A family in Florida is reeling after receiving a massive quote to replace the batteries in their second-hand electric vehicle. The family was quoted more than they paid for their used 2014 Ford Focus Electric.
The Focus Electric was purchased for Avery Siwinski, a 17-year-old who was excited to have a car to get her to and from school. The family paid $11,000 for the car, which had 60,000 miles (96,560 km) on the odometer.
“It was fine at first,” Siwinski told KVUE News, an ABC affiliate. “I loved it so much. It was small and quiet and cute. And all the sudden it stopped working.”
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Siwinski had only had her Focus Electric for six months before the dashboard lit up with a warning message. The family took it to a shop, and then it stopped working altogether. Avery’s grandpa Ray stepped in to try and find a solution.
“Turns out, this is a pretty common problem for this particular car,” he said. “The Ford dealership had advised us that we could replace the battery. It would only cost $14,000.”
That was already $3,000 more than the family paid for the car and the quote was just for the parts. Installation and labor costs would make the price of replacing the batteries even higher. If he didn’t want to fix it, Ford Auto Nation in Pinellas County offered $500 to buy the car as-is, Ray claimed.
Through further research, he later found out that batteries weren’t even available for the car. “So it didn’t matter. They could cost twice as much, and we still couldn’t get it,” Ray said.
The family’s message to people looking to buy EVs is, do your research. Like an engine, the battery pack is one of the most complex and important parts of an electric vehicle, making it hard to replace and expensive, too.
