OEM battery life expectancy

GerryL · Feb 16, 2013

Our Acadia battery died at 5 years. Thats been pretty typical of OEM batteries in my experience whether they come from the US, Germany or Japan.

kidsenclave · Feb 16, 2013

MRBUICK said:
The battery was dead in my 1990 Cadillac Brougham after not being started for 4 weeks in a heated garage.
The NAPA battery in it had a date code of 2000. I was quite amazed that a battery lasted 13 years.
(I have owned this car for only 2 years)
With the new battery I was amazed how fast it cranks!

MRBUICK

My battery in the GTO is from 2006. I still can let that sit a month or two without starting and it will still start without charging the battery, assuming it's not too cold. I usually start it up periodically during the winter, but last year didn't at all. This year, only once since I stopped driving it in the fall, and it cranked up just fine. I'm assuming I'm on borrowed time with that, so I may replace it this summer. Also want to replace the starter...I think that has a few issues. Those two things should make it crank real fast.

MRBUICK: I think you would be a good one to ask this. I'm toying with the idea that after we are done with the Enclave, probably in 2018, for my daily driver I'm thinking of getting another old car, not too nice, but nice enough to be driven every day, but without all the electronics the current cars have. Then, we would just have one newer modern car for longer trips. Not sure if this is a wise idea, but I'm thinking of something like a 76 or 77 Cutlass, or 78-87 Grand Prix...maybe Cutlass in those years as well. However, I'm wondering just how good a car those would be in winter driving, and/or whether putting them to that use (after a vehicle I would buy would most likely be one that's been kept nice over the years). Another choice could be one of the older FWD GM's, like the early to mid 80's Riviera, or the older Toronados/Eldorados. Just something to think about. Would save us some cash if I could get something in the low to mid teens.

mrbuick · Feb 17, 2013

The biggest issue might be that you could not insure it for what it is really worth.
A daily driver insurance company like State Farm or Allstate would value a 30 year old car next to nothing.
An antique insurance company like Hagerty would NOT let you use it for a daily driver.
Putting that issue aside, to get an uncomplicated yet modern and reliable driver for not a great sum, 4 door sedans from the 60's or 70's are available for not a lot of money. Once you look at 2-doors like a Cutlass or Grand Prix, the price goes up. Sticking with common brands like Chevy or Ford would almost guarantee availability on mechanical parts.
The trouble with many late 70's or 80's cars is that they are too old, but not old enough, meaning too old for OEM parts, and the aftermarket has not really embraced these cars for replacement parts.

Have fun in your search.

MRB

john 070 · Feb 17, 2013

GerryL said:
Our Acadia battery died at 5 years. Thats been pretty typical of OEM batteries in my experience whether they come from the US, Germany or Japan.

It boils down to usage, however, it does stand to reason NO mfg. plans on replacing the battery under the mfg. warranty, so many OEM will go longer than 4 yrs. In my BMW, the battery is a 94R which is physically huge. The RC is 160, and the CCA over 800. To throw such a battery away every 4 yrs. is unnecessary. I replaced mine after 5, load tested the old one which was fine, and it's now been servicing an Audi A6 for 1 1/2 yrs.

imho we've become a comfortable society where we have the $$$$ to replace things whether they need it or not. That's good and bad. I'm sure folks who hit up pawn shops for cash wouldn't throw away things before the end of their useful lives.....

rtolhurst · Oct 27, 2013

Battery was dead this morning. I carry a booster battery all the time for emergencies and it has come in handy a number of times, either because I did something to run down the battery or I could help someone else. Anyway, I fired up the 'clave and had the battery checked; it would not handle much of a load- gonzo! Replaced it; it lasted about 5 years from the vehicle build date and 151,000 km (about 94,000 miles). About normal from what I've read.

rockyp · Oct 27, 2013

70 months - 134,000 miles - and I am still on my original battery. No problems, yet...

tngeebee · Oct 27, 2013

Having been in aircraft maintenance for over 45 years I replace the battery every 4 years. It's called preventive maintenance.

GoldEnclave · Oct 27, 2013

silverfox said:
Battery was dead this morning. I carry a booster battery all the time for emergencies and it has come in handy a number of times, either because I did something to run down the battery or I could help someone else. Anyway, I fired up the 'clave and had the battery checked; it would not handle much of a load- gonzo! Replaced it; it lasted about 5 years from the vehicle build date and 151,000 km (about 94,000 miles). About normal from what I've read.

Were there any warning signs that the battery was going before the fateful no-start event? I hope that there would be some degree of warning because my 2006 Tribeca and 2008 Enclave have their factory batteries, which are 7 1/3 and 6 years old, respectively.

The only car battery that died and stranded me was the 5 year old factory battery in my 1998 Olds Intrigue. That was my fault since I ignored about 3 months of warning signs, which included increasingly difficult start ups and noticeably reduced starting power on colder days.

