battery life question

It's about due. It may last another five years or five minutes.

I get 9 years out of the Sears and Interstate ones... Got 11 years out of my last Delco!

Most manufacturers put cheap batteries in the cars from the factory... never heard of them lasting 9-11 years though... they usually are up by the end of their free warranty period

I consistently get 4 - 5 years. Northern California, 10k miles / year.

Frank Zappa wrote:

I don't think I have ever had less than six years and I have had sever in the 10 - 12 year life.

The longest lived have been those in my 70 VW Bug and my Miata. The Bug's battery was under the rear seat and the Miata was in the trunk, both well away from the heat of the engine.

I got 5 years and 1 day on my last 60 month Diehard.

My OEM battery in my '91 GTI lasted 5.5 years, 80K miles if that's anything to go by. The replacement was one from Napa (I think an Exide battery) that lasted about another 4-5 years. My current one is from Pep Boys and is about 3 years old and going strong. For an August '98 battery I'd say it's going to go in the next year.

Well, my weatherhandler sears battery crapped out on me today... I think sears is the ONLY place that requires you have a receipt to return a battery (most will at least go by the date code!) So, I bought a Bosch battery... never had one before... we'll see how it lasts I guess! Has an 18 mos full replacement warranty and 60 mos prerated...

That's about right. I have an '84 GTI and have always used Die Hards after the original VW (Varta) died. I'm on my 4th one now. They seem to last about 5 years.

Funny, there was no warning when they died. I check the density regularly and top off with distilled water. Then one day, poof, it won't hold a charge anymore.

--Vic

I looked at my 5-year-old Die-Hard today and realized it's an "international" model and supposedly good for 6 years. The guy at Sears said this model is specifically for VW, audi etc A new one costs $100, and the "regular" die-Hard is only $60. Is there really a difference, and do I really need the fancy model?

thx Tom

...

Not "good for 6 years" but rather warranted for 6 years. It is more likely designed for 5.8 years so you will have just a very small amount of the pro-rated warrantee left when it dies so you will be more likely to go back and buy the same brand, thinking you are getting a real deal because they are knocking off a couple of $$ or ?? pr ££.

I hadn't really thought of them knocking off a couple of quid, but what's the deal with this "international" version of the Die-Hard? And on the subject of real deals, the basic version of the die-hard costs $60 and is well rated by CR, but the guy at Sears says "you need this SPECIAL battery" (which just happens to cost $100) WTF?

thx Tom

I don't know, but I would guess it is just a size that fits and because it is not one of their "standard" sizes they charge extra.

nah i think the difference is that they come with a vent tube!

I bought one but i only paid like $60 for it