Battery warranties are pretty much a scam, the warranty is figured for just a little longer than the battery is estimated to live. They want you to bring it back a month or 2 before the warranty expires, that way they'll replace it under warranty, but pro-rated, you end up getting 2 months off the full cost of a new battery, which isn't much.
Which reminds me, I need to go get the battery out of the travel trailer and bring home and put it on the charger, get ready for the weekend. I hope it'll take a charge!
The OEM battery in my OT Malibu lasted me 7 years. Pep Boys had a sale, 33% off but it still ran me a c-note. The brand was Champion, as in spark plugs. For my Ford, my buddy is an Exide dealer and I got it for $75 out the door. If an old car sits for more than a week, I'd go with keeping a battery tender on it.
Years ago when I had my shop. I asked the interstate salesman what the difference was between a 3 year and a 5 year battery. He said, 25 dollars. The insides are the same. You’re just paying more for the warranty. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Somebody here, I think it was, said their son worked at a battery manufacturer as a summer job between school semesters, and he said they measured the battery voltage as they came off the line and those with the highest open circuit voltage got the longest warranty. No difference internally. That might not be true for every manufacturer, one thing the really big retailers have is negotiating power, because they buy in huge quantities. It might be WalMart for example has a battery made to a lower price point even though it's the same stock number as one bought elsewhere. For all that I've never warrantied a battery in my life. When they die I go buy another one. Maybe if it failed after a couple months that would be different, never had problems. They seem to last 5 to 8 years around here roughly.
Rural King batteries seem to be good and are a decent price. Bought one for my coupe couple of months ago with 700 cca. Cost $70 with a core plus tax. Two year free replacement.
I run optima batteries in the convertible. The first one lasted 12 years before it died. They are expensive, but I sure can’t complain about them
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