Today's car batteries.....

[Mus408]

Seem to only last about 3 years!

Take our 2011 Ford Edge for example... We bought it new in 2011 and during a mountain vacation late Nov. 2014 we go to start the car on a cold morning to go home and the original battery is stone dead.
Put a 36 month Advance "Gold" series replacement in and all was fine.

Now this past Thursday Dec. 21 2017 we were all loaded up headed to Georgia,sadly for a family funeral,
and click that 36 month battery was done. Well maybe we were lucky that it died in our driveway and that we did get 37 months out of it!

So back up to the local Advance to get another 36 month battery and start putting pennies away for another replacement in 3 yrs.

I remember getting 4-6 yrs. out of a car battery and now I remember my new 2014 Ram truck is now most likely due for it's battery failure too!

BTW...these things aren't cheap at $125+ and they seem to be not as durable as before mostly due to all the electronics on cars today and the fact that the lights come on everytime you open a door!

 

[Dan in MI]

Do you drive a lot? It's not so much the battery as it is the car. Today's car have a current draw even when "off." If you drive a lot you will keep topping it off. If you don't, it will drain. Also, just idling will not charge like it once did. We now have "smart" alternators that just put out enough to keep the car running unless battery state of charge is low. All in the name of MPG.

I still get 7 -10 years out of a battery, but my commute is 55 miles one way. (2013 Edge is 3 months from 5 years old with no indications of battery getting old) My 2001 F150 got a new battery in Jan 2012 and was still going strong until I sold it last spring.

 

[hittman]

I agree with Dan.
My 2012 F150 hit the streets in late 2011. Factory battery just died 2 weeks ago. A few weeks over 6 years old. I replaced it with an Auto Zone DuraLast Gold. Have had good luck with them in the past even though I would have bought an Interstate but they are closed on Sunday.

You're right, they ain't cheap at $125.00 or so.

Of course, $125 divided by 6 years of use is only about $20 a YEAR for trouble free starts. Those are mighty convenient.

 

[Mus408]

Well being retired we don't log as many miles as we used too and the Edge has 41,000 miles now.
Great tip on the way alternators are controlled now! I checked the battery voltage with new battery while engine was at idle and with lights on and saw 13.9 volts... with lights off it was 13.9 volts

 

[Bull Barrel]

Stop buying cheap batteries. Buy a 3 year battery and get surprised when it lasts only three years?

 

[mohavesam]

Stop buying cheap batteries.

This.
I see people cheaping out on car batteries every day. On the one part that will make your day seamless, or leave you without a working car...
Then they complain. :roll:

Like everything else. This ain't the '70s anymore (and that ain't a Vega in your driveway either). :shock:

 

[wwb]

My 2006 Ford 6 liter diesel needed new batteries in 2013..... 7 years is about what I'd expect. And if you want to complain about the cost of batteries, thank the Lord you don't have a diesel; it takes two of them, and they aren't group 24 batteries rated at 550 CCA.

 

[bvd1]

What is your complaint again? You bought a 3 year battery and you got 3 years out of it.

 

[5of7]

My wife's car is a 2003 Monte Carlo that we bought new in April of '03 and it still has the original battery in it. Of course, it only had about 77K on the odometer. That car only gets started when she is going at least 15 miles, so the battery gets fully recharged on virtually every startup.

My personal vehicle is an '07 GMC Canyon pickup bought new by me and the original battery lasted about 7 years. On that one most of my driving is less than 5 miles.

Sometimes in the winter, the battery will get a little weak because I am just driving 1/2 mile to town and back for breakfast, so I will drive it 5 miles or so to re-charge the battery and dry out the exhaust system.

I will say this about the modern automobile; today's cars are a much better value for the buck than cars were back in the '50s. 8)

 

[coach]

My 2007 Toyota 4Runner still has the original battery in it. Over 100 k miles and I sometimes put a battery conditioner on it. It has slowed down a little when it’s really cold but always starts. I know batteries have a lifespan not usually more than 5 years or so, but I can’t bring myself to replace it. I do think the batteryminder charger/conditioner helps keep it in good shape.
I’ve also had a 2 year old battery short out in front of the supermarket while it was idling.

