I can’t wait to hear the explanation on this one.
9 years out of a battery
- Thread starter KevinMalone
- Start date
That's a good long life. I replaced the battery in my Sienna when the warranty around out, about 6 years, cuz I didn't want it to die on me while I was out camping somewhere.
If you have a vehicle that is 8 or 9 years old, on its original battery, and are planning on keeping the car for 4 more years (or longer), you might as well get a new similar battery before the old one fails. The original battery may have e been great, but its nearing the end of its life. You are going to have to replace it soon anyway. So change it now to get another 8 years off the new battery, by which time you will likely no longer have the vehicle.
Patman
Staff member
I am still on the original batteries in both of my cars (2016 Civic and 2018 Corvette)
The IRS has a space mission to start mining lead from the Moon. It's Top Secret but I know A Guy.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2025
Better to simply invest in an inexpensive battery tester like the Ancel BA101 off Amazon. If you shop for a sale, it can be purchased for $17 to $29 depending on the available "deal".
I check my batteries at least every 6 months and some more often...as soon as it starts to show its on a downward trend on the tester, I replace. 15 years of this strategy has not failed me yet. I got 14+ years out of the factory battery in my Tundra. A friend that I check their cars for, I just performed an oil change and checked their battery. It said "replace" and was down on CCAs but they would never have known, started fine. But we swapped it out and it was the factory battery...exactly 10 years old to the month.
Both factory batteries in my 2018 BMW exceed their CCA rating, so I'm not in a hurry to replace them...no reason.
Have gotten 15 years out of group 31 and 4D batteries.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2025
You can greatly reduce the anxiety by investing in an inexpensive battery tester and use it, perhaps every 6 months. I have done this for years. Haven't been stranded yet, and helps catch even those unexpected ones that start going downhill early in life.
So thats the high beam reason? The high beam people really need to think about the 100s of drivers they are blinding and irritating.Getting nine years out of a battery is incredible! In the desert, I could never achieve that. I usually de-sulfate/charge mine every 4 to 5 weeks.
I always run full lights, regardless of the time of day or location, to ensure I’m more visible to others. When it gets crowded during the day, I use high beams, which definitely helps. It makes people less likely to cut me off in traffic. I know this because people who are tempted to switch lanes too close in front of me, begin to merge but then hesitate when they see my high beams. Anyway, I think this is one of the reasons why I can only get about four years out of a battery.
I’ve got the ancel tester. My almost 4 yr old efb was gradually losing its health since this last spring. The efb in my wife’s 2024 tested at 98% SOH in August and was completely shot in 1 week. We landed back in Detroit to a battery so dead we were barely able to unlock the car to pop the hood for aaa to jump us to get to the Nissan dealer. In addition to the battery Nissan replaced under warranty, I replaced 2 others with Deka golds. One was 40 months and the other 46 months old. They were losing state of health and I wasn’t going to roll the dice over $150. My lucks not that good as you can gather from above. In the old days I could get away with such issues, but I’m getting too old for the aggravation. I do now carry a jump pack in the cubby of all my cars. No battery is guaranteed to last.
The ones you replace those with won't last that long.
Patman
Staff member
I always get long life from my batteries actually. I have no doubt that if I replace the battery in my Corvette with another AC Delco, it will last just as long. And I will likely replace the Honda’s battery with an Everstart Maxx and I got more than 8 years from one of those in my last Civic. I have never had a battery die super early on me.
I just had my Diehard Gold die on me. I purchased it back in November 2005. I had gone to Japan for 3 weeks and upon return (Jan 12 2025), I got (3) key turns/cranks and that was it. It served me well.
Can't do that with many modern case designs that don't have readily removable caps that allow the electrolyte to be replenished.
I had a nine-year old battery that got topped off a few times.
Was once told by a battery distributor that that is no such thing as a "maintenance-free" battery.
Me either till a few months ago. The only other time I could think of was in a hotel parking lot in Nashville back when my son played college baseball.
6yr old Panasonic battery (Oem) in my wife’s suv. I parked the car after checking in, changed clothes and was heading to the ballpark and, stone dead. I thought 6 yrs was great. Completely failing at the most inopportune time…not so much!
I never got more than 6 years out of a battery. But I change them out before they get bad. Only once I had a OE Hyundai battery crap out at around the 4 year mark and a GM battery also in under 1 year mark. GM replaced free under warranty
I had some battery cover things sold by dei and installed it on a ford fusion, this car as we know uses a small battery and lives in a very hot location next to the strut tower where it cooks.
The battery blanket works pretty good and the top is covered with a discarded ripped cover from a ram truck.
How is it good?, the battery is still showing 680 our 700 cca after 20 months of use and on touch the battery casing is literally cool to touch if you reach inside the blanket and cover.
So the battery blanket is pretty good to be honest specially if the battery lives in a hot location next to the strut tower.
The battery blanket works pretty good and the top is covered with a discarded ripped cover from a ram truck.
How is it good?, the battery is still showing 680 our 700 cca after 20 months of use and on touch the battery casing is literally cool to touch if you reach inside the blanket and cover.
So the battery blanket is pretty good to be honest specially if the battery lives in a hot location next to the strut tower.
I just had to replace an Odyssey group 35 battery in my 4Runner. It is the performance model and not the Extreme. It lasted almost 8 years and was down to 15% health from a Ancel BA101 battery tester. It was still starting the V8, but just barely with the coldest temps of the winter here. It started its life with below zero Idaho winter temps and has been in 110+ AZ summer heat the last couple years. I do have a alternator voltage booster installed that puts out a consistent ~14.1v to the battery when running.
I have the same battery in my Corvette. It is a little over 5 years old and the tester is reading 50% health. The battery is on a tender when sitting and I have installed larger gauge wiring for the battery and alternator giving a consistent ~14.4v when running.
I have the same battery in my Corvette. It is a little over 5 years old and the tester is reading 50% health. The battery is on a tender when sitting and I have installed larger gauge wiring for the battery and alternator giving a consistent ~14.4v when running.
