Tester, correct me if wrong, but aren’t batteries shipped “dry” to prevent corrosion issues? (I seem to recall that H2SO4 can be bought at the auto parts store should one have a battery direct shipped.)
If this is so, then there shouldn’t be any sulfation or wear at all until such time as the electrolyte is added (which I suppose depends on the shop and the turnover they do.)
I Replace All My Car Batteries When They Reach The End Of Their “Warranted Age”.
I have not had any problems with my batteries lasting, 6, 7, or 8 years. I can’t speak for my 9-year batteries, yet. They are a young 4 1/2 years old. We’ll see if they make it to 9/21/2013. I just replaced a $20 garden tractor battery that was 7 years old before I put it in the snow blower. I just didn’t trust it to get through the winter.
I agree with shopping at Wally-World, but they have run all the other stores out of business in my little town (20 miles away).
Shopping there is like kissing your sister.
Automotive batteries are filled with electrolite when thet leave the factory. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be able to test them before shipping. The only batteries I’ve seen where the electrolite is added after purchase is with motorcycle/lawn tractor batteries. And that’s because these batteries can remain on the shelves for exteneded periods of time before they’re sold. This is how they prevent these batteries from sulfating.
Tester
Shopping there is like kissing your sister.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Thanks CSA for the funny quote of the day.
We have an independent battery store in our town. A friend of mine went there to buy a battery and the battery had no manufacturer’s name on it. He asked the proprietor what make battery he was selling. The proprietor opened his desk drawer and there were all kinds of labels from different manufacturers. “What make battery would you like it to be?” he asked.
Batteries are very dense and expensive to ship in large quantities. A battery made by Johnson Controls in one part of the country may be made by Exide in another part and both will carry the same brand name. I buy the battery specified for my vehicle with the most recent date of manufacture. WalMart has a good turnover of batteries in my location, so I usually make the purchase there.
I would expect 4 years from the cheaper batteries and 7 or 8 years from the expensive batteries.
The Honda battery(oem) I had last 7 years/190k miles. It was a AC Delco battery. This was in a New England climate.
The original Nissan in my wife’s car lasted a full 7 years in a cold climate. Japanese cars have generally good OEM batteries, both from a size and life expectancy point of view.
lets see you can get a Honda one for $100 that lasts 8 years or Wallyworld for $50 (half priced) that lasts 4 years (half as long) guess what its the same deal just decide if you want to pay $100 up front. Also look for deals on line for the Honda one. Find out who makes it at least.
I surely wouldn’t want to kiss anyone whom I’ve seen in Wal-Mart.
There is just something about that “no teeth look” that turns me off.
;-))
The AC Delco/Honda battery had Made in the USA proudly display on it. Given that track record I would not hesitate to purchase another.
Our Nissna was built in Smyrna, Tennessee, and I’m sure the battery was made in the USA to Nissan’s specifications.
By The Time We Get This Figured Out, Whatever Battery Jeff Buys Will Be Out Of Warranty!
GET ER DONE
autozone duralast gold.they will install it free and it come with a free jump 800 number, 3 year free replacement and afterbthat prorated up to 8 years…great batteries!
Car Guy, It Sounds Great!
I’m just curious. How does that “free jump 800 number” work? Do you know any details? It must be for 3 years (?), but how do they reimbuse, etcetera? My closest Autozone is 60 miles away.
cca extra capacity is provided by an overall better battery
No it's not, higher CCA is provided by a higher CCA battery. I have no real info on if the high-CCA battery wears out faster in practice, but the easiest way to get more CCA out of the same battery WOULD be to have more plates.. and if the battery is the same physical size, each would have to be a bit thinner.
That said, as the battery STARTS to wear out, you have more "extra" CCA to spare anyway, that could even things out.
Personally, I'd get the Walmart. Everstarts are fine IMHO. And at half the cost, if it lasts SLIGHTLY less you'll still be out ahead. I've bought cheap batteries, I have a Buick Regal that I think draws pretty high cranking amps, lots of accessories.. I live in Iowa so it gets below 0 in the winter and above 90 in the summer. There's far too many stop signs and lights here so I expect under-hood temps get pretty high. And still I have the cheap batteries last over 5 years.
As for warranty.. heh. I think I got back $5 on one battery (which had a "7-year" warranty but it's worth $5-10 after the first 3 years or so really.) I taped the receipt to the side of the battery so it REALLY disintegrated -- it was like that one Simpsons episode "Well, there's parts of the receipt here, here, and here, and a few other fragments here and here". I had just enough left they could key it into the computer and take the $5 or so off my next battery.