Just bought first spare part for car.

I got my wife’s cars inspected today.

To “celebrate” it, I took it to battery retailer to test the car battery.
It appeared to be pretty weak, at age of almost 11years. (test, change to upgraded larger brand name: ~100USD)

We have owned it only a month or two so I looked again for service book.
This seems to be the first failed spare part.

Well over 10 years, 130’000miles.

Maybe this is everyday stuff for some, but I got to admit I was surprised!

Don't wait. Trade in time is now for a new car.

After a month of ownership?

This year, I replaced the original battery on my 03 Honda Civic. I am the only owner and I’ve yet to do anything but routine maintenance. Good car - I’ll probably try to keep it running for another 10 years.

Did I understood well?

The battery lasted 11 years???

In my cases, the batteries only last 4-7 years to me. 4-5 years max is normal… but 11 years!! Impressive

Yes, especially in Finland. I have older car and no Webasto or any of those and still my batteries usually last only 4-5 years.

No way I’m going to sell this one!

Not perfect but damn good for it’s age and mileage.

The original was Toyotas genuine 45Ah. My other car eats a batt every 4-5 years, 100Ah…

Hmm, I have had serious car fewer for weeks for 06> diesel Honda Accord…

Hey, Cheap Thrills - you certainly have more luck with cars than you do with some recent flashlight purchases :wink:

My car goes in for it’s annual service and certification tomorrow. Still on it’s first battery, after 10 years, but I’ve noticed it struggling in the cold recently - so I’ll change it (the car) in the spring. This annual service is the only maintenance it gets. Well, I clean ice off the windscreen sometimes.

It’s a bit of a lottery with car batteries, heat and vibration are real killers, mine last around 5-7 years on average, which I think is ace considering how hot it gets under the bonnet with a nice turbo radiating all the heat, that apart it eats plugs at £40 a set, but only oil/filters apart from that and of course tires every 3000 miles ha ha!!

11 years on a car battery is very very impressive. i am on my 3rd one on a year 2000 honda

Go for it! My son bought one of those in the beginning of this year and has been very happy with it.

[Always happy to enable. Be it flashlights or cars..]

Clearly ya’ll are european since we don’t drive wimpy diesel cars over on this side, no way Honda’s going to offer them anytime soon :C.

I drive a VW ’99 mk4 Jetta TDI (Or Bora for those internationally) since many of the “American”/Domestic cars here are just junk. It’s going on 160,000 now with no severe problems other than the HPFP that needed replaced awhile ago due to neglect (Though it might need new glow plugs this winter, they’ve never been replaced :O).

Rust hasn’t been much of an issue for us with it, surprising since the grime that gets sprayed on our roads is just terribly corrosive, it’s like raw salt to the paint! Compared to the ’05 Chrysler minivan it’s holding up really well, those things just rust like crazy; heck it’s 6 years newer and the rockers are dissolving! I’ll need to grind it all down and re-coat it this summer, shame since these things really should be done at the factory.

I still want a little Ford Diesel, if they would just start selling them here and make them reasonably well. Even if fuel prices are low it’s nice not having to fill up all the time or to be able to do most short trips (500’ish mi) on around 13 gallons. That’s not the best millage, but heck I don’t know anyone (Save other TDI owners) that get close to it.

Batteries have lasted a lot longer on the Diesel too even though the current one is junk (Undersized, makes it tricky to start in winter); could be that it doesn’t get as scorching hot as the gas engines. Just had one die too about a month ago, it came with the vehicle and spewed acid everywhere when it went too |( …

Check your water level, it’s an easy way to keep from frying your cells (Something that I really should have done a long time ago). Torches work well for seeing water level too so there shouldn’t be any excuses around these parts ;).

Mazda says they're bringing a diesel car here.

Hmm…
I checked a couple last week. One had summer grade diesel in it and did not start.
The other one had duplicate license plate registrations (meaning, it has been crashed at some point). Worked well, drove well, no noises, all gadgets worked.
It had taken the hit to rear door - rear wheel area. I was too worried about the wheel carriage, all was painted and fixed well though.
Just rather not have one that has been repaired heavily… Might take that nasty rust at some point!

Two days I have been eyeing on one at 200miles away, this evening I checked it and it was sold! Grrr…

About those Accords:
I have heard mostly good things. One of my friends sharing rides to work drives one, no part changes so far and over 100’000 miles on it.
Only thing that worries me a bit is that VSA module. If it fries, it is going to be almost 3000$ worth of repair.
Pretty penny in a car costing around 15’000$.

I have found that high cranking amp batteries do not last as long as “standard” batteries. They have thinner plates and more of them to get greater surface area for more amps. Those thinner plates degrade sooner and that type of battery is more sensitive to a deep discharge. In other words, if you leave the lights on and run the battery down, you can pretty much kiss it goodbye. On the other hand, a deep cycle battery (I know, I have tried them) do not last long in a car as they are made with fewer, but thicker plates, because the plates heat up and warp in highe current situations (engine cranking). I have found that the best battery for me, is to buy a middle of the road battery in the largest physical size that the battery carrier will hold. Do not allow them to install anything smaller than that.

I think I just went for it…
Will post pics probably before christmas :wink:

It’s really unusual for “modern” car batteries to live that long, especially as most of them are “no maintenance” and offer no way to check/add destilled water. Funny how progress works, in our former country yugoslavia factory of lead acid batteries “Trepca” (now part of Kosovo) readily produced car batteries that lasted 10+ years without problem even in harsh conditions. Perhaps this was due to the fact that notty germans (hermann goring company) produced U-boat batteries there during ww2 :zipper_mouth_face:

I’ve had similar results with 1997 Geo (Toyota) Prizm w/ 1.6 L. Now over 270,000 miles (430,000 km)! I do the basic maintenance, and have had minimal repair.

If yours is similar, perhaps Corolla, watch 2 things. Replace timing belt at least every 100,000 miles. On mine a broken timing belt will destroy the valves - est $2000-3000 repair. Second, watch the differential fluid. Again, it is an expensive repair. It is a separate sump from the tranny with both manual and auto. Even dealership had trouble checking mine. (Reminder to self - I better check mine!)

Up here we can see –30 F (–34 C) in winter and 100 F (38 C), so I just put second new battery in, just for safety.

Clearly ya’ll are european since we don’t drive wimpy diesel cars over on this side, no way Honda’s going to offer them anytime soon :C.

Not all of us, I love diesels, but would never own one.
I drive a real petrol head car, Ford Sierra Sapphire(sedan) Cosworth, 150 mph 0-60 5.8 as standard from it’s turbo 2L engine, at 204bhp, not bad as they came out in 1986, but EASILY tuneable, best ones well over 1000bhp from 2L, mines only 400bhp, last engine did 200K miles before tear down, even the old thrusts are in the new engine and only 4 thou end float after 200K miles, can still get 40mpg on a run, but is on aftermarket ecu, and been mapped.

Got it after christmas but still no pics :bigsmile:

Took it first for paintjob, some marks inside the mudguard. Next to the corrosion prevention treatment.
Honda´s seem to be pretty easy to gain rust

Do European auto batteries have a shipped date code? Ten years seems like a long time :slight_smile: . USA batteries have a date code somewhere on the battery case. See:

http://www.allpar.com/fix/batteries.html

or

http://www.allbatterycenter.com/cs_eStore/content/resources/pdf/How_old_is_your_battery.pdf