Car Batteries - They Don't Make Them Like They Used To?

[MC Rider]

These things are not meant to sit unused. They need to drive.

 

[travelover]

Get a battery jump start box and jump start yourself.

Also charge your phone or other things in a pinch.
Lots of choices out there.

Well yea. This was ten years ago. I have a lithium jump box now and jumper cables.

 

[Plantman]

I don't think I have ever had a battery last less than 7 years. My 2006 Jeep Liberty is on it's second battery and my 2013 Chevy Cruze is still on it's original.

 

[SnowballCamper]

There are good batteries made in USA still. Maybe not every size for the passenger car market, but Trojan makes a motive battery for vehicle starting applications. https://www.trojanbattery.com/corporate-overview/

 

[Ronstar]

I’ve read the same thing, parasitic drain from lots of electronic gadgets. Fortunately we drive both our cars almost every day, evidently a car battery can go dead in as little as four weeks if not driven.

You’ve jogged my memory. We had a home watch service come to the snowbird condo once a month, check the place, flush the toilets, and start the car.

I don’t remember getting a report that the car wouldn’t start during any of their monthly checkups. But it didn’t start when we got there for a fall visit.

I’d call AAA once we got there. They’d come and jump it and give me a diagnostic report and told me not to shut it off because it wouldn’t start again without jumping. I’d drive to Autozone, hand them my battery receipt and AAA diagnostic report. They’d install a new one free of charge.

In the Phoenix area, AAA has vans driving around doing nothing but battery jumps and replacements.

 

[Koolau]

I don't think I have ever had a battery last less than 7 years. My 2006 Jeep Liberty is on it's second battery and my 2013 Chevy Cruze is still on it's original.

Do you keep your vehicles garaged? Over the years, I've found my "indoor" vehicles' batteries last much longer. YMMV

 

[Plantman]

Do you keep your vehicles garaged? Over the years, I've found my "indoor" vehicles' batteries last much longer. YMMV

Yes, they're in an unheated garage in northeastern Ohio. So I don't have to deal with too many temperature extremes.

 

[Out of Steam]

Hybrids don't use the 12 volt battery to start. The power comes from the big, high voltage battery. The 12 volt battery just powers the controls.

The OE battery on our Ford Hybrid (which is unusually small for the reason you note) lasted under 4 years. The replacement Motorcraft battery from the Ford dealer has been in the car over 5 years. I plan to replace it before winter.

 

[Hyper]

Came home yesterday to find DW stranded at home with a dead 12V battery on her 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid! After jumping the car, I got it replaced at the Honda dealer for free under warranty.

I have replaced car batteries proactively at about 4 years without being confronted with a dead batt for decades, never expected a battery failure after 2 years 9 months. Is that normal for OEM batteries these days or just bad luck? I read a couple of Honda and Subaru forums with lots of posts about how crappy OEM batteries are these days, but for all I know there are thousands of owners who haven't had (premature) battery failures. Some of the posters had replaced their batteries with much better after market batteries shortly after buying their new Hondas/Subarus - seems like a waste.

Now I'm wondering if I need to be concerned about my Subaru with a 3 year 6 month old OEM battery... I may buy a battery load tester, or at least a shop/parts store that has a loaner.

Northern extreme climate. Caterpillar has batteries for majority of vehicles today. Very competitively priced. I drive diesels. The last two I bought for a past truck lasted 12 yrs in our climate. Not one bit of trouble. I replaced them in 18' just because. I just move them to another truck if I change trks.

 

[oaklanding]

I have bought two car batteries from Batteries Plus, and they are at about 5 years and still going well.

 

[zinger1457]

Hybrids don't use the 12 volt battery to start. The power comes from the big, high voltage battery. The 12 volt battery just powers the controls.

Thanks for mentioning that, I have an Avalon Hybrid and never gave it any thought, never had a need to jump start it. Looked into it and they have a jump start terminal inside the fuse box.

 

[Chuckanut]

Hybrids don't use the 12 volt battery to start. The power comes from the big, high voltage battery. The 12 volt battery just powers the controls.

Here's a video that explains Toyota Hybrids and what the batteries do. It starts at 13 minutes. The rest of the info is good to know also if you have a Toyota hybrid.

 

[sengsational]

I'm surprised so many posters know how long their batteries last. I notice slower cranking, usually during the first sign of hot weather. I buy a battery (sometimes let them put it in, sometimes I put it in), and forget about it. I guess if it was "too short" between changes, I'd make a note of it, but, like most people here, the battery doesn't fail within the warranty period, or so close to the end, bothering with the prorating isn't worth buying the same brand. I must say, that I'm less than thorough about car maintenance records. If it tells me to change the oil, I have it changed, but have no clue as to the history of changes, for instance. I look at the tire tread and buy a new set when they've not got much left, but have no idea how many miles that last set offered me. I get how some people could be interested in those things, but just doesn't keep my attention.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I'm surprised so many posters know how long their batteries last. I notice slower cranking, usually during the first sign of hot weather. I buy a battery (sometimes let them put it in, sometimes I put it in), and forget about it. I guess if it was "too short" between changes, I'd make a note of it, but, like most people here, the battery doesn't fail within the warranty period, or so close to the end, bothering with the prorating isn't worth buying the same brand. I must say, that I'm less than thorough about car maintenance records. If it tells me to change the oil, I have it changed, but have no clue as to the history of changes, for instance. I look at the tire tread and buy a new set when they've not got much left, but have no idea how many miles that last set offered me. I get how some people could be interested in those things, but just doesn't keep my attention.

