The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk O.T. Battery Life

Got a question about the life of a battery. My wife's Honda Accord is about 5 1/2 years old with 105,000 miles. I am still on the original battery. How long should I expect it to last?

Thomas,I see you live in my neck of the woods.With our winters here I would say you are lucky to have gotten that much use out of a battery.I would take the car to a good service center and have the battery checked.If its starting to look weak,replace it.Just my 2 cents.

A good battery that is well maintained could last as long as 6 years... typically they last 5 years...

Get another good one, ie.. a Sears Diehard...

The carparts stores sell cheap batteries with great warrantees, and I can guarantee that you will need to use it, as the cheap batteries usually last 2 or 3 years at best (AVERAGE).

dale937 has some good advice thomas.

I average about 7 years on a battery in my vehicles and I live in a colder climate than you during winter. It depends on how you use your vehicle and how well you keep the battery charged. I have a 10 year old battery in an old truck at the lake. It, and the battery in my boat get a full charge prior to close up in the fall. They are just fine come spring. The ATV is ten years old now and I don't expect that little battery will have survived this winter---we'll see.

If you leave the lights on, and the car not running for long periods, then only drive short distances, the battery won't last as long as one that gets a good charge up all the time.

That's my experience going back many years. Others will tell you differently, maybe, according to what they experience.

Cheers, George

If you get more then 5 years out of a battery you are doing good. The average life of a battery in a car is 3-5 years. I would expect this to turn into 2 -4 year average as the newer cars/truck of today are loaded with electonic gizmos.

When you buy your replacement battery(whenever that is) Make sure that you buy as many CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) as you can. Typically the top of the line (depending on Case size) is 750 to 900 amps. Some are even hitting 1000.

Here is another tip for you. Every 12 volt battery has 6 cells. Each cell produces 2.1 volts or more. A fully charged battery should have at least 12.5 volts or more. Get yourself a digital Volt ohm meter (Big box stores have them for under $20.00) and check your batter with the ignition off. Six Volt batters have 3 cells and should be 6.3 volts or more.