How often do you replace your car battery?

[sublauxation]

I was just wondering how often you guys replace car and boat batteries.

My boat starting battery died earlier this summer after 5 years. I just replaced it with my trolling motor battery and forgot about it until putting the boat to bed for the winter yesterday. That got me thinking about my truck battery so I took a peek at it. Turns out I'm on borrowed time as it's the original 10 years old battery. I'm replacing it Saturday but Murphy's luck follows me closely and since it's supposed to sleet/snow the next day or so it will probably die on me tomorrow.

Also, any thoughts on an Exide battery at 750 cca vs Energizer at 840cca? I can get a heck of a deal on the Exide and it only needs to make one winter.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

I replace the car battery when it dies . . . same for the boat.

Car battery died a couple of years ago. I had one boat battery on its way out when I tested them during spring prep this year.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

when it dies. Replaced the truck battery and it was 6 months old (internal short).

last replaced the car battery, 5 years old

had a battery once that lasted 15 years. was in 4 of my daily beaters

 

[Grub54891]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

when it dies. Replaced the truck battery and it was 6 months old (internal short).

last replaced the car battery, 5 years old

had a battery once that lasted 15 years. was in 4 of my daily beaters

I replace them when they tell me I'm not going fishing today....lol

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

I replace them when they tell me I'm not going fishing today....lol

almost spit my coffee on that one

 

[sublauxation]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

when it dies. Replaced the truck battery and it was 6 months old (internal short).

last replaced the car battery, 5 years old

had a battery once that lasted 15 years. was in 4 of my daily beaters

That's why I asked. I bought a new expensive battery for my wife's car and it died 9 months later. It makes me wonder if I'm really ahead by replacing a 10 year old battery that could just as likely last longer than a new one. Also makes me doubt buying the expensive replacement. Maybe I'll let this one ride a while longer, $100 buys a nice transom ladder!

 

[bigdee]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

That's why I asked. I bought a new expensive battery for my wife's car and it died 9 months later. It makes me wonder if I'm really ahead by replacing a 10 year old battery that could just as likely last longer than a new one. Also makes me doubt buying the expensive replacement. Maybe I'll let this one ride a while longer, $100 buys a nice transom ladder!

Get an inexpensive battery load tester, Harbor Freight has a decent one.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

That's why I asked. I bought a new expensive battery for my wife's car and it died 9 months later. It makes me wonder if I'm really ahead by replacing a 10 year old battery that could just as likely last longer than a new one. Also makes me doubt buying the expensive replacement. Maybe I'll let this one ride a while longer, $100 buys a nice transom ladder!

Buy batteries with warranties. My last battery had a 3 year free replacement warranty. Got it at Sams Club.

In many of my prior lifes, battery issues and tire issues were common. the balance between a reasonable price to offer and quality is always a challenge. we found that most infantile mortality on batteries is due to sloppy manufacturing - manufacturing dust in the stack, metal shavings in the stack, impurities in the lead, etc.

once you accept that anything man-made will fail. life is easier.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

That's why I asked. I bought a new expensive battery for my wife's car and it died 9 months later. It makes me wonder if I'm really ahead by replacing a 10 year old battery that could just as likely last longer than a new one. Also makes me doubt buying the expensive replacement. Maybe I'll let this one ride a while longer, $100 buys a nice transom ladder!

You live in MN......I can relate.
Replacing it now on your schedule makes way better sense than in January at 25 below...when you really don't have time.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

Again - when the die.
Car batteries seem to be good for around 7 years at my house
The boat battery seems to be good for 2-3 - I can only assume it is the pounding it takes.

 

[jkust]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

Car and power sports batteries, when they die, boat as a preventative. Just replaced one of my suv batteries that was 5 years old. Amazingly it died in my garage. It gave me subtle hints of failure for a few months which I for some reason didn't notice at the time. Boat battery just replaced at 10 years old because I let it freeze last winter. It charged back up just fine but at 10 years figured i'd be better off safe than drifting. The boat battery was an ultra high end dual purpose battery that would have been special order to replace which I didn't have time for which I can only presume why it really wasn't showing signs of giving up. I tend to be more preventative oriented with the boat than other things.

