Shortest battery life ever?

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
08/08/2017 at 09:41 • Filed to: None

Sitting at Honda, 2 hours into my “appointment” only to learn the OE battery (which recently failed us on a road trip) is faulty. 2 years and 8 months old, but because the car has 36,800 miles on it, Honda has no leeway.

Never mind that almost every other aftermarket battery has a 3-year, no-questions replacement plan.

This is just “Strike 17" against Honda for me, so it’s not like I was ever coming back to the brand (or this dealer). Just venting at a seeming lack of easy customer service gestures.

If we liked the car, maintenance can feel like a labor of love. Since this is the first car for either of us that we’ve actively disliked in 20 years, it just feels like pain.

DISCUSSION (21)

Robert Belvin > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 09:47

What brand of battery is it? I recently had a battery that was a year old go out, with no surface charge or anything. Same with my father in law and a friend of mine. I’ve heard that most batteries are made by one of a few companies and rebranded, I think there was a bad batch a while ago

Ash78, voting early and often > Robert Belvin
08/08/2017 at 09:48

Honda OE, not sure of the manufacturer. Oddly enough, my Advance Auto battery in my car is failing right now, as well. About 3 years and a month old, so also just barely past warranty.

Robert Belvin > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 09:52

Sounds like it might be a planned obsolescence thing, like how they’re making LED lightbulbs with intentionally limited lifespans now. Hard to make money if people only buy your product once, or at least once every decade

EL_ULY > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 09:55

2-3 months on a couple DB11's at work.

850cca Varta (bad cell)

They now have the classic Interstate battery with Aston brand stickers. Our Mercedes, Lotus and Volvo sides also have the same Interstate batteries with brand “OE” stickers on them.

Those “dealer OE” batteries also very seldom last over 3 years, especially on Volvo even if they are newer style AGM batteries.

Boxer_4 > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 09:57

My mother’s ‘15 Forester’s battery (OEM battery, Panasonic brand if I recall) failed a load test during its last oil change. Luckily it was still under warranty (2.5 years and 19k miles), but it’s still annoying.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 09:59

The Odyssey?

You should write a note to American Honda and complain about that. They may be able to away the dealer by backing them in your warranty endeavors

bhtooefr > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 10:09

Unfortunately, a lot of modern cars hammer their 12 volt batteries with heavy computer loads. Sloppy coding ends up subverting the power management features of their processors, and requires much higher performance (and power consumption) processors in the first place.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 10:10

That sucks, a good dealer can make all the difference sometimes. My father had a radiator fail on his car just over 1,000 miles outside of warranty. They went back in and edited his last service(at something like 98k miles) and added that they found a small leak in the radiator so they could fix it under warranty. They’ve also performed a free replacement of a catalytic converter that he had bought from them but installed himself. And when I say replacement, I mean they took the car back in the garage and the dealer replaced the cat for him free of charge.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 10:16

That’s about what I got out the OE battery when I had the Fit.

McMike > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 10:19

I have never been impressed with the batteries (or tires) that come with a new car.

I have a theory that they are of a little lower quaility so they could save $20 per car. I will continue to believe that until I get an OEM battery to last more than five years.

functionoverfashion > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 10:19

That is weak. I worked at a Honda marine dealer for a while, and Honda was pretty good about extending warranty to items that failed just outside of the normal warranty parameters. At least in our experience...

Ash78, voting early and often > bhtooefr
08/08/2017 at 10:23

Plus big, heavy dual sliding power doors and liftgate that run from the battery (ironically, the hood has a manual prop rod).

Ash78, voting early and often > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
08/08/2017 at 10:25

Yup...it’s not enough to get my blood boiling, I’m just new to this whole “warranty” thing. The amount of time people spend sitting in a dealership waiting for basic service is amazing to me. This would have been a 10-minute DIY job if I had known the warranty wouldn’t take care of it...

fintail > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 10:33

When I sold my E55, the car was over 11 years old, still had the original batttery, no kidding. Gentle climates help a lot.

I average 6-7 years in the fintail, which has a generator.

BLCKSTRM > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 11:32

I’ve helped several friends with battery trouble recently, and yup, the last one was a ‘14 Odyssey - so right around 3 years old.

I’d start suspecting Honda, but that other comment about sloppy coding / computers kinda makes sense.

I just replaced the OE battery in my M3 - it was 8 YEARS old. Not that BMW actually made the battery, but sheesh - they definitely aren’t making something like they used to.

Ash78, voting early and often > BLCKSTRM
08/08/2017 at 11:36

I usually replace all my batteries at 5 years preventively (since catastrophic battery failure sucks, especially on the road or in rural areas), but before that I could get 7-8 years out of most of them. It’s just been weird replacing two in a row at the 3-year mark. Two completely different cars, both batteries with one bad cell.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 13:04

That’s cause they don’t want you open the hood silly.

Ash78, voting early and often > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
08/08/2017 at 13:16

My exact joke a while back — Honda knows where their customer go, and under the hood isn’t one of those places :D

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Ash78, voting early and often
08/08/2017 at 13:54

My audi doesn’t even have any symbol for the hood release, it’s just a black tab under the dash.

Ash78, voting early and often > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
08/08/2017 at 13:56

The Honda is the same. The only labeled lever there is the fuel filler door release. The hood release is literally hidden from view.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Ash78, voting early and often
08/11/2017 at 00:39

I know my v6 accord eats batteries. Apparently all v6 Hondas do.

I’m really losing love for my Accord lately too. It’s in the shop right now with weird ac issues