 

[Pat-inCO]

One other thing you can do to help the situation is use NoOx.
http://www.sanchem.com/electrical-contact-lubricant.html

Looks like wheel bearing grease, but does wonders to eliminate corrosion
on the contacts. Way back when, in another life, I had a Ford Bronco
that you had to clean the contacts every month on. Buddy in the service
station we both worked at told me about the NoOx. I put on one coat, per
their directions and had ZERO corrosion in the next four years I had that
vehicle. It also never failed to start, even in sub-zero temperatures.

Not cheap, but you'll only need one can of it.

I second the message of topping off the charge in cold weather, unless
you drive fifteen or more miles each time you start it.

 

[GunnyGene]

This reminds me of those "after the apocalypse" movies, when they drive around with 40 year old batteries, tires, and gas, among other stupid things. :roll: :lol:

 

[fiasconva]

What really ticks me off about the newer batteries is that when the old ones started going back it was a slow process and you got a little warning. Not any more. One day you get in and try to start it....nothing.

 

[57springer]

What is your complaint again? You bought a 3 year battery and you got 3 years out of it.

yea really :?

 

[Mus408]

I want 6yrs. for the price of 3 :mrgreen:

 

[MADDOG 521]

There is some very good battery testers on the market. I check mine often.

 

[CLAYPOOL]

2 Things you need to do. # 1 Keep all things hooked up to those BATTERY MAINTAINERS. They are a little trouble , BUT you will get the max life out of them.

# 2 Add fuel Stabilizer as soon as you put fuel in something. Then you will be protected with the junk we have for gas now....Cheap insurance by doing both things.

 

[CGDustDevil]

One of the biggies that kills batteries is heat! Fiberglass hoods and fenders tend to hold heat in a LOT more than metal. Modern engines run very very hot as well. And as some others have mentioned - Batteries today have a lot of electronic gadgets to drain them.

Out here in the desert we seldom get much more than the advertised 'life' out of em no matter how much is spent. Motorcycle batteries are incredibly fragile out here. Even WITH tenders.

The other aspects that many folks don't think about is the phenomenon of over or under charging, and cleanliness. 14.4 vdc is typically the 'gassing' threshold of most types of automotive batteries. If you're overcharging, you may notice moisture and dirt on top of the battery. If you measure BETWEEN the posts (one lead on the negative, one lead on the battery case) you'll likely pick up enough voltage to measure with a multimeter. Not good! That's a short circuit between your cells.

14.2 - 14.5 VDC at low cruising speed (~2000 rpm or so) is pretty good. If you get much higher than 14.8 then you want to think about getting your regulator checked. If you're charging less than 14 volts, then you may not ever be fully charging your battery which in and of itself could be a problem, especially with the fancy electronic loads that autos 'feature' these days.

So heat, charging rate, cleanliness all come into play.

Good luck!!
Regards, Pete

 

[Muley Gil]

My wife's vehicle is a 2004 Ford Escape that we bought in 2010. I had to replace the battery last month. The code on the old battery was October 2009. I think 8 years is good enough.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I had a Cordoba with a 100 amp alternator that got stuck on high charge. I wondered why I had really fast power windows and very bright lights and what that smell was. Melted the battery after two days. :roll:

 

[SamV]

I don't buy cheap batteries, but I almost never got the so called full life out of them. Most of the time, I would get 3 or 4 years out of a 5 year battery. So, I would wind up buying a new one with a pro-rated credit from the old one. More recently I have noticed that several companies no longer offer the really long warranties. Costco used to be 5 years. I replaced several under warranty at a discount. Now they only offer 3 year batteries, but they are full warranty and not pro-rated. I suspect that they will have a lot less claims, because most people will get the three years use before they fail. For what it is worth, I noticed that my replacement was a slightly better battery than the one before. They don't use the Costco/Kirkland name anymore on them. Now they just have the original manufacturer name, Interstate. Price wise, they are a better deal than most anything else I could find for a similar battery.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Interstate is made by Johnson Controls to Interstate's specs. Johnson makes batteries for a lot of companies.

