Battery life

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Wife has a 2017 Honda Accord V6. Bought it new 8-15-16 and it has 23,000 miles on it. Yesterday it wouldn't start, so pulled the battery and took it to the dealer. They load tested it,said it was bad and replaced it. Charging at 14.2 so wasn't overcharged. Didn't cost me anything, was 100% covered for 3 years or 36,000 miles. Are batteries today so bad that this happens often? I have had older vehicles that batteries lasted 10 years or more. May have just been a bad one, that happens, but has the quality of things gotten so bad that this is becoming the norm?
 
Yes. It has been like this for at least 8-10 years, may be slightly longer.

Also, a lot of parts quality is not that good.
We are essentially, their quality control department.
We cannot assume that new parts are good anymore.
 
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The battery and tires that come with a new car are usually the cheapest the manufacturer can find. They only need to get it out of the showroom.
 
I have an 08 Saturn Vue. Battery died within a year. Warranty replacement going on 9 years. Car was on the lot 4-5 months before I bought it and battery probably discharged and lay dead for awhile before I bought it. I worked at dealerships for years and new cars that got no looks may not get moved and batteries go dead. Dead batteries start to calcify quickly and may not live long even when charged enough for the cars to be sold. I worked at one store that always moved their stock around and another that wouldn't move anything until their lot looked like a junkyard in disarray. I didn't work there long. However, the original battery in my Silverado went 7 years and I replaced it only because it tested a little weak and another winter was coming. It didn't fail. I bought that truck within days of it's arrival to the dealer.
 
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Originally Posted By: JMJNet
Yes. It has been like this for at least 8-10 years, may be slightly longer.

Also, a lot of parts quality is not that good.
We are essentially, their quality control department.
We cannot assume that new parts are good anymore.
I can agree with that! I waste more time replacing new defective parts lately.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
My dad bought a brand new dodge omni in 1987.


When I was a teenager, I bought a Dodge Omni for $50. Friends and I "Dukes of Hazard'd" it in the woods until it was dead. Best $50 I ever spent.
 
Over the years I have had new batteries last for 7 years and others that lasted 6 months. I now only buy reconditioned batteries and have had very good results with them.My Sonata and Forester are running reconditioned batteries that were about $30-$40, both running well after 5 winters. I doubt if I ever buy a brand new battery again.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Well GA is hot. That's the first issue. Who manufactured the battery?


+1. Heat is what kills batteries, and if it's like my accord, it's a small, low capacity unit anyway.

On the contrary, our van was bought after the end of the MY. It was in a dealer display. Dead. Dealer provided a new battery as part of the deal.

32k later, multiple winters, were still running on it.
 
A car battery "getting off to a bad start" (lying around in an unsold car) or being really killed dead and recharged (multiple times?) is where I believe most of the problems arise.

I believe also that the battery industry is steadily cheapening their old tech product in order to make newer tech batteries look like better values.

I also believe all cars now-a-days have computer stuff drawing juice constantly. That's been developing for 20 years.
 
Auto manufacturers fit the smallest battery they can.

Less weight = better MPG.

As Kira said, another factor is the electronic components that run 'in the background'. (Have you ever walked out and heard your EVAP purge pump running?)



If you want, you could install a bigger battery, they usually fit. I think you can replace the OEM Group 51 in new Accords with a Group 24, you just need to fit a battery tray from an Odyssey.
 
Dealers don’t have multiple jump packs for nor reason. Cars sit, get fiddled with while off or started and moved very short distances around the lot. The only new car I’ve purchased that didn’t have a depleted battery is our Forester, which was pretty much fresh off the truck. I previously purchased leftovers that had likely been sitting for a while.
 
Modern vehicles now have an average battery life of 3 to 5 years and can be destroyed in far less - the batteries are generally better than they have ever been in terms performance and capacity. All of the added electronics and "smart" charging systems cause the batteries to be discharged and recharged much more frequently, which eventually destroys the capacity of the battery. That being said, I've seen plenty of good batteries warrantied out just so nobody had to argue with a customer..... Because they are experts in everything apparently.

As others have stated, new vehicles can be sit for a long period of time. On my daily commute i pass a lot filled with hundreds of new FCA trucks and SUVs. Theres one Ram that i have seen for at least 2 months now in the same spot. If it was parked in your driveway that long the battery would be gone.
 
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Heat kills batteries, but OE batteries tend to be super cheap anyways. When we first bought it new, the OE batteries on my car lasted 1.5 years each until my dad decided to start going aftermarket, which last about 5 years each. We replace batteries before they are completely on their last legs because getting stranded in the cold is annoying.

The OE battery in my dad's '14 Subaru Crosstrek got weak after less than 2 years and began cranking slow, but it may have gotten some abuse by sitting on the lot before he purchased it. The replacement (also OE) is still going strong after a similar amount of time and miles.
 
Batteries usually don't last like they used to. But if the car sits at the dealer for a while it's going to hurt the battery.
 
In the Uk I've found batteries last longer than they used to. My wife's 2005 Peugeot diesel had its original battery replaced in 2011 with 140k miles behind it. The replacement is still working fine today with the car now at just over a quarter million miles.
The new battery I put on my Oldsmobile is still good after seven years.
When I first worked in a repair shop in 1972 batteries were normally good for 2-3 years. Although I know of a Rolls Royce that had its original battery fail after just 27 years..... It was made by Oldham Batteries, sadly no longer in business.

Claud.
 
I wish you could buy Panasonic batteries here in the US, both of the ones that came OEM on my cars (my ECHO and my old Mazda) lasted 12 years before requiring replacement.

But the Walmart ones I've bought most recently have been doing well, I can't complain. 7 years so far in my BMW and six in the Accord.
 
I figure that if I can get 4-5 yrs from a battery here in in Nebraska with the extreme cold and heat cycles then I am well ahead of the game. Going a few more years is a bonus. occasionally a battery is a genetic freak and will last 8-10 years but that is pretty rare. My stepson had a battery that went about 10 years in his 94 Camry..it was an exide battery from Orshlens farm store.
 
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