Gel vs Acid Battery?

Had to re[lace mine located under a rear seat after 4 years, sure it was 14 below, and no crank, I agree heat kills batteries but had plenty of the under the hood ones that went 5 to 7 years.

Just replaced the trunk mounted battery in our 2014 Audi. I can’t prove it was original… but it was a Varta battery, the OEM supplier, with no year of install tags on it… so evidence would suggest it was a 2014 battery. 7 years in the Florida heat (CarFax showed all-Florida ownership) before it died.

The replacement was a Die-Hard identical to the Varta, labeled “Made in Germany” leading me to believe it is a re-labeled Varta.

Regular acid core is usually fine but AGM is better so (if AGM isn’t required for your car then) it’s whether its advantages are worth it to you. No maintenance with the AGM is a really big deal if the battery is in a hard to access place, and a nice advantage even when it’s right up front. The AGM loses it charge way more slowly and you might be surprised how quickly a regular battery’s voltage drops when it’s not being charged. You might be starting your car with a weak battery more often than you realize. Keeping a battery charged significantly extends its life so if you keep your car in the garage, it may be a great idea to get a Battery Tender. There are only advantages to AGM except cost. Regardless, getting a good battery versus a less good one (or a lemon) is a crap shoot regardless of what type and brand you get, although your odds are likely better with an AGM.

I find that surprising. You live in MD IIRC, a few hours north of you in PA we’re replacing the under hood batteries probably every 6 years or so.

My car’s battery is in the trunk.

Last year I replaced it with an AGM from Walmart, simply because the sale price was very close to a standard lead/acid one. I figure it’ll be the last battery I have to buy for the car.

This is for OEM and replacement batteries. I went to college in the ABE area and the difference in temperature from home was easily noticeable. I took a bus through Philadelphia a few times and it was about 5 degrees cooler there than in the Baltimore/Washington area.

Same as my results

Considering how much hotter the heat is coming off of the engine, I doubt 5 degrees in ambient air temperature makes that big of a difference