Posted on 07/10/2026 12:55:42 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
The simplest, dumbest, most replaceable part on any vehicle since 1912, now gated behind a manufacturer login, a subscription, and a per-flash token. If you own a modern pickup truck, you do not own a battery. You own the authorization to use a battery. And when that battery dies, the dealer will tell you the part costs $250, the programming fee costs another $150, and the labor is booked at $200 an hour.
In this investigation, we are going to expose the battery management scam, the gateway module lockout, and the AGM monopoly that turned the cheapest part on your truck into a dealership-only transaction. The first crime is hiding behind a three-letter acronym that most truck owners have never heard of. It is called the battery management system or BMS.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtu.be ...
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The dealers and manufacturers got a sniff of the seat, licensing cash, and want some, lots of it.
You will own nothing, and you will be happy.
never heard of this, none of my GM trucks have it
Time for a secondary market that will replace the entire engine with a stripped down version without any electronic components other than a simple ignition and starter system.
Mine was the cost of the battery and a few bucks for labor at the dealer I bought the car new from some 6 years ago.
I expect kinetic push back. The dealers will be gone before the customers are gone.
Not possible in New England - they rust to dust in 15 years no matter how diligently you clean off the salt and chloride spray. The only solution (see what I did there) is to buy replacement cars from down south/southwest every few years. The FJs I can do by myself, but one of them is turning into a rust bucket, so not going to waste time with the battery this time. The Tundra (2019) probably needs a replacement soon.
Sons of bitches...
DRIVE 1976 1 TON 4 SPEED 454 CHEVY SINGLE CAB TRUCK ==40 YEARS & A 1979 BUICK WAGON WITH 403 OLDS ENGINE===45 YEARS.
HAVE CHANGED BATTERIES MANY TIMES MYSELF. BOTH HAVE DOUBLE BATTERIES BECAUSE I TRAVELED ALL OVER THE WESTERN USA COMPETING ON/TOWING MY HORSES.
THE LAST TIME I CHANGED BATTERIES IN BUICK, THE NICE GUY AT INTERSTATE DID IT FOR ME. HARDER FOR ME TO LIFT THAT WEIGHT NOW. I THANKED HIM IN APPROPRIATE MANNER-—:)
NOW 86-—STILL FEMALE
” they rust to dust in 15 years no matter how diligently you clean off the salt and chloride spray”
Perhaps waxing every year before the first snowfall might add a few years.
Do. And after the roads dry a few days after every snowstorm thereafter. The stuff is insidious.
What year FJ do you have?
Replace everything with a mid 1960’s 327 Chevy and 4bl Holley.
O’Reillys Auto Parts replaced mine for free last fall
Just paid for the battery
This is why I’ll keep my ‘05 F350 V8 Turbo-diesel (harley trim)..
I figure if it costs me $2-$3k a year to fix, it’s still way cheaper than $1200/mo payments.
California Code, Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17200
As used in this chapter, unfair competition shall mean and include any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising and any act prohibited by Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17500) of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code.
https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/business-and-professions-code/bpc-sect-17200/
General Business Law Section 349
Unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices unlawful
(a)Unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the conduct of any business, trade or commerce or in the furnishing of any service in this state are hereby declared unlawful. For the purposes of this section:
(1)An act or practice is unfair when it causes or is likely to cause substantial injury which is not reasonably avoidable and is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition. The term “substantial injury” as used in this subdivision shall have the same meaning as the term “substantial injury” in the federal trade commission act, 15 U.S.C. Section 41 et seq....
https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._general_business_law_section_349
Go to Autozone. They will replace the battery free and reset the computer.
“Replace everything with a mid 1960’s 327 Chevy and 4bl Holley.”
And get 12 MPG.
2008 (the beater) and 2013 (the garage queen). The former isn’t worth anything, but the other is very clean and low miles (70K).
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