Bill Faure

Yesterday I washed my car. As I was drying it I was playing a CD. It took the ususal 10 to 15 minutes to dry the car, but when I was finished and went to pull the car into the garage the battery was dead. After I let the car sit for a couple of hours with all the power off it started, but just barely. After it started I let it run for a couple of minutes and now it seems to be fine. However, the green indicator is at the bottom of the tube. Shouldn't the green indicator be at the top of the tube? I can't remember? Has anyone else with a 01 used up their battery yet? I bought the car in July of 00. It's not quite 3 years old. Thanks!

CO-CL-S

I got mine in June of '00, and haven't noticed any battery problems. Then again I haven't left the radio on for long periods of time, but I have left the headlights on (they stay on if you leave the keys in the ignition) for upto an hour within the last couple of months and everyting was OK..

Fabvsix

Bill,
I bought mine in May of 2000 and mine did exactly the same as you two weeks ago.
Results: Got new battery. My shop guy coudln't believe that the OEM battery lasted as long as it did ! I ended up buying a Interstate battery !
Its time to replace our batteries guys !

Scrib

When I did my oil change at 7500 miles, I checked the batery and noticed that the reservoirs were down SLIGHTLY. At 7500 miles I didn't think it'd be, albeit not that bad, but it was down.

Went into the house, grabbed some distilled water and filled them back up.

Bill Faure

Thanks for the feedback! Especially the part about what the shop guy said. A battery life of less than 3 years isn't very good! The motorcraft battery in my old Tbird SC went 5 years. And that was turning a supercharger in addition to the engine. Oh well . . ... Die Hard here I come.

Scooter

just over 2.5 year lifespan sux ballz...i expect my battery to last at least 4 years, altho cold-weather starts lately up here do take a nasty toll on battery life

Slimey

I think the aftermarket for batteries is many times superior then the OEM. I've never known/owned a car that had really good battery longevity on its OEM battery. Three years is all I'd ever expect.

I'll probably will prophylactically change my battery at 2 1/2 - 3 years (if it lasts that long) for a good aftermarket so I don't have to go through the woes of trying to resurrect a dead or dying battery.

Bill Faure

I transplanted the OEM battery with a Die Hard Gold. Sears' replacement battery is physically smaller than OEM. Consequently the battery cover doesn't fit. I had to cut larger wire holes into the cover. Of course now the charge status window in the cover looks down into nothing.

Scooter

wish the battery was warranty-covered like the tranny, to 100K

Bill Faure

There is no reason why it couldn't be. I have a heavy duty marine battery in my boat that has lasted 10 years. I think they design car batteries to give up after so long so they can sell another one.

russianDude

after 2 years mine seems OK, average life should be 4-5 years...

Bill Faure

I could say the same for mine at 2 years. However, at 2.9 years it was not accepting a charge anymore.

Achance

I can't even leave the headlights on when I get gas because it will kill the battery. and it has being doing that for a couple of months now, but I'm just to stubborn to buy a new one. purchased 00 sept

Bill Faure

As with the rest of GM the quality of a given product is hit and miss. One battery might last 4 years and the next battery may only last 2.5 years. Off all the battery suppliers why in the world did Honda go to GM? I noticed they did that with OnStar too!