Has the thinking changed on battery freshness dates??

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Of course, the fresher the better, but the old "rule" was not to buy a battery that is older than six months. Not that I would.

Since AGMs have become mainstream, are there different rules for them?

Debating whether to pull the trigger on a cheap Champion AGM before the rebate promo expires, but the newest local store stock sports January 2020 stickers.
 
"Less prone to sulfation if not regularly topping charged" from the Battery University.

I would think any 2020 AGM battery would be OK.

But who makes the battery? I would go for a East Penn and would not jump on the cheap/sale AGM until I had determined who made the Champion AGM battery
 
Hmm. For standard batteries the furthest back I've seen is 3 months. But those probably move quicker than AGM.
AGM should self discharge much slower, so a 3-4 month old AGM should be more than fine.
If it really bothers you find a store that might have fresher stock?
 
I'll buy a battery up to 18 mos old if the price is right, but only if it checks out on a multimeter that they kept the charge topped off.

January? Sure, that's as fresh as you can expect given the supply issues the nation is facing, unless you want to do more hunting that it's worth to find newer.
 
Five days ago I bought an AGM from Advance that was made in 10/19. Yesterday, the truck wouldn't start, and I took it back to Advance. Their handy tester immediately said "replace battery" and so I installed it today. New battery was made 3/2020 so it's fresh. This was my first AGM and fastest-ever failure. The manager at Advance apologized profusely and said he'd never, ever had an AGM fail under the 3 year warranty before.

I hope this is not a sign of things to come, since Advance changed their "warranty" scheme to a flat 3 years. No prorating, no extended life. If it dies on day 1096, you are 100% SOL. If it fails on say day 500, the replacement battery only gets warrantied for the remainder of the original 3 year timeframe. I found that out after I bought it, so I will likely not purchase any more batteries from Advance.
 
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
I hope this is not a sign of things to come, since Advance changed their "warranty" scheme to a flat 3 years. No prorating, no extended life. If it dies on day 1096, you are 100% SOL. If it fails on say day 500, the replacement battery only gets warrantied for the remainder of the original 3 year timeframe. I found that out after I bought it, so I will likely not purchase any more batteries from Advance.

There are worse battery warranties out there.
 
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
If it fails on say day 500, the replacement battery only gets warrantied for the remainder of the original 3 year timeframe. I found that out after I bought it, so I will likely not purchase any more batteries from Advance.


This is pretty normal for warranties everywhere. They don't have to make you new, they make you whole. And you're guaranteed to not be buying batteries for three years.
 
My vehicle calls for a Group 59. It had a 6.5 year old Group 58 in it.
I read about cranking, charging and standing voltages over proscribed time frames and determined that my battery was among "the walking dead".

Most places had no G-59's in stock. The vast majority had G-58's in stock. I simply wanted the called for size. Forgive me.

One place, a Pep Boys, had three 7 month old G-59's in stock. The "retailness" of PB scared me away.

Our nearest Home Depot had a selection of year old and older batteries covered with thick dust.

The Walmart, which I noticed had no batteries the month before, got a load in and had G-59's bearing that month's sticker.

I bought my first Walmart battery. It has a 24 mo. free replacement warranty.

ps The nearest AutoZone is where I'd always bought batteries and the one time a family member's battery died, they replaced it faster than I could talk about it.

None of the AZ stores nearby had a G-59.
 
The Champions are made by Clarios (fka JCI).

I've looked at the EP options, and I may eventually try one, but they have shorter warranties and cost more. The Champion would be $110 for one that regularly retails for $160-200, and has a 4-year replacement warranty. The comparable NAPA is $180 and has a 2-year term, with prorate afterward. I generally get at least 5-6 years out of batteries, and by that time the prorate is worth little, and I don't like being locked into one option, so I don't value prorated warranties highly.

Anyway, given the frequency with which they run the promotion, and the fact that the car has given me another issue to chase down, I'll hold off for now. Once it gets settled, I'll look into it again, and check stock status them. The current battery is ok under normal conditions; it's the less frequent usage under lockdown that has exposed some weakness when not driving as much, so I can nurse it a bit longer.
 
And it's still a win-win. While the clock doesn't start over on the warranty, as long as there wasn't a design flaw, the replacement should last 3+ years from the time replaced (odds are, that is) so the consumer gets a fresh battery and the remainder of the warranty is still in effect.

As has been noted before, you are buying a warranty most of the time with a battery, so as long as you get 3 years from the original purchase date, you got what you paid for.

Originally Posted by eljefino
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
If it fails on say day 500, the replacement battery only gets warrantied for the remainder of the original 3 year timeframe. I found that out after I bought it, so I will likely not purchase any more batteries from Advance.


This is pretty normal for warranties everywhere. They don't have to make you new, they make you whole. And you're guaranteed to not be buying batteries for three years.
 
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