Car battery

[50yr Street Mech]

Walmart....no pro rate. If battery no good within warranty, they give you a new one. No questions asked.

 

[f355spider]

The same here....I have had two batteries "going bad" over the years and Costco just gave me new ones..I think the policy changed to "pro-rate" though. I also had a great experience with AAP as they also gave me a new battery under warranty without any hassle / questions - they did test though.

It is three years pro rated at USA Costcos since 2023. Canadian Costcos still have three years free replacement.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

The heck with that pro rate non sense ! Go to Wally World. Their batteries are actually very good. No pro rate at Wally World. Simple replacement if found to be no good. No re-charging. They do test though. Make sure it's less than 12 volts before you bring it back

 

[boom10ful]

Yeah, I don't return them unless they're bad either, but one nice thing about WM batteries .... WM's are EVERYWHERE! So if one dies at an inopportune time, Wally World is usually not too far away!
My Old Man has used this approach for his trolling motor batteries for years. They usually out live the warranty, but if they don't and you happen to be on a fishing trip when they fail, you can usually find one nearby and not lose the whole day of fishing trying to chase the warranty at a particular store.

I test mine every year and if I see that "Replace Battery" on my tester then I take it to Walmart and get a new one under warranty. They usually test it and get the same results as I do.
I don't want to be left stranded at a bad time.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Smart to be pro-active like that. It'll save you're alt and starter too !

 

[AKhan87]

Smart to be pro-active like that. It'll save you're alt and starter too !

this.

I fully charge all my batteries once a month.

7-8 year battery life easily

and all my current batteries are AGM, lets see how long they last.

 

[f355spider]

this.

I fully charge all my batteries once a month.

7-8 year battery life easily

and all my current batteries are AGM, lets see how long they last.

Same, all my cars either came with AGM or I switched to them...with the exception of my Tundra still on a flooded.
Garaged cars sit on battery tenders 24/7, the driveway cars get plugged into a tender at least once or twice a week (all cars have a pig tail installed or factory battery tender connection).
All cars get the battery tested at each oil change, which varies from one to three times per year.

Two of my agms are 7 years old, one is 6.5 years old, and one is 4 years old, all are doing great so far.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

AGM's have a much longer life than FLA....just watch the temperature. An AGM will freeze at - 40 degrees fahrenheit, so watch you're wind chill factors on cars stored outdoors. My 2 year old Optima froze.....but it was one one those wicked arctic blast thingys with high winds and very low wind chill factor. This was NY. Got down to -4 degrees minus the wind chill

 

[blufeb95]

AGM's have a much longer life than FLA....just watch the temperature. An AGM will freeze at - 40 degrees fahrenheit, so watch you're wind chill factors on cars stored outdoors. My 2 year old Optima froze.....but it was one one those wicked arctic blast thingys with high winds and very low wind chill factor. This was NY. Got down to -4 degrees minus the wind chill

The windchill can only cool things down to what the outside temperature is , except in cases where evaporation/sublimation occur, but that shouldn't really effect a battery, If the battery froze at -4F either the battery was in a low state of charge or already going bad.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

It's possible low state of charge. Not to mention it was an Optima, that was bad enough. Heater on high, rear defroster,heated seats. Those Optima's WERE great when they were made in USA, then they opened up a factory in Mexico. They were all down hill since then.