 

[britisher]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

I buy my batteries from Wallyworld. They have a good warranty and apart from the first one, I have NEVER paid full price for the replacement. If you suspect your battery, Wallyworld will check your battery for free. They discharge it, recharge it and check for holding power. Down here in Florida, the cold is not an issue for us, it's the heat. We run our AC's in the cars pretty much year round and batteries do not like hot temperatures. When we arrived off the boat from the UK in 2000, the first 2 cars we had (brand new GM leases) BOTH burst their batteries within one year. My garage floor never looked the same!
I was in Advance Autoparts a couple of weeks ago and was earwigging a conversation between the Store Assistant and a lady customer (neither of them had English as a first language). She needed a new battery for her minivan and she was saying there was a wait at Wallyworld so had called at AA. He then told her, you don't want top go there as they charge you for installation besides the battery cost!! Hers was a Honda Odyssey and he was charging her nearly $130 for the battery. At Wallyworld she would have paid about $80 to $90 and they DO NOT charge for installation. When I hear Assistants like that who are blatantly lying, I walk away from their businesses.

 

[jkust]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

Interesting, I bought my SUV replacement battery from Wal Mart. The difference between their battery tiers is just the length of the warranty. I replaced a minivan walmart battery under warranty this past summer too and wow they were over the top on not wanting to honor the warranty even with the receipt and the battery failing their lengthy load test. On a side note, in about a year and a half time, the same wal mart battery cost $20 more.

 

[dingbat]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

The boat battery seems to be good for 2-3 - I can only assume it is the pounding it takes.

Can't take anywhere near the pounding mine take and I get 4-5 years out of a battery, sometimes longer. GP27 deep cycles x 2

 

[britisher]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

Interesting, I bought my SUV replacement battery from Wal Mart. The difference between their battery tiers is just the length of the warranty. I replaced a minivan walmart battery under warranty this past summer too and wow they were over the top on not wanting to honor the warranty even with the receipt and the battery failing their lengthy load test. On a side note, in about a year and a half time, the same wal mart battery cost $20 more.

I've taken about 4 car batteries back over the years to Walmart and last year I bought a new marine battery fore the boat i bought. I had problems with it holding it's charge. They did a 'quick' test and said it's fine. I grumbled as I walked out and sure enough it couldn't even gain the strength to lower my trim and start before going flat. I took it back and they insisted on the long test, but I they admitted it was a dud and replaced it under warranty. The long test they have I think must be fairly recent,and it is quite possible Walmart are tightening up on their returns policy. Johnson Controls make their batteries, so they are good and in Consumer reports the Wallyworld batteries got a good report.
At the end of the day, you always get what you pay for, but with a dead battery, you need somewhere local and Wallyworld does it for me. I have Autozone, Advance Autoparts and Tire Kingdom plus Wallyworld where I live. I tend to support Autozone, but their batteries are more costly than Walmart. My Tire Kingdom is nothing but a bunch of sharks.

 

[jkust]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

For me it's pretty much Walmart and now Menards carries car batteries. They don't allow auto parts stores in my town so don't have a lot of choice nearby. The 'auto center' manager at walmart seemed to have his life's mission to crack down on battery return fraud as he explained to me. Whatever the fraud was he claimed to cut it almost all the way out. I see why power sport batteries only have a one year warranty however. They get such limited use, there is a very good chance they are going to be unusable from year to year without proper battery tending. As I have learned with my lazy-battery-maintainer ways.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

Can't take anywhere near the pounding mine take and I get 4-5 years out of a battery, sometimes longer. GP27 deep cycles x 2

Mine is a Marine starting battery, not a deep cycle. It gets hammered pretty good on Lake Minnetonka. Brand tends to be Exide Nautilus Gold since that is what they sell locally. Maybe they are not a great battery, but $75 every 2-3 years doesn't bother me much.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

They don't allow auto parts stores in my town so don't have a lot of choice nearby.

There are no auto parts stores in Maple Grove? Weird.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

I get 4-5 years for the most part.. Seriously check out Costco batteries. Same batteries as walmart and cheaper.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: How often do you replace your car battery?

My current vehicles had the OEM batteries last 8-9 years. Walmart batteries have lasted 3-5 years from what I've seen...

I replaced a minivan walmart battery under warranty this past summer too and wow they were over the top on not wanting to honor the warranty even with the receipt and the battery failing their lengthy load test.

I've sworn off Walmart batteries after a similar experience...... Huge pain in the *** getting them to fail a battery and they were trying to weasel out of warrantying a battery that was clearly under warranty. My old battery had a 108 month warranty, but their current batteries only had a 36 month warranty. They were all hung up on no warrantying past 36 months since that was their current warranty policy.

First their "new" tester showed the battery good when I knew it was bad, so they had to haul out the old tester that showed the battery bad. Then they said the replacement battery was going to cost almost full price when I was only 1/3 of the way through the 108 month warranty... After a lengthy discussion about them honoring their 108 month warranty instead of trying to apply a 36 month warranty, they said they would give me a replacement, but the replacement would have no warranty and they proceeded to rip all the stickers off the battery. My old battery had about 60 months of warranty left and they wouldn't even give me the 36 month warranty that should have come with the replacement battery...