loaner vehicles, some dealership have a fleet of loaners and some don't. Others are affiliated with an Enterprise location and work through them to provide rentals to customers. I apologize we didn't see this thread sooner, if you ever have any questions about dealership service please don't hesitate to PM our page to reach us directly!

Andrea
Ram Social Care Specialist

I was also told this by customer care, and maybe it's the same with all manufacturers, but it still doesn't make sense to me. The dealership is doing warranty work, for which they'll be paid by the automaker, so why wouldn't the automaker [in an effort to take care of their customer] have a policy to reimburse the dealer for the rental/loaner?
I had a recent situation under my factory powertrain warranty (trans failure) that left me 200 miles from home with my boat and no tow vehicle.. I was told by the dealer that though they could give me a rental (after diagnosis - which was 2 days after the truck was towed there) I wouldn't be allowed to tow with it. Serious bummer having bought a brand new truck with every tow option.

AzRamLover · Aug 21, 2017

For what it's worth, my factory battery kicked the bucket today at 54k miles (2014 5.7)

It went really fast too - one failed remote start this morning, 2 regular starts, and then totally gone.

I thought I'd have at least until the end of the day to get it replaced but let that be a lesson to me . . . The minute I experience a hard start, time to replace it.

And alternator output is 14 volts.

jasonw · Aug 21, 2017

smiley3303 said:
Also I have mentioned before the best place to get a battery for our trucks is advance auto online. You can use like crazy $50 off coupon and pick up in store. Biggest battery cold cranking amps I could find for ours. They are agm like the factory ones too.

Good tip with the coupon, but just a clarification; I don't believe the factory batteries for our trucks are AGM. There are AGM aftermarket options for our trucks, but I am pretty sure (I will double check next time the hood is up) that my factory battery is not an AGM.

All these 2014s I've seen recently popping batteries are getting me a bit paranoid. The wife has a 2014 Jeep GC too...

smiley · Aug 21, 2017

jasonw said:
Good tip with the coupon, but just a clarification; I don't believe the factory batteries for our trucks are AGM. There are AGM aftermarket options for our trucks, but I am pretty sure (I will double check next time the hood is up) that my factory battery is not an AGM.

All these 2014s I've seen recently popping batteries are getting me a bit paranoid. The wife has a 2014 Jeep GC too...

4th gens 1500's are AGM for sure. I can't speak to other classes but I still have 2 09 ones I use for the boat as they are a little light on CCA but do find at warmer temps with a reserve of about 120 when used as a deep cycle.

lw13ram · Sep 11, 2017

Mine died at 40k. My buddy and I were eating at a BBQ joint, went to leave, turned key and nothing. The truck started fine every time. I had no warning that the battery was dying

ColdCase · Sep 11, 2017

Boat freak said:
I was also told this by customer care, and maybe it's the same with all manufacturers, but it still doesn't make sense to me. The dealership is doing warranty work, for which they'll be paid by the automaker, so why wouldn't the automaker [in an effort to take care of their customer] have a policy to reimburse the dealer for the rental/loaner?
I had a recent situation under my factory powertrain warranty (trans failure) that left me 200 miles from home with my boat and no tow vehicle.. I was told by the dealer that though they could give me a rental (after diagnosis - which was 2 days after the truck was towed there) I wouldn't be allowed to tow with it. Serious bummer having bought a brand new truck with every tow option.

I think the loners only paid by FCA if you have a maxcare type warranty, the best reason to buy it early as loners or rentals are not covered by FCA for the factory warranty. If provided its just a good will thing by dealers. Recalls may be different.

RAM 5.7 · Sep 11, 2017

Mine went bad around 26,000 on my 2014 express, replaced no problem, left at dealer for the day.

Factory battery went bad at 32k miles... dealer zero help... anyone else??

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page