How long did your factory battery last?

Five years is about the max than can be expected for any car battery.

My wife's 2001 Saab 9-5 just got one in September. About 5 years. My 2005 Volvo XC70 is OEM. The 1987 Westie is 14 months old. It replaced a 5-year old replacement. How many before that is unknown. The 1999 Eurovan Camper is OEM. The rear deep-cycle battery is one year old.

The Eurovan is on borrowed time. But with the second battery, getting going will not be an issue with proper management, so we are willing to let it fail if it should so-happen. It is about to engage in a ~3,000 mile trip, so we shall see.

Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA

Five years is about the max than can be expected for any car battery.

I've had one in my '92 Jetta for 9 years come April, and it's still going.

It all depends, really. My mother had a 1982 Buick Skylark that had the original battery all the way until 1993. I'm probably going to have to replace the battery in my 1989 Cabriolet soon, but I have no idea how old the current one is, as I bought the car 1.5 years ago. My 2003 Jetta has the original battery, and still starts right up in the cold.

-Corey

I have had batteries last two years and ten years. I have to say that the three cars I have owned that kept the batter away from the engine heat have all lasted a long time.

Well, there's always an exception - but 5 years is really about the most one can expect. Beyond that, and the likelihood of a stalled car out in the middle of nowhere is high.

Well, there's always an exception - but 5 years is really about the most one can expect. Beyond that, and the likelihood of a stalled car out in the middle of nowhere is high.

True, I have been very luck with this one, never had any problems.. Even my Dad said this is rare.

The max I have seen one Delco size 41 last is 11 years here in Chicago. 7 years is pushing a GOOD quality battery and 5 years is a good life for the dealer batteries. This has been my experience!

Yours may still have life in it and I recommend you keep it until it gives you problems! I had to unfreeze a 6 month old dealer battery and recharge it. It was stone dead yesterday after sitting months and months, but it is working well today! I will see how it will be tomorrow though..............fingers crossed! lol

later, dave (One out of many daves)

yeah if it's 5 years old it's probably not much longer before it dies.

The OE battery in my Mk2 lasted 5.5 years and in my T4 it lasted 4-5 years (and this is in San Diego...so we don't see the cold that you do). A pre-emptive replacement is probably not money wasted.

I changed out the battery in my '02 Passat wagon in December for just that reason. While I didn't expect to have problems during moderate winter temps, I figured I'd be on borrowed time when it got down below zero.

Also at issue here is that this is my wife's daily driver, not mine. And here in upstate NY, a dead car can mean the difference between life and death in sub zero temps.

It's cheap insurance, and probably less expensive than a tow. I'd do it.

Jon

The factory battery in my '00 Jetta lasted about 5 years, which seemed reasonable to me.

dv