BadAV · Oct 27, 2013

I count myself lucky with the Enclave. We got 6 years out of the OEM battery; my typical experience with the OEM Delco battery has been replacement at 2-1/2 years. Since we no longer have the Enclave it will now be someone else's headache when it's time to replace it.

GoldEnclave · Oct 27, 2013

You've typically gotten only about 2 1/2 years out of new AC Delco batteries?! That is terrible. :sosad:

kidsenclave · Oct 27, 2013

tngeebee said:
Having been in aircraft maintenance for over 45 years I replace the battery every 4 years. It's called preventive maintenance.

That seems very early to replace, but true...you should never get a dead battery using that time frame.

FWIW: Our Enclave original battery: 63 months, 33,800 miles
Our Bonneville original battery: 115 months, 58,800 miles

Not replacing either....wife wants to see how far we can go on the Bonneville, since someone at her work told her they are at 13 years on an original car battery. :shrug:

(my version of preventative maintenance....taking the battery jump box when we go out of town)

johnny772084 · Oct 28, 2013

OEM batteries has an average life span of between 3 to 5 years, but there are several factors that also changes this projection. Lead acid batteries like being full, meaning if you drive at least 20 minutes almost every time you crank it over, chances are it stays fully charged, if less, then you are subtracting months off battery life. If your battery had ever drained to a point where you have to jump start it, you are also taking a few months off. Under the best scenario, which is to keep the battery charged, and also check the level of the battery acid on a monthly basis, I had encountered an Interstate battery that lasted almost 6 years before the battery voltage went down to 12.3V, rendering replacement.

rtolhurst · Oct 28, 2013

GoldEnclave said:
Were there any warning signs that the battery was going before the fateful no-start event?

No warning, Gold. However, I had let it go dead a couple of times by leaving it parked too long (more than a week), which may reduce battery lifetime a little. I now put a trickle charger on it if it will be parked more than a week.

rbarrios · Oct 28, 2013

tngeebee said:
Having been in aircraft maintenance for over 45 years I replace the battery every 4 years. It's called preventive maintenance.

+1.
Im beginning my search...

BadAV · Oct 28, 2013

silverfox said:
No warning, Gold. However, I had let it go dead a couple of times by leaving it parked too long (more than a week), which may reduce battery lifetime a little. I now put a trickle charger on it if it will be parked more than a week.

My experience with batteries over the past 10 years or so is the same. I believe it is in large part due to the better ECM controls on today's cars. Cars start much easier today with the computer controlling fueling of the injectors, versus the carburetors of the "olden days". Cars tend to start much quicker so you don't have time to notice the starter turning over slowly, which is typically the first sign that a battery is starting to fail.

GoldEnclave · Oct 28, 2013

That's a great point, BadAV. :thumb:

dzs3fz · Oct 28, 2013

tngeebee said:
Having been in aircraft maintenance for over 45 years I replace the battery every 4 years. It's called preventive maintenance.

+1 Well put

minggoblue08 · Oct 30, 2013

It’s funny I just read this thread Monday after I had to get the Enclave jumped at the Pizza Hut Drive thru (HA) last Saturday. It started great until this a.m. I wasalready taking it in for my wife b/c the Airbag light was on yesterday and she didn't feel comfortable driving it especially with the kids with her. So she was taking my G8 today and I got to the dealer on my way into work. Tried to start her up and nothing. I jumped it and drove in. Just got a call from the dealer saying the battery was the cause. So here we go add me to the list, just over 5 yrs and 55K miles.

Those that have replaced their batteries did you go with another GM battery or go somewhere else. From what I can see dealer price is very close to Sears (Diehard) and others.

cfedor · Oct 30, 2013

I replaced the GM AC/Delco battery this past June with an Optima dry cell. It cost me around $164.00.

kidsenclave · Oct 30, 2013

cfedor said:
I replaced the GM AC/Delco battery this past June with an Optima dry cell. I cost me around $164.00.

Wow, that's what they cost for these? I will for sure not just be replacing my battery just because, for that price. I do agree with most of the posts saying that when a battery is drained too much over the course of ownership, that's what makes the difference. I also think that keeping things NOT plugged into the interior outlets for cell phones, etc....when the vehicle is not being driven will help as well. We almost never charge out phones in the car. And every time we use our portable DVD player for our daughters to use in the back seat we make sure it's unplugged immediately upon turning the vehicle off. But the biggest thing that was pointed out, vehicle needs to be driven a while....not these little short trips of starting a vehicle several times in a day.

We are entering winter....we shall see what that does to all of our scenarios. I'm hoping to not have to replace my Enclave battery in the 10 years I intend on keeping it. However, with the added electronics (including Onstar) that our Bonneville doesn't have....I'm less and less convinced that we will get 10 years out of the OEM battery. :-\

OEM battery life expectancy

GerryL

kidsenclave

mrbuick

john 070

rtolhurst

rockyp

tngeebee

GoldEnclave

BadAV

GoldEnclave

kidsenclave

johnny772084

rtolhurst

rbarrios

BadAV

GoldEnclave

dzs3fz

minggoblue08

cfedor

kidsenclave

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