12 years from original battery

[Dwain G.]

My daughter bought a new Fusion in 2006. I now has 39,000 miles on it. So it sits a lot. Just last week the original battery failed to start the car. Online shopping for the best battery deal; quality, price, etc. led me back to the Ford dealer. Got an 84 mo. battery for $100. Could have got a 100 mo. battery for $30 more, but I don't think she will have the car that long. And yes, I know about pro-rating.
After a recharge and two load tests the old battery held at the minimum passing voltage so I kept it for garage use.

[63t-cab]

Can't say I ever had a Battery last nearly that long,nice to get your Money's worth. man with only 39,000 miles the Car isn't even broken in yet

[ddub]

I have heard, and believe it may be possible that the only difference in say the 84 month battery and the 100 month is the length of the guarantee and the price. They are really the same battery. Anyone else hear that or know that it is false?

[christophe]

Hello Dwain,
I hope you are in good shape and enjoying the last days of 2017.
When I inherited the Citroën BX (Sorry, I know this car is almost unheard of in the States!) of my grandfather in 2003, I noticed the battery has been changed the year before. It is still on the car after more than 15 years! It had to take a recharge recently, but it was entirely my fault as I forgot to unhook the cables the last time I used it and the clock drained it slowly.
Nice day to all.

[BobPalma]

They can last a long time, Dwain: The OEM battery from my 2002 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, built in June 2002, is still doing well in my '64 Daytona convertible.

About five years ago, I got a $25 off $100 purchase e-mail from AutoZone, so I took a dead battery core from stock and bought the best one they had in a Group 72, I think it is, for the Dakota. A Group 72 just barely fits in a 1964 Studebaker.

When I bought the Daytona in 2007, it had a 2-YO battery in it. That battery died shortly after I got the new battery for the Dakota, so I put the Dakota's OEM battery in the Daytona convertible. It's still doing fine five years later; I haven't even had to charge it!

Merry Christmas to all. BP

[t walgamuth]

I got over 11 years on the factory batteries on the 03 Dodge cummins. One was weak at that point and I changed both as a precaution. I was astonished when I realized how old they were.

[53k]

When the original battery in my '64 Daytona Wagonaire died at just over three years I bought a Montgomery-Ward battery and it lasted through the mid-'80s (sort of).
In the summer of 1967 as we were coming across country from California to Kansas we were visiting interesting sites enroute. We stopped at Mesa Verde National Park which is way far from anything in Colorado. When we got in the car to leave, the battery was dead. Fortunately, with a stick and overdrive and I was parked where I could roll the car a little down hill, so the car started right up at maybe 10 mph. We got on the highway headed for Durango, Colorado probably 25 miles. After driving behind a sheep herd on the highway for several miles we made it to Durango. The first thing I saw was a Montgomery Ward store with a big sign in the window "Lifetime Battery- $24.95". That made the decision easy. Anyhow, I kept getting new Montgomery-Ward batteries every few years for a LONG time.

[Buzzard]

My 1996 Dodge Ram 1 ton Duallie V10 original Chryco battery lasted until 2011. I think the only reason it failed was that thieves tried to steal the truck and upon failing(I had removed the starter relay) they left everything on for four months in the cold winter. I wonder what company produced the original for Chryco?
Bill

[greyben]

My Dodge Dakota purchased in Dec 2004 is still going strong on the original battery. Every fall for the last several years I have considered replacing it, but then decided to get one more year out of it.

[wittsend]

Similar to you daughter's car my son bought a 1996 Honda Civic in in 2011 with 18,000 miles on it. And two years prior it only had 1,500 miles. Still having its original battery it eventually lasted 14 years. While the car ran up 16,000 miles from 2009 to 2011 the original purchaser drove all of 1,500 miles over 15 years. We were told she literally drove the car one mile to the store each week.

What I find interesting is that it seems to fly in the face of often stated reasons for longevity. While yes, the number of starts was minimal the recharge time seems lacking each and every week. Yet the battery solder on for 14 years. 5-7 years seems average for a battery and in a lot of cases I have gotten closer to 10 years (on collector cars) using the $6 Harbor Freight float charger. BTW was keeping her old battery worth while. At least here in So. Cal. a battery core charge is $15. Man, when I think about it the "core" batteries I have sitting around seem one of my greatest appreciating assets. Wasn't all that long ago they were only worth $8.

[Dwain G.]

To answer a couple questions, I think the 100 month battery does have a little higher amp hour ratings. The free replacement for the 100 mo. is 3 years, the 84 mo. is half that.
The core charge at the Ford dealer here was also $15, but they accepted an old side post battery I had.

[Jeff_H]

Still have the original battery in my 2004 f150 "heritage" pickup purchased in Oct of 2003. As of a few weeks ago when I last drove it, it was OK. Truck has only something like 68k miles on it though. I had some maintenance work done at the dealer I think 2-3yrs ago and they'd tested the battery and told me it was "weak" (wanting to sell me a new one no doubt). So far, cranking speed about the same as always. Curious to see how long it goes. Maybe I should have a spare w/tools in the truck for when the inevitable occurs, haha.

[Hallabutt]

I've mentioned this before but.... 1996 the 46lb, 6 V bat in my 1931, 80R failed(after 6yrs). It's under the passenger floorboard, what a pain to get out! Temporarily replaced it with a 16lb Optima. It turned the big straight eight over as well as the big Inter state, ever had. Upshot it's still in there 21 years later!

[Colgate Studebaker]

When I was a kid one of my neighbors did the routine maintenance on a '57 T-bird that was his company owners car. I remember several times watching him remove the battery and dump out the electrolite. He then "washed" the inside of the battery with clear water and then refilled the battery with the electrolite. If it needed to be topped off he used fresh electrolite. I don't know how many years he did this and still had the original battery in it, but when the company owner passed away he was sold the car for $1.00 and he had it till his death. I don't know how long the original battery lasted but I'd venture a guess it was more than 25, as he had serviced it for nearly 50 years at his death. Wish I knew where the car is now. Bill

[Jeff_H]

Thought I would update this...

I had to put the charger on the F150 in January when I had to get it out of the garage to make room for something else. I was figuring the end was in sight for that 14yr old battery. I hadn't started or driven the truck all winter and noted a few weeks ago the dome light would not come on. Last weekend I put the charger on for a few hours and was able to restore the dome light working but it never took a lot of charging current. Summer season is approaching finally and I need the truck to be reliable for road trips.

So, last night I pulled out the OEM 14-1/2 yr old battery and tried charging it some more. It would not take much current. I decided to call it and found out where I could get the same part number Motorcraft battery (for an exact fit) and picked one up this morning. The core charges on batteries sure have gone up!!! It would have been $18 if I had't had the old one in the car to trade in. There are some cosmetic differences in the replacement from the original that would be points off on a concourse show, haha.

The cable clamps were pretty crusty and took a while to clean up. The negative had never been off since some Ford line worker tightened it down in 2003. I had the positive one off in 2014 once so that one not exactly exercised either, haha.

Somehow I doubt this one goes for 14yrs though.