Costco battery warranty

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
911
Location
California
Costco did carry the Kirkland battery which had a 100 month warranty. Free replacement in the beginning and pro-rated during the later portion of the warranty.

Costco then switched to the Interstate battery with a 42 month replacement warranty.

Now it appears as though Costco is shortening the warranty period to 36 months.
https://www.costco.com/automotive-batteries.html

I wonder if the battery warranty at Costco is getting shorter because the battery quality is worse than before?
 
I'm guessing they're seeing a fair amount of claims after 36 months and that will save them $$$. Or just the fact that 42 mos or 3.5 yrs is an odd number to have a warranty period. Plus it helps them out and is more in line with what the competition is doing.
 
Batteries aren't worse than before, it's the later model vehicles having a higher parasitic draw on the battery.
 
Spot on skyactiv. Too much extra draw on the car batteries. Nothing like cars were made 20 yrs ago. Much less draw on those cars and trucks back then.
 
Do they use East Penn as their manufacturer? I think O'Reillys has a 3 year no pro rate on their East Penn Batteries at least the extreme series. WM used to have pro rated after the free replacement with what I believe were made by Johnson Controls. Now WM has the 3 year non pro rated on their Max batteries. I wonder if it is due to their suppliers warranty.
 
Yes, high parasitic draws and ever smaller physical size means poorer life.

The entire industry has changed their warranty structure, not just Costco.
 
I have a Kirkland battery in my Jeep. Dated 2011 and still going strong. I had it load tested last month.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I'm guessing they're seeing a fair amount of claims after 36 months and that will save them $$$. Or just the fact that 42 mos or 3.5 yrs is an odd number to have a warranty period. Plus it helps them out and is more in line with what the competition is doing.


This.

It will help cut down on the number of claims, legitimate and not.

I was told they rely on the honor system, and don't require testing on returns like other sellers. They just refund your money, and you're free to buy another, or go on your way.

Perfectly ripe for abuse, like their old electronics return policy before they instituted a 90-day period.

After shortening the warranty, the next step would be to implement a testing process, but I doubt that's something they want to do.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Batteries aren't worse than before, it's the later model vehicles having a higher parasitic draw on the battery.


That's what I was thinking.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Batteries aren't worse than before, it's the later model vehicles having a higher parasitic draw on the battery.


That's what I was thinking.


+1
 
Last fall I bought one of the Interstate Batteries with the 42 month warranty because mine was 5 years old and winter was just around the corner here in MN. I'm making a Costco run tomorrow and I'll have to check with them to see if I still have the 42 month warranty or not.
 
Originally Posted By: oilstudent24
Do they use East Penn as their manufacturer? I think O'Reillys has a 3 year no pro rate on their East Penn Batteries at least the extreme series. WM used to have pro rated after the free replacement with what I believe were made by Johnson Controls. Now WM has the 3 year non pro rated on their Max batteries. I wonder if it is due to their suppliers warranty.


Maxx batteries are 3 year replace/2 year pro-rate.


Link
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Spot on skyactiv. Too much extra draw on the car batteries. Nothing like cars were made 20 yrs ago. Much less draw on those cars and trucks back then.

I'm even thinking that the parasitic draw may get worse the older the car gets. Today my dad called me up and asked if I could help him with his car that wouldn't start. I couldn't find my newer 1.5A maintainer which my even my dad could figure out how to use, so I brought my 12A charger, which also displays the voltage before a charging mode is selected. The lights were working as was the door chime. I tried starting it and got that typical clicking sound. I let it charge at 12A for an hour and tried starting it.

It was about one month since they hadn't used the car. They had a new AAA (East Penn I believe) 24F battery installed less than a year ago. My folks barely drive that car now, but sometimes need it. I went out and got the cheapest non Harbor Freight maintainer I could find. A few years back I gave them a $5 Harbor Freight maintainer, but I'm not sure I trust it to not burn the house down. The maintainer I got them is so simple I think my dad would have a hard time messing it up. Anything with buttons or switches would completely confuse him.

