Replacement Batteries: Walmart Dropping Warranties

[Reatta Man]

Folks,

If you need a replacement battery for your Buick or any other car, please note with caution that Wal-Mart stores are DROPPING the prorated portion of their battery line.

Previoiusly, their batteries had a stated number of months, up to 96 months, with a 1, 2 or 3-year free replacement period, based upon the product you bought. After that, the replacement cost was prorated.

They have now dropped the prorated period, and now only cover their batteries for the free replacement period. So, the 96-month battery with a 3-year free replacement period is now a 36 month battery, period.

I just bought a Group 79 battery at Wally's that was less than half the cost of a dealer's battery ($77 at WM vs. $187) so I can live with the 3 year period. I know I won't have the car for anywhere near another 3 years, so I really don't care.

However, if I was buying a battery for a long-term daily driver, I would look elsewhere, regardless of the price.

Joe

[Guest my3buicks]

Over the years I have had superb service from Walmart batteries - in fact I just put one in my daily driver. It is fully guaranteed for 36 months, if past battery life I have had from their products is any indication, this battery will be around long after the 36 month warranty. And with the cost if not, I can easily afford another and have a fresh battery.

I really didn't think it was any big deal the other day when I picked up the new battery.

[Bhigdog]

Or you can buy one of the "correct" repro batteries for 3 times the price of a Wallie's battery with pretty much only 1/3 the life span............Bob

[Pete Phillips]

My experience with Wal-Mart batteries has been the complete opposite of Keith's. I have never, repeat, never had a Wal-Mart battery last until the end of its advertised service life. They are sorry batteries, in my experience, and I will never buy another one unless that is the only alternative--like if I'm stranded in a small town and they are the only place open on Sunday!

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

[NTX5467]

Several years ago, I bought two Group 24 batteries from WalMart. One for a car I was getting ready to revive and another one for another similar situation. The first one, I put in and it worked. I fully charged it to get ready, but never did much with it. The other, never-installed one was taken to the mechanic shop where the other car was. On that particular vehicle, the battery is contained in a plastic heat shield (which also has the windshield washer reservoir in it) AND is a pain to change. They installed it, charged it, and it would crank for a short time before it ran down, although it was of the correct size and capacity rating for the vehicle. More charging and similar results, so we got an auto supply battery for it and that reliably fixed it.

I'd already bought one for my GM daily-driver. It worked well, but started to get weak before the basic warranty was up. I got a normal OEM Delco for it.

As for their warranty documentation . . . using the sales receipt as documentation might need some review. The cash register receipts I received were HEAT PRINT paper, which means that the "printing" on them will disappear over time, rendering them UNREADABLE and worthless. Therefore, rather than tape them to the battery, as the sales clerks recommend (which is not a bad idea, in one respect as it keeps it with the battery), I might recommend you put it in a cool AND safe place you can find later. These are my observations and experiences in this area.

I tend to concur with Pete, they are good as a "filler" until something better can be afforded.

Perhaps, the difference in our "southern USA" experiences and Keith's "northern USA" experiences might be due to a different vendor serving that northern region?

I know that buying an OEM battery is expensive, but something from an OEM-level brand is usually a better deal in the long run. BUT some OEM brand batteries are not good for limited or ocassional-use vehicles, from my experiences over a good number of years. BUT all replacement brand batteries are inexpensive, like the Interstate I pulled out of my parents car when it started getting weak . . . after 12 years of service (I got another one to replace it as it was THAT particular OEM brand battery--not GM--which I'd not had good luck with in limited-use vehicles).

Just some thoughts . . . "Your experiences may vary."

NTX5467

[Reatta Man]

Willis has a good point about receipts.

I ALWAYS make a copy of a receipt I need for warranty work on a good laser copier (NOT an inkjet printer or copier). That copy that won't fade will save you a ton of money when you are using it for lifetime brake pads, shoes, etc.

As for the Wal-Mart batteries, I have had really good ones, ones that went dead a month before the free replacement period, and some that never came close. However, with them cancelling their prorated coverage, that tells me they know the batteries won't last as long as they cover them. So, it is time to find a new brand; dependability is more important to me than saving a few bucks.

Personally, I wish one of the mass marketers would consistently sell AC-Delco batteries. I've had very good luck with them and they consistently test well in the consumer mags, but I will NOT pay 3X the price from a GM dealer.

Joe

[Larry Schramm]

I agree with Reatta Man.

I also make a copy of every car part receipt with a warranty and staple the original receipt to the copy. It has saved me quite a bit of coin on lifetime warranty parts at many of the parts stores.

