Forum Discussion
SyncUp & Drive kills batteries/alternator
I recently added the SyncUP & Drive device to my account - we are long-time T-Mobile customers and have not had any problems whatsoever besides this to date. My son was getting his license and I wanted to be able to monitor his driving. The SyncUP device worked like a charm for the first week or two, until the battery started dying nearly every night. This battery had been replaced less than 6 months prior, so there should not have been an issue. I was going on a trip, so I decided to let him drive my SUV while I was out of town since he was having problems with the battery and I wanted him in a more reliable vehicle. I also have a new battery in my vehicle, about one year old and also had my alternator replaced between 2-3 years ago. Well, when I was on my trip my battery started dying and then after a couple of days my son had the vehicle completely stall on him while driving. This device not only killed my battery, but my alternator! Fortunately, the batteries were both still under warranty but my alternator cost me a pretty penny. These devices sound absolutely amazing for teen drivers but they are most definitely too good to be true!
¡Hola, @hjchase1!
Welcome to our Support Community! Gosh, that's not a great first experience for your son especially since he's just getting on the road. It doesn't put your family in a great position either with this happening to two vehicles from the sounds of it. I listed next steps in a different thread you commented on: SyncUp Issues. Please follow those steps to get a ticket filed so our Engineers can figure out why this is happening.
¡Hola!
Just wanted to check in and see if you were able to fine a ticket like Amanda suggested!
-Lauren
Just checking in again on the ticket possibility! 😊
-Lauren
Why is there no reply from tmobile? I too had big electrical problems and I am scared to let my 16 year old daughter drive with something that is not tested enough. If I don't get an answer from tmobile I will raise hell on social media.
did anyone got help from tmoible? i am having the similiar issue with my battery. The syncup drive shows offline and the battery dies more often in my nissan rouge. I never had this problem. My car even starts acting weird while driving. I am scared to drive car in this condition. but reading this thread, i came to know it is because of the syncup drive. i unplugged the syncup drive, after coming here and seeing other people had the same issues. How can we make tmobile pay for this damage?
I've had this problem twice but not with T-Mobile, it was with the Verizon Hum. I figured out what the fix is. After you drive your vehicle, make sure to TURN WIFI OFF from the app!! The wifi staying on constantly will slowly kill your battery. It's fine driving with the wifi on, but if you know your vehicle will be parked for over an hour or two, just turn off wifi to be on the safe side. Once I did that with the Hum, I didn't have anymore problems. I just got my Syncup today and I'm following that same rule as I did with the Hum. Hope this helps.
¡Hola, @hjchase1!
Welcome to our Support Community! Gosh, that's not a great first experience for your son especially since he's just getting on the road. It doesn't put your family in a great position either with this happening to two vehicles from the sounds of it. I listed next steps in a different thread you commented on: SyncUp Issues. Please follow those steps to get a ticket filed so our Engineers can figure out why this is happening.
I just added a syncup drive to my 2017 Honda CRV two weeks ago. Car is less than a year old. It has worked with no issue for the past two weeks, but last night it killed the battery in my car. Prior to this, there was an anomolie seen where the device kept saying it was offline and then the battery went dead. after the anomolie, the care did start and I was able to drive to my next destination, but after two hours of being stopped at that desitnation, the car was dead, but the syncup drive was actually online again.
I believe the dead battery was caused by either the unit staying on, or it causing something else in the car to stay on.
I have removed the syncup drive and the battery has been fine..
I also got the sync up Drive and it was put in my vehicle on Monday so it's been less than a week and I noticed the lights flickering on my dashboard in my speedometer needle and RPM needle. I assumed it was the sync up system trying to check my car system, I'm not sure? It didn't happen all the time but periodically while I'm driving and woke up this morning and there's absolutely nothing working on my car no lights absolutely nothing it's the completely dead my battery is less than a year old so now I have to try to tow the vehicle and I attempted to use the synced up roadside assistance after 3 phone calls and two of them being hung up on what they found is that the device doesn't start with the normal numbers and they can't find me in their system either so now I have to figure out how to get my car towed and figure out what's going on with it the device is still attached but it says it's offline. I'm not sure what's going on but I'm not really thrilled. I love the idea of the fact that the device lets me see what's going on with my car but these other problems are less than ideal and couldn't come at a worse time.
I picked up a SyncUp on 12/21/18 and plugged it into my 2007 Chevy Silverado. It connected no problem and appeared to be working fine. Later that day the red battery light stayed on after the truck was started. Voltage gauge showed the alternator was not charging. I removed the SyncUp but the problem persisted. I took the truck home and disconnected the negative battery terminal to reset the OBD2 system. Two hours later when I started the truck, the red battery light went out and the charging system was working fine. I repeated the scenario again today with the same result. For some reason the SyncUp shuts down the charging system of the vehicle. Obviously I am reluctant to plug it into another vehicle for fear of damage to that vehicle's charging system.
Perhaps I have a defective unit or is there a problem with the programing of the unit?
Does T-Mobile have any idea of what the problem is ?
Hmm, interesting. My car has been done recently and we've been at a loss for why it's been doing this. I've been having other small issues with the device saying a trip has ended, but it hasn't. I'm unplugging device and calling t mobile tomorrow about it.
