How much of a problem is the physical damage to this IMA battery?

[evynsdad]

Brian.Dannecker, very kind of you to offer to take a look at the battery. Unfortunately we are on opposite coasts. I should own a grid charger within the week and will charge the pack before installing it. Any thought as to what might be a fair amount to ask of the seller as consideration for the damage?

[theaveng]

I would ask a Honda dealer, "How much to repair this damage" and see what they say. It's probably 2-3 hours of labor, or 150-225 dollars.

Originally Posted by evynsdad

I would also love to learn how to get 78mpg from my insight.

Go to a nearby interstate, preferably one that is mostly flat with no jamups, and then drive 45-50 miph for several hours with the instant MPG Bar above 75 (lean burn) as much as possible.

Not only will you get 78 MPG, but probably close to 90 because the car becomes more efficient the longer it runs.

[theaveng]

Originally Posted by Subdewd2

I would think the shipper is responsible. did you take pictures before the box was opened?

According to U.S. law, the seller is responsible in ALL cases to deliver a functional item to the buyer, and if the seller fails to do that, then he is obligated to refund all the money (after the buyer returns the damaged good).

If it turns-out that the post office was at fault, then that is the responsibility of the Seller (not the buyer) to file for insurance because the contract existed between the seller and USPS (or UPS or FedEx).

[Brian.Dannecker]

Originally Posted by evynsdad

Brian.Dannecker, very kind of you to offer to take a look at the battery. Unfortunately we are on opposite coasts. I should own a grid charger within the week and will charge the pack before installing it. Any thought as to what might be a fair amount to ask of the seller as consideration for the damage?

I would ask for 500 from both the shipper and seller.

[jeff652]

Originally Posted by evynsdad

I would also love to learn how to get 78mpg from my insight. Can us mere humans ever achieve that Need4Speed?

Welcome to the forum. This thread should give you an idea on what is involved to really push the MPGs up:
My Commute MPGs

[Eli]

FedEx/UPS have no obligation to pay out if it is deemed that improper packaging is the cause of the damage, which will certainly be the case here. That's if the seller insured the package at all.

I'm going to say it mustnt be used long term. The case is also sealed to direct airflow over the sticks, so you have a big vacuum leak in yours. Most likely everything would be OK during a test, but you know the battery has received some pretty significant shocks. It's also missing one of it's mounting legs, which could compromise things even more in the event of a bad accident.

I wouldn't sell a battery like that to a customer, nor expect them to use it if it were received like that. You should get at least a partial refund; $500 sounds reasonable, considering what you paid. For $900, you definitely should have received a working battery, and this one is no longer in working condition.

Swap the sticks to your current case and call me, I'll buy the junction board off the broken one.

[evynsdad]

Originally Posted by Eli

FedEx/UPS have no obligation to pay out if it is deemed that improper packaging is the cause of the damage, which will certainly be the case here. That's if the seller insured the package at all.

I'm going to say it mustnt be used long term. The case is also sealed to direct airflow over the sticks, so you have a big vacuum leak in yours. Most likely everything would be OK during a test, but you know the battery has received some pretty significant shocks. It's also missing one of it's mounting legs, which could compromise things even more in the event of a bad accident.

I wouldn't sell a battery like that to a customer, nor expect them to use it if it were received like that. You should get at least a partial refund; $500 sounds reasonable, considering what you paid. For $900, you definitely should have received a working battery, and this one is no longer in working condition.

Swap the sticks to your current case and call me, I'll buy the junction board off the broken one.

Eli,

Thanks for this appraisal. I've decided not to risk potential headaches and to just return the whole thing to the seller. Bottom line is my other battery is still functional and I will soon get a grid charger to hopefully nurse it along and get more and better life out of it. If you'd like to contact this guy to purchase the damaged pack after I get my situation resolved, I'm happy to get you contact information.

Thanks again to everyone else for their input.

Steve

[Eli]

Originally Posted by evynsdad

Eli,

Thanks for this appraisal. I've decided not to risk potential headaches and to just return the whole thing to the seller. Bottom line is my other battery is still functional and I will soon get a grid charger to hopefully nurse it along and get more and better life out of it. If you'd like to contact this guy to purchase the damaged pack after I get my situation resolved, I'm happy to get you contact information.

Thanks again to everyone else for their input.

Steve

I say you put it back into the same box. It will be dust by the time it gets back to them

Seriously though, how about this: See what kind of refund you can get from the seller. Maybe they don't even want it back? And then I'll buy the whole thing.

It's worth slightly more than junk to me, but there's a chance for you to maybe make a buck out of the situation depending on how the seller handles things.

[theaveng]

I would have kept it, and nrgotiated a partial refund. After all getting a battery for only $500 is a bargain, and the damage looked cosmetic. Even if it only lasted 100,000 miles, that's just 1 cent per mile. Cheaper than the 6 cent/mile of a new battery from Honda dealership.

I've received a lot of free or dirt-cheap items over the years due to sellers' poor packaging. And the stuff works just fine except for a corner broke off, or dents on the surface. I have a large TV with a giant gash in its side & its worked perfectly for 15 years. I got it 75% less than new. The seller didn't want it back.

[ericbecky]

Another issue here is the fact that the core itself is basically no good.

Eli, if someone were to return their core to you in this condition, I'm certain that they would not get their full core deposit back.