AA Car Battery Replacement

DarwinUK

Hi

In sep of this year (2017) we had to have a new battery fitted to my father-inlaws car, as the old one was flat.

The AA arrived, tested, sold us a 112 pound new battery, and then fitted.

He said that the battery that was already on the car was the wrong size. He said the old battery was 330 watt and the car needed a 550 watt. The new battery was 550 watt. He said that if we still had the paperwork we could go see who originally fitted the wrong battery and see if we could claim some money back.

As soon as we got home we dug out the paperwork for the 330watt battery. We found that it was the AA that fitted the 330watt battery, so the next day I emailed the AA with all the details.

The original battery date looked like April 2016, so we said to the AA that it was 1) - still under warrenty, and 2) - they had fitted the wrong battery anyway, so could we have a refund of the 112 pounds.

Now four weeks later I have received an email from the AA. They are claiming that the battery was fitted in Apr 2014, and that the last didgit in the year was a 4 when it really looks like a 6. They have stated that they are not going to refund any money, despite me saying that they fitted the wrong battery in the first place, which makes it unfit for purpose.

Part of the email from the AA states :

"Having looked further into this matter I can confirm that we did replace the battery in registration XXXXXXX on 5 April 2014 therefore, the warranty expired on 5 April 2017. I am therefore unable to reimburse the cost of the battery that was replaced on 18 September 2017."

Ive requested copies of the original paperwork showing the exact date, and also asked why they wont refund. My arguement is that if the correct battery had been fitted in April then the battery would still be running now. But because they put a lower powered battery on the car, then thats why it didnt last as long.

Any advice here would be helpfull

Thank you

Car_54

1. If they're right about the date, then it is indeed out of warranty. But so would the "correct" battery.

2. 3.5 years doesn't seem a totally unreasonably life-span for a battery if it really was under-specified.

3. How do you know it was the first AA man who got it wrong, rather than the second? Have you checked the manufacturer's specs?

4. Are you sure about the specs? Batteries are usually rated in Ampere-hours, not Watts.

forgotmyname

The reason the battery didnt last as long is more likely to be it was a budget battery not a decent one.

A smaller battery will do the job 99% of the time, you are only likely to notice a problem when running devices with the engine off or when cranking the engine over. In that situation a smaller capacity battery will run down quicker.

If your charging system is upto scratch then a smaller battery should not be an issue. More likely the brand of battery unless you have a charging fault.

I have run V8 engines on a small classic mini battery, no issues as long as itr starts fairly quickly. If it doesnt start though then cranking that big lump over will flatten it fairly quickly. On the bonus side it will also charge quickly.

Quality not quantity is the issue here. Assuming your charging circuit is upto scratch.

A lot of manufacturers now fit a small battery as standard and then upsell you to a super duper battery to extract a few extra £ from you.

BeenThroughItAll

I'd be very concerned about anyone saying you needed a battery of 'X watts'.

550W output is around 45A at 12v - enough to start a decent sized lawnmower.

wgl2014

Presumably the OP means the old battery was rated at lower Cold cranking amps (CCA) than the replacement.

If it did the job for 3 years it's difficult to argue it wasn't up to spec.

FWIW car batteries can be purchased much cheaper on line with free delivery and are not difficult to fit.

System

DarwinUK wrote: »

They have stated that they are not going to refund any money, despite me saying that they fitted the wrong battery in the first place, which makes it unfit for purpose.

No it doesn't. As long as it is rated at a high enough discharge rate to cope with the maximum current drawn when starting the car it is suitable. The only downside is that if you do short journeys it is likely to stand a chance of going flat quicker if the charge used to start the car doesn't get replaced.

My 2L MX5 uses the same small battery as a Nissan Micra, so did my wife's 2L V6 Mitsubishi FTO.

BeenThroughItAll

wgl2014 wrote: »

Presumably the OP means the old battery was rated at lower Cold cranking amps (CCA) than the replacement.

If it did the job for 3 years it's difficult to argue it wasn't up to spec.

FWIW car batteries can be purchased much cheaper on line with free delivery and are not difficult to fit.

Indeed, presumably that is the case. My point was really to illustrate the ineptitude and lack of knowledge of the person making the statement - it doesn't say much for their level of expertise.

tonyh66

check your bank records for the dates mentioned and see if you paid the AA around those dates.

DarwinUK

Hello Guys.

Thanks for all the replies, not what I was hoping to hear, but thats what I like about these sites, straight to the point and helpful.

Thank you