Alright here we go....

I test drove this one GSR with SSS yesterday at the dealership and after 5 minutes of driving it with the lights turned on (around 8pm), the car start acting weird. The cluster shows ABS light warning, E-brake light and “ASC off” for about 1-2 secs with a beep. Then an exclamation point inside a circle (!) showed up in the display in red and says “check” then it showed something like “see service” in the display in yellow and then the speedometer drops down to like 20 mph when I’m doing 60 mph. Then the illumination of the cluster flickers and same as the HIDs. This happened in about 10-15 times per minute. Then the problem just got worse by turning the radio on, probably by 20 times per minute. Then I was at 2nd gear on ramp the freeway and hit the RPM to around 5K, the engine kinda died for a second, more like a stutter, then I shifted it to 3rd then it went back to the normal light flickering.

I asked the sales guy and he said that before I test drove it, the battery was completely dead. He had to jump start it. He said that it’s because of a dead battery and the car was only running off the alternator that’s why I’m seeing those problems. He’s gonna replace the battery once I buy the car. Is that the real reason why the car is having those problems? I don’t know if it matters but I’m thinking because I drove it for like 15-30 mins, the battery should’ve been charged by then and not display those problems.

Any thoughts?

 

Replace the battery and see how it test drives.

It might be the case from sitting in the lot so long.

 

I wouldn't buy the car until whatever issue it is.....is gone. Whether the fix is a charged up battery or new one, doesn't matter.

 

Doesn't sound right to me... I had to jump my car over the weekend (long story, but I basically drained the battery with an air pump that I was running off of the lighter).

It ran like a champ afterwards and recharged the battery after a 30 mile drive, with absolutely no issues.

I would proceed with caution.

 

^^Yeah. I'm thinking the battery will be in working condition after 30 mins of driving it around. I might end up getting a different one.

I would still like to know how that works. Does the battery affect the functionality of the car after it has already been running with warm up time for 5 mins? I was under the impression that the electrical of the car runs off the alternator when you're driving it and the battery is only used when the car is off.

 

If that would be the case the battery would not charge. Alternator charges the battery, which then the battery sends the power to the cars electrical system.

Besure that the battery lamp is not burned out that will cause the alternator not to charge at all since the closed loop system will be open.

The battery lamp is on the gauge cluster and should illuminate when you first start the car to indicate that the circuit is closed and the alternator will charge the battery.

 

Oh, I didn't really pay attention to that. I was mesmerized by the car's beauty.

So to wrap this all up, checking if the battery lamp is not burned out or changing the car battery would fix these issues then? It would be good to know so that any similar issues encountered in the future will be addressed accordingly.

 

Cars electrical systems do tend to go hay wire when the charging system is acting up. Either the alternator or battery most likely. Like others mentioned before, have them fix it, and take it for a nice and long test drive to make sure all is ok. Don't buy it until they fix it!!!

 

The sales guy sounded kinda fishy telling you that he was going to replace the battery "after" you bought the car. Screw him man!! Tell him to put a new battery in that bad boy and make sure it is up and running correctly before spending your hard earned money on it.

 

This problem happened to me a few years back on my 02 acura rsx-s. My lights, radio, speedometer, etc. all started doing weird things similar to your test drive and the problem ended up being a loose alternator wire.

 

Yeah, I was lucky that the car didn't die on me for having me not drive a manual tranny in years. It would suck being stuck in the mountains trying to push the car to get it to start.

LOL!!! True dat! Problems like these wanna make me test drive any car I'll buy for sure. Revealing problems is a must.

Good thing you figured it out. I don't completely trust the sales guy due to some statements he told me with an answer of a "huh??!?!". That's why I had to post this thread. Thanks for your comments!

 

I dunno, but nearly all the X's at my local lot have a big "NEEDS BATTERY JUMPED" written on the windshields

 

LOL! Any X owners here that had to jump their car batteries every time just to drive it? I don't recall this being a problem (dead car battery) on an X after being on the forums for about 3 months.

 

That's not true. The car's electrical system runs off of the alternator (which also charges the battery) when the car is running. The only thing the battery is needed for is starts. Some friends and I have bought Hondas without batteries before, put a battery in them to start them, removed the battery, and then driven them home running on just alternator power. If your alternator is healthy it works fine.

 

Yes. That's correct. However, you still need to check if your alternator is working.

That's why you need to check if the battery lamp lights up. If it does, then everything is connected and alternator is getting juice from the battery. A closed circuit then.

I think the issue is that the car he is looking at has alternator issues somewhere in the system.