I also have a folder for each of my vehicles including trailers and keep all receipts together for each vehicle.

[Guest wildcat465]

Making a copy of the receipt is always a good idea. The old ones always fade out and become unreadable.

AC Delco does not make their own batteries any more which is a shame. They did last the longest. Notice the "green eye" is gone now?

I love Wal-Mart batteries. They are by far the most common battery on my core pile in the back of my parts store. Given me a lot of new customers.

[NTX5467]

I love Wal-Mart batteries. They are by far the most common battery on my core pile in the back of my parts store. Given me a lot of new customers.

I remember some service station owners who said similar things about the Sears DIE HARD batteries in the early 1970s. Most of them "died hard" several months prior to the end of the warranty period. Most were replaced with something else, by observation.

There are TWO levels of ACDelco batteries now. There's the "ACD" line which is the "aftermarket" version with the handle in the middle of the top. Less money than the OEM ACDelco "production" batteries. Interestingly, the ACDs of the same size and rating are heavier-weight batteries than the OEM production versions.

Considering that Delphi batteries (as seen in some import brand vehicles) look exactly like the OEM ACDelco batteries, other than the name on them, so it could well be that Delphi is the producer. All things considered, it is suspicioned that the ACD line is built in China, BUT we have no real proof of that at this time. BUT regardless of who the OEM ACDelco batteries might be built by, they are still built to ACDelco OEM specs. Just as most of the ACDelco oil filters are, we suspet, manufactured by Champion Labs (who builds a LOT of the oil filters on the market today--but they build them to the CUSTOMER'S SPECS for each brand rather than a "generic spec" and just change the labels).

Just some thoughts and observations,

NTX5467

[Reatta Man]

Willis,

You are correct, as usual, about AC-Delco making a good battery--back in the day. The Group 79 battery I replaced (underseat battery in the old Deville with the vent tube going under the car) was an AC-Delco professional series 6-year warrented battery made in March 2004. Not bad! But, I wasn't willing to pay $187 at the Caddy dealer for a battery for a car I am about to sell.

I suspect W-M is about to change brands of batteries. I've seen several "ALL BATTERY SALES ARE FINAL" signs in local stores. That, along with the curtailed warranties, makes me think Wally is about to drop the Never Start, er, Ever Start line of batteries for another brand.

It is a shame that owners have to find out the hard way what is a good battery line and what is not. Most batteries sold in this part of the country have been made in Mexico for years, but China is making everything else, so why not batteries, too, I guess? It is a shame that the CCA rating and length of warranty is no longer an indicator of battery quality any more.

[NTX5467]

I'm not sure why that particular under-rear-seat battery is so expensive, but they've always been that way. Plus, ONLY that size of battery will really work back there. There is a neat kit to replace the corroded floor pan when they had leaking terminal posts.

I concur with the orientation of minimizing expenses for a car you're planning on selling in the near future.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Guest gunjeep444]

I just bought a battery the right size for my 56 Roadmaster. One the previous owner had put in was a regular size 2 year battery. This one is a 6 year. Got it at the local farm store. Orschelen chain, sorta like Tractor Supply. Fit right in!

[JoelsBuicks]

I still remember quite some time ago when I bought my first battery for my Karmann Ghia back in the late 70's. Being a big math fan back then, I did some quick figuring and concluded that I was only renting the battery. My monthly rent was simply the cost of the battery divided by the number of warranted months. I came to this conclusion because I almost never saw my Dad buy a battery that wasn't credited for a few months left on the old battery and so my paradigm was that batteries didn't last beyond the warranty.

In the last 30 years I recall only one battery that outlasted it's warranty period - my wife's Honda Civic's original battery did much better than it's 3-year warranty. As such, I've never changed my thinking that I'm merely renting a battery. If the retailer stops the long term coverage, then I'll go elsewhere to find the lowest rent because I do not believe that battery quality will suddenly improve when there's no longer a long term warranty.

[Dandy Dave]

Come to think of it, the battery in my 1915 C-36 Buick is 5 years old or better. A 6 volt, and it still starts it without a problem. I've never even had to charge it!!! Now watch me jinx my good luck with that said... I believe I bought it at Tractor Supply. Dandy Dave!

[Booreatta]

A majority of batteries carried by Wal-Mart, Pep-Boys, ORilelys, Auto Zone are made by the same supplier. They are usually made by Johnson Controls and just marketed under a different private lable. Exide is also a major supplier of private lable batteries.