Always charge a battery before putting it in service.

 

[rugerguy211]

I can't complain. The battery in my 2001 Mercedes SLK lasted 16 years.
It never failed but in 2017 it was changed as I didn't want to ever get stuck.
My wife's 2008 Toyota RAV4 has its original battery. They are both garaged in cold NH winters.

 

[roylt]

I'll add my 2 cents...
Bought a used 2008 Sienna Feb 2016. It had a new batt (factory Toyota brand) at that time. Flash forward to Christmas day 2017... Dead. Missed out on sledding with the kids.

Called the dealer and they said there was no record of a new batt being installed so no warranty... 84 month warranty turned into 23 months and too bad soo sad.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Interstate is made by Johnson Controls to Interstate's specs. Johnson makes batteries for a lot of companies.

Always charge a battery before putting it in service.

Hi,

Last time I looked, Johnson Controls and Exide had about 99 44/100% of the North American auto battery market. And both are made in Mexico mostly, though I saw Duralast Golds on my last trip to AutoZone with "Made in Saudi Arabia" stickers. Seemed odd, but, hey, they do know a little about heat over there!

Charging a battery before using it was good practice almost 50 years ago when I was a kid working in a gas station and my boss had me put new batteries on the charger before we installed them. Today, I doubt anyone still does that, so I put new ones on the Battery Tender until the light turns green as soon as I can after installation. It's surprising how one's "done" after 3-4 hrs, while the next one of similar age on the shelf might take 12-18! It's been a long time since I've seen 8-10 year service lives as I did with the original Sears Die Hards 40+ years ago, but I do still manage a bit longer than the "free replacement" warranty, sometimes by a fair amount. I'd guess five years on average would be a reasonable claim these days.

FWIW, none of my cars is new enough to have all the parasitic bells and whistles that are constantly draining batteries, nor do they have computer controlled alternators (one of those ideas which should earn its engineer(s) a trip to the whipping post!) Add that I like to put in "the most" battery I can when possible, even though it may be way over factory specs. That may be helpful, or it may just make me feel better. I can't be sure!

Rick C

 

[kramden]

Seem to only last about 3 years!

Take our 2011 Ford Edge for example... We bought it new in 2011 and during a mountain vacation late Nov. 2014 we go to start the car on a cold morning to go home and the original battery is stone dead.
Put a 36 month Advance "Gold" series replacement in and all was fine.

Now this past Thursday Dec. 21 2017 we were all loaded up headed to Georgia,sadly for a family funeral,
and click that 36 month battery was done. Well maybe we were lucky that it died in our driveway and that we did get 37 months out of it!

So back up to the local Advance to get another 36 month battery and start putting pennies away for another replacement in 3 yrs.

I remember getting 4-6 yrs. out of a car battery and now I remember my new 2014 Ram truck is now most likely due for it's battery failure too!

BTW...these things aren't cheap at $125+ and they seem to be not as durable as before mostly due to all the electronics on cars today and the fact that the lights come on everytime you open a door!

You are so right. Have a 2013 Buick Enclave. One day in 2016 my wife calls from the golf course says the car won't start (21,000 miles). Drive down there and sure enough just barely turns over. Jump it and fires right up. I thought must have left lights on or something. About a month later it happens again. Had to replace the battery. Just about 3 years old exactly. My son had a new Infinity almost the exact same scenario. Ridiculous.

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

I don't know about other brands, but my last three Fords, 2 F-250s and an Expedition had a corrosion problem
where the cables connect to the battery posts.
Blackie

 

[Don Lovel]

My Jeep has a red top Optima, my pickup a yellow top Optima, amazing good batteries, pricey but outlive others 3 to 1

 

[Dan in MI]

My Jeep has a red top Optima, my pickup a yellow top Optima, amazing good batteries, pricey but outlive others 3 to 1

Optima Gel batteries rock.

 

[DeletedMember275]

I got 10 years out of the OEM batteries on both my 2004 Volvo S80 and my 2004 Toyota 4-Runner. I was very pleasantly surprised that they both lasted that long. Not so much that they both died within a couple of months of each other.