A relative has an older car that's driven maybe once every week or two. Even with a new battery it won't start after a week, and they don't feel like diagnosing the issue. They just bought a maintainer and leave it connected until needed.
 
Originally Posted By: Carmudgeon
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I'm guessing they're seeing a fair amount of claims after 36 months and that will save them $$$. Or just the fact that 42 mos or 3.5 yrs is an odd number to have a warranty period. Plus it helps them out and is more in line with what the competition is doing.


This.

It will help cut down on the number of claims, legitimate and not.

I was told they rely on the honor system, and don't require testing on returns like other sellers. They just refund your money, and you're free to buy another, or go on your way.

Perfectly ripe for abuse, like their old electronics return policy before they instituted a 90-day period.

After shortening the warranty, the next step would be to implement a testing process, but I doubt that's something they want to do.

Well - I returned one of the older Kirkland Signature JCI batteries from my wife's Civic after she had left the map lights on one too many times. It showed no signs of distress, but it was definitely in bad shape. They took it no questions asked after less than 3 years. I would have gotten another one, but since then (about 2010) I've never seen a Group 51R at Costco. I bought a Die Hard WeatherHandler for about $55, even though the warranty wasn't as generous as Costco. It was weird too. It was an online-only pickup price, and for a "North" version. The "South" version was selling for maybe $90. When I got there they told me there was no different version and gave me what they had. I've had to jump it a few times since, but it's still strong. I did replace the map and dome lights with LEDs, and I do charge up the battery regularly with an external charger since it's used on short trips.

I've returned my car's Kirkland Signature battery after less than 8 years. I got 15% of my original purchase price refunded, but they also gave me the core fee back since their records showed that I never returned an old battery.
 
Sounds like the relative's problem is not the battery. Maybe not getting batteries that are properly charged to begin with or not enough cranking amps to start the car to begin with, and or the starter just isn't in good working order. My step fathers 95 Toyota Avalon has a battery that lasts 4 years. That car doesn't have remotely the same amount of electronics has my car has in it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Sounds like the relative's problem is not the battery. Maybe not getting batteries that are properly charged to begin with or not enough cranking amps to start the car to begin with, and or the starter just isn't in good working order. My step fathers 95 Toyota Avalon has a battery that lasts 4 years. That car doesn't have remotely the same amount of electronics has my car has in it.

My parents did regularly drive that car for a while, but haven't recently because of an issue with one car door and their garage door. However, I've helped them by putting on a maintainer while they were on vacation and maybe driving it around a bit. I'm pretty sure that car was at least close to being fully charged the last time they parked it. Over the years they've come to me looking for help when they couldn't start their car. They'll typically let me have one of their cars when they're on vacation so it gets used.

That car doesn't necessarily have a boatload of electronics, but even the new ones shouldn't suck a whole lot when idle. Put everything in a low-current standby state and save everything to some sort of nonvolatile memory until turned on. However, even their 2001 Camry has remote keyless entry. I'd think the big thing about that my dad got suckered into getting a car with a rather useless aftermarket alarm that patches into the remote. It can also be disarmed with a key, although locking the door then trying to start it will set off the alarm. That thing probably sucks enough standby current to prevent it from starting after a month.
 
This morning I stopped at Costco and all of the batteries are marked with a 42 month warranty which it was last fall when I bought one. I asked the service tech if she knew if the warranty was changing from 42 to 36 months and she said they have not heard a thing. So I'm guessing its probably in the process of going to the 36 month warranty because it is listed as 36 months on their web site and maybe Costco is a little slow on informing their service techs.
 
Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Any and all batteries will only last < 48 mo, no point discussing warranty.

Where? The DieHard Silver (turns out it wasn't a WeatherHandler) on my wife's car has been strong for nearly 7 years, even after needing multiple jumps and/or charging. I think I topped off the water soon after I bought it, but never since. However, we live in a mild climate with few temperature extremes.

Places with cold winters and hot summers must be tough on batteries. You buy a battery that starts better in cold temps, but then have to deal with hot summer temps that kill a battery with thinner plates.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top