I keep a log of my maintenance so it is pretty easy. I'm kind of geeky and anal about logging stuff... A skill that served me well as I pursued an early retirement. Also comes in handy to fact check if anyone ever tries to up-sell me.



With modern cars, often they won't even let you "slow crank" even though it would start if the voltage is too low and often do not give any warning. On my former 2002 Silverado, the last battery I replaced I noticed a slow crank and drove straight to an autoparts store and got a replacement. The time it failed before, I drove to work and from work with no issues (~25 miles each way) and on my way home I stopped at the grocery store and after being parked for <10 minutes it was dead!


I just looked at my log, I got 3 years on the OEM, then 6 years, then 5 years, then 4. I still have the log but the truck was sold last year just a few months before the used car market took off.. I could have sold it for 2X what I got just 6 months later.

 

[brett]

Our Toyota and Honda batteries both lasted 14 plus years.

On years three and four of our Costco batteries. So far so good. Our mechanic recommended Costco batteries. He uses them in his vehicles. We will see.

 

[ERD50]

I'm surprised so many posters know how long their batteries last. I notice slower cranking, usually during the first sign of hot weather. I buy a battery (sometimes let them put it in, sometimes I put it in), and forget about it. I guess if it was "too short" between changes, I'd make a note of it, but, like most people here, the battery doesn't fail within the warranty period, or so close to the end, bothering with the prorating isn't worth buying the same brand. I must say, that I'm less than thorough about car maintenance records. If it tells me to change the oil, I have it changed, but have no clue as to the history of changes, for instance. I look at the tire tread and buy a new set when they've not got much left, but have no idea how many miles that last set offered me. I get how some people could be interested in those things, but just doesn't keep my attention.

Cars need so little maintenance, that keeping records isn't much work. I do it, it helps the next time I need wipers or something, to know where I got them and if I was satisfied.

edit/add - A lot less effort than tracking a bunch of 'magic stocks'! But please don't stop, I want to see how it goes!

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

... With modern cars, often they won't even let you "slow crank" even though it would start if the voltage is too low and often do not give any warning. ....

Can you expand on that? I do notice that modern cars rarely crank for very long at all. I'll try to pay special attention next time, but it seems you hit that start button, not much of a 'crank' at all, and it's running.


So my theory is that you kind of hit a knee on the curve - as long as the battery can crank it at any reasonable speed at all, it starts. Then the next time, it just won't turn it fast enough, which is probably very slow, so now you notice it, and it's right on the edge of total failure. At least that's my theory.

But in the old days, when it often took maybe two seconds of cranking to start, you'd get a sense of the speed of the starter, and you'd hear a weak battery slow towards the end of that two seconds (or longer in cold weather). Now, when it happens so quickly, you don't have time get a sense of the speed.

Are you saying there is some actually computer over-ride that just says "stop" to the starter motor if it is not turning fast enough? Could be, I mean, if they know that speed won't start it, why drain the battery even further? But I've never heard of this.

-ERD50

 

[brett]

I keep a record. Mostly of when to replace fluids. Just on one sheet with the dates or service.

Habit, for years I wrote off my car as a business expense so I had to maintain proper records.

 

[zinger1457]

I must say, that I'm less than thorough about car maintenance records. If it tells me to change the oil, I have it changed, but have no clue as to the history of changes, for instance. I look at the tire tread and buy a new set when they've not got much left, but have no idea how many miles that last set offered me. I get how some people could be interested in those things, but just doesn't keep my attention.

If your vehicle is still under warranty you want to keep a history of all the service that was done, especially if not done at the dealer, could void your warranty if you're unable to show that all required maintenance was done.

 

[Dtail]

I keep a folder with all the maintenance, but don't log in into any spreadsheet.
I reference it every so often.

 

[Big_Hitter]

if you live in a hot and humid place and do a lot of short trips, your battery will do good to last about 2-3 years - 2 years was my average car battery life expectancy in Houston. My wife has a 13 Subaru FXT (in Idaho) and it still has the OEM battery

 

[brett]

Seems to me that many batteries are marked with the month and year of manufacture.

We live in a cold, snowy climate. Cars are garaged. Batteries seem to last for years.

 

[GTFan]

I'm surprised so many posters know how long their batteries last.

Some batteries have the manufacture date on them - Walmart's have a purple sticker on the top so it's easy to see. I recently replaced my wife's 2008 Focus battery and it lasted 8 years, so no complaints here. 7-8 years is the average life I've seen on most of our vehicles here in the ATL, using mid-grade batteries from various retailers.

Sometimes a cell will go bad due to vibration or whatever, then you're hosed because it won't do anything (you'll see 10V or less). I've had a couple of those over the years and I suspect that's what OP had.

Lithium jump packs are so cheap and easy to use now you can get one for every car and never be stranded, IMO.

 

[Sunset]

So now US readers know their warranty too.

My van is driving around with a Canadian battery, the funniest souvenir I bought.

 

[gougmonk]

Buick Battery lasted 10 years

Bought a used 2011 Buick Lucerne in 2012 and presume it had the original battery. Finally had to replace the battery this winter. Ten years on the battery, 5 in Houston heat and 5 in Virginia temperatures.