SyncUp & Drive kills batteries/alternator

Unfortunately I had problems with my Sync device. I have a 2016 GMC SIERRA, and every now and again I would get a sort of bump in my engine.  I would be driving and periodically my engine would just jump like it was misfiring. Long story short, when I took my truck in for maintenance and informed the mechanic of the problem. He immediately told me to remove the SYNC UP device because it could be interfering with the communication system. I took it out and haven’t had any problems. And I actually liked having the SYNC UP device on my truck.

I just got the SyncUp drive on Wednesday for my 2019 Volkswagen Passat. That same night, I drove from less than 20 miles and noticed a skip when accelerating, but didn't think nothing of it. On Friday, driving home from LA to San Bernardino, the car jerked when I accelerated, but again, I didn't think nothing of it. Today, Saturday, I drove back to LA and my EPC light came on, then my engine light. I just got a new battery and and new fuses in May, I shouldn't be having any problems. Now, I'm pretty sure I will have to use the 100 mile towing that came with the device and pay for repairs that I can't afford. HELP T-MOBILE! 

Hello: like others on this thread, my son’s car battery died. The alternator and battery needed to be replaced. 24 hours later the new battery died. The mechanic said it’s the SyncUp Drive to blame.

I got the Syncup in September. First issue, major lag time of the tracking feature. It's about 10 minutes off, not helpful. Kept sending alerts even when my car was off. In November my car started dying and my first thought was to remove the only added feature, the sync up. Car didn't die again. Plugged the syncup back in, car was dead by morning. Tried this a few more times to be certain and every time yielded the same results. Eventually caused me to replace my alternate and battery. 

Spoke to tmobile about it twice. The first time I was told I they would remove it from my account no problem. Next bill came up and the sync up was still on my bill. This time supervisor William told me he didn't believe the sync up caused any damage to my car when I was requesting an email to communicate with someone regarding the damage to my vehicle. William the supervisor refused to give me a contact email. Then transferred me without me even aware he was transferring me to David the manager. David also refused to give me an email point of contact regarding my concerns. David also stated that he didn't believe the sync up caused any issues to my car. This is an ongoing issue that tmobile refuses to acknowledge. I have already contacted my lawyer and everyone in this thread should a well. 

My syncup stopped working.!!!!

Went to one of the tmobile service stores.. said i have old sim, and replaced it.. Did not help.. I want to cancel the service.. as paying 10$ a month for nothing.. tried with website .. no such option.. tried email.. no such thing.. tried chat.. well it’s after hours. Well im workng too on working hours.. at&t took nice care of me with chat at 9 pm.. was nice if tmobile could too…..

So here’s my full on rant/review of this 7000T1 device. I’ll be sure to keep it short and too the point. After going back and forth for my months about T-Mobiles SyncUP and Drive device. I finally decided to just go ahead and order it - I was initially interested in getting the device because of the ability to have In-Car wifi and all of the functions it could offer. So I clicked on the Vehicle Compatibility Link and entered the details for my 2014 Maserati Quattroporte GTS and even though ALL the functions of the 7000T1 weren’t available for my car enough of them were for me to proceed with placing my order. My device arrived yesterday 7/23/22 and I followed all the prompts to activate the device in addition to going on a 20 minute drive so it could read and sync with my car. I will say that I was very disappointed in the performance and abilities of the device to say the least during that timeframe and here’s why. 

• There is several minutes lag in time before it updates my cars physical location within the app. For the first 5 mins It was showing me in a completely different state 
• Within the “my car profile the Horsepower, Engine Type and Odometer Value are unavailable. My cars fuel grade is Premium and not Regular as the app has it listed. 
• Within the Fuel menu window my fuel level jumped around from 1/2 a tank to 1/4 a tank of gas even though it is almost on a full tank of gas. 
• My Cars Engine Health status windows reads “Unfortunately, this information is unavailable right now” I even performed a factory reset by pushing in the reset button on the side of device. 
• The Battery Heath a feature that wasn’t even compatible with my car according to the website seems to be compatible after all so I guess that’s a bonus that I don’t need. 
• Several Times throughout the night after getting back from my drive I got multiple notifications from the app that there was a disturbance with my car that was locked and parked in the middle of my 2 car attached garage with nothing in there but trash cans and some yard equipment. Not to mention that it doesn’t even state in the notification what type of disturbance is occurring. 

Other than those above mentioned complaints the wifi works as it should although it’s not 5G. If I’ve got unlimited data on all my other lines why is only given a 2GB data cap before reduced speeds? I definitely will be returning this device since I’m well within my 14 day return window and my certainly will be doing a little more research into other devices that are similar to this that actually works as it should. I personal think that T-Mobile should do some extensive testing against all makes and models of cars that this device is states it’s compatible with before stating that the device will have certain features and functionality that it doesn’t.

MiChMa-4

A Loyal 5 Year Customer w/ 6 lines of services not including this one. 

Houston, Texas. 

My battery has died twice since I got this device within a week. Coincidence? Don’t think so, the battery is less than a year old. Today, the car started losing power on the highway, and eventually died on the exit ramp while showing the battery warning light. Luckily, it turned back on and the battery light disappeared; but the car had little power. Called AAA, they said the battery was fine and that it was the alternator (aside from the battery not receiving a good charge and trying to provide power to make up for the failing alternator). Car is now at Audi and it sounds like this darn device is going to cost me around a $1,000 in repairs. To make it worse, and I’ll admit it’s pretty funny, the device says my battery is healthy and shows good amps even when the battery died a few days ago and I had to get it jump started, and today when the battery icon turned on and the car was clearly struggling. T-Mobile probably won’t care, I’ll call in the morning; but if you don’t want to risk damaging your car do not get one of these. Just suck it up and pay the premium for your car’s built in wireless service or use your phone as a hotspot. If you want to spy on your teen driver (not why I got this) just stick an AirTag or Tile into the car, or have a pro install a good dashcam (some offer 4G/LTE, not aware of 5G). 

suncali13 wrote:

I too, had issue with this device.  This device killed my battery.  My car stalled on the freeway and i was lucky to be able to pull to the shoulder.  Very scary.  This device is NOT safe and should NOT be promoted by TMobile.

would this have anything to do with the car recall airbags etc.  that's strange

I will definitely be returning it today after 10 times calling tmobile finally got someone to send me the return package to my email what did the syncup device do to your vehicle..

I just received this in the mail and will be returning it promptly. Not only does it seem to wreak havoc on cars, t-mobile seems to continue to ignore this issue over the past couple of years.