You just described almost half of the people in this country.
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What happened to battery warranties?
- Thread starter Vern_in_IL
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They should trade the car in when battery dies for car with warranty including battery ,You just described almost half of the people in this country.
47% of Americans Can't Handle a $500 Emergency Without Worry
It's important to have cash on hand for emergency bills. Here's what to do if you don't have enough.
.Sort of. The demands of leaving ignition in accessory position are significantly higher with various modules for transmission, awd, stability control, engine along with navgiation, satellite radio, 10-20 interior lights, heated seats and screens across vehicle vs a 1995 Honda .
I haven't bought a proper Interstate battery in a long time, mainly due to their pricing, nor do I value prorate, so I have no recent experience with their warranty.
With Costco however, I have warrantied a battery in the last few years, and it couldn't get any easier, like returning any other item. No wait for a test, or some parts jockey at another place to figure out their tester may be broken or malfunctioning, and unable to prove that the battery is "bad." The car already had another battery from AAA installed, under duress, so I didn't need a Costco replacement, nor was I required to buy one. Walked out with same cash paid for it.
I wouldn't characterize that as a joke.
In general, Costco's policies are very fair to their customers, and better than average.
If their policies have changed, then that is probably due to abuse, from those whose Costco batteries conveniently fail at the 35 month mark, and get brought in for exchange.
I'm not aware of when it was implemented, or whether it was always the case, but replacements also only carry the remaining term of the original purchase, which is fair, and not an uncommon practice.
The flip side to their customer-friendly policies is that they become subject to abuse, and it cannot be blamed for taking steps to mitigate that. They did the same thing a long time ago by restricting return periods on many electronics items to 90 days, versus the general lifetime satisfaction period.
As far as any beef with expecting a "free" replacement, they aren't advertised with such a claim, only a "Limited Replacement Warranty."
The current warranty terms from their website, dating from 2018, specify that "the battery will be replaced or the purchase price refunded, excluding fees and taxes."
That language does leave the door open to interpretation, so their lawyers will no doubt be prompted to revisit and revise those terms to be more explicit, but it is not an uncommon practice for any compensation to be limited to the original value, and require the difference to the current pricing to be made up by the customer. FCP Euro has just changed their "Lifetime" policy to reflect just such a change.
It is incumbent upon customer to read, and understand the fine print, especially with regard to lengthier warranties, but realistically, that doesn't happen, and when ambiguities exist, the lawyers will pounce, and those who bother to participate in the class will get their paltry settlement…eventually.
As well as stop/start systems. Some OEMs may choose to underspec their batteries (hello, Honda) to save weight, or charging strategies to eek out more fuel economy, but the electrical demands of a modern ICE vehicle eclipse those of the past.
Even a basic "economy" car like a Corolla has a 100A alternator, and a luxoboat commonly carries a 200A+ alternator, along with a boat anchor of a battery, with more modern chemistry to meet the higher demands. Not gonna get away with a 60A alternator in a new car like in the past.
Why would the transmission, awd, stability control and engine modules be getting power in accessory position? Those aren't needed unless the engine is running.
Ford was putting 95 amp alternators in the Escort in 1991. Primarily because of the electric cooling fans, from what I could determine.
Don't most vehicles equipped with "Stop / Start" also have a second battery? I know Jeeps do. And they also have an electrical system that will detect if the "Stop / Start" battery is low or failed, and it will not engage the system. And the driver will get warning lights on the dash.
Possibly so, but with more people using their cars less (WFH, Hybrid), more people retired?, or just residual from that thing we aren't allowed to mention here, cars seem to sit more. If your vehicle is going longer in between runs, even a few mA more can make a difference. And I'd like to see a link to that "only a few mA higher" since as far as I can tell, most new cars have several modules that are on for a few minutes before it gets to that "only a few mA higher" stage, and that all by itself is also draining your battery.
This is also highly likely what is happening. It makes sense to use smaller batteries to save space and weight.
The warranties are never really about the reliability of the product. It's a liability to the seller as a promise to the buyer. I'm not sure how Costco handled its 2 year full refund plus 84 month prorated as an expense. They're well known for making returns the liability of their suppliers, where the supplier has to cover the return costs. Back when they had the Kirkland Signature battery, it was made by JCI. I returned one that was toasted in less than 2 years for a full refund, but at that point they no longer had a replacement available. Later I returned one that konked out after 6+ years, and I just returned it for a 15% prorated return, although the cost was something like $55. I got about much back because they also returned the core fee that I had never cashed in.
