Technical Seller stating "electric leakage" - car has electric issue which needs fixing - how bad?

[jlhdasMorahd]

Hi.
I am on the market for a 500 Manual. 1.2 or 1.4.

Current seller (1.4 manual) says the car has an electric issue, that the car "needs to disconnect electric unit which causes electric drain", but that he does not have time to fix.
He offers a reduced price because of that.

For those who know these cars, can you guess what this is a bout? Advice? Price for fixing? Is this something minor or am I in for a real trip?

Thank you!!!!


Edit: I guess the tech term is "parasitic drain"?

 

[steveras57]

Is the car fitted with the "BLUE and ME system? if so thats the most likely cause !( see trillions of other posts on the subject!)
Why cant the seller of the car be more specific then?

 

[jrkitching]

"needs to disconnect electric unit which causes electric drain"

My first thought is that this is a faulty Blue&Me module which is causing the battery to discharge quickly.

This is a well-known issue which is both common and easily fixed. You just need to physically disconnect the wiring from the Blue&Me module and do a proxi alignment to correct the flashing mileage.

If it's been happening for awhile, chances are it'll have permanently damaged the battery, so factor the cost of a replacement battery into your calculations.

A word of warning; a faulty Blue&Me module always causes the mileage to flash, so if the mileage isn't flashing, be wary as the fault may be more serious.

 

[jlhdasMorahd]

thanks for those who responded (@steveras57 and @jrkitching).

What is BLUE & ME?

Is that something UK specific? I am not in the UK.

 

[Zardo]

Blue & Me is the part of the car audio which connects to your phone via Bluetooth or, if available, also to an USB stick in order to read and play MP3 files. Some older models only have an AUX port.

As of today, Blue & Me is an obsolete way to connect a smartphone to the car stereo and onboard computer. Was already obsolete only a few years after the system became available, unfortunately.

 

[jlhdasMorahd]

Blue & Me is the part of the car audio which connects to your phone via Bluetooth or, if available, also to an USB stick in order to read and play MP3 files. Some older models only have an AUX port.

As of today, Blue & Me is an obsolete way to connect a smartphone to the car stereo and onboard computer. Was already obsolete only a few years after the system became available, unfortunately.

Thank you.

The mentioned car does not seem to have this (I guess).

It's a 2014 and the seller said he uses a AUX in the glovebox to connect via Bluetooth.

Which I guess suggest that this isn't the source of the electric leakage ("parasitic drain"), which means it might be more complicated than that.

Good thing I asked. The price is good but I don't want to get scammed.

 

[jrkitching]

The mentioned car does not seem to have this (I guess).

What model is this (Lounge, Pop, Sport, ???). In the UK, all but the basic models would have had Blue&Me as standard when they left the factory, but other markets may have been different.

 

[Zardo]

Maybe the car stereo isn't original but retrofitted and in an incorrect way?

The parasitic drain could be more severe, depends if it drains the battery only when ignition is on (for example, a faulty generator or some faulty wire triggering fusibles) or if it discharges the battery over night. Could be tricky to find. The seller should give more information about this, what diagnostics did he already do and which parts of the car are not original.

If in doubt, it might be better to walk away from the deal as animal bites in the electrical harness are an expensive fix if it's done by an official dealership.

A parasitic drain over night, every night, can quickly kill the battery.

 

[jrkitching]

The seller should give more information about this, what diagnostics did he already do and which parts of the car are not original.

I'd agree.

The seller knows much more about this car than you're going to be able to discover before you buy it. If it's being sold for a cheap price, chances are the seller knows there isn't going to be a simple fix.

The more knowledge the seller appears to have, and the more they've already done to try to fix this, the more wary I'd be.

Fixing a major internal loom fault could end up with you losing money even if you get the car for free.

 

[steveras57]

ID avoid this car and look for another this smacks of expensive trouble!