A Buick saleswoman says all five Encores her team had been told to spot had dead batteries. Shelby shared the setback with her TikTok audience.
Posting as @shelbykmcnamee, Shelby described the setback in the video’s caption. The five Encores were vehicles her team had been told to “spot” the week before.
Her response mixed frustration with a plan to get the cars running. “I’m confused, but okayyy,” she wrote, followed by laughing emojis and a promise: “We’ll get them going!”
That leaves a practical problem before those cars can go anywhere. GM has published guidance for managing low batteries in dealer inventory, including instructions that go beyond starting a car and letting it idle.
Five for Five
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Shelby’s caption identifies dead batteries as the trouble with the five cars. It does not give a diagnosis explaining why they lost their charge or say whether charging them solved the problem.
A parked car can still use electricity. Interstate Batteries explains that clocks, security systems, and computer memory draw power while a vehicle is switched off. Over time, that drain can leave too little charge to start the engine.
Driving normally lets the alternator recharge the battery. When a car sits unused, that replenishment stops while some electrical demand remains. How long a battery can sit before it cannot start the car depends on the vehicle and battery.
Before the Keys
In a June 2022 service bulletin, GM outlined a Battery Maintenance Report for U.S. dealers. It covered GM passenger cars and trucks from the 2020 through 2023 model years, including Buicks.
The report identified eligible inventory vehicles needing a battery charge. GM recommended checking it weekly and using designated diagnostic charging equipment for cars flagged with low charge.
Simply starting those vehicles and letting them run would not provide the charging they needed, the bulletin explained. GM also warned that leaving batteries at a low state of charge could damage them.
That guidance establishes a maintenance process for dealer stock; it does not determine what happened to Shelby’s five Encores. Under the bulletin, a battery replacement needed because a dealer failed to act on the report would be at the dealership’s expense.