Knowing the Life of your Car Battery

Without batteries, cars would be relatively useless. But there seems to be a great deal of confusion surrounding the life of a battery and its actual warranty.

Batteries typically have numbers printed on them, but do you know what those numbers actually mean? When you see a number printed on a car battery, that number refers to the number of months for which the battery carries a warranty. If it has an 84 on it, the warranty for the battery is seven years. The number 60 refers to a five-year warranty, and so on.

If your battery fails before the number of months printed on the case is reached, you don’t necessarily get a new battery free of charge (no pun intended). In fact, most batteries only last for a couple years anyways before giving up the ghost. You’ll need to do some research on your particular battery warranty before expecting to get any money back.

Generally, a battery is replaced free of charge if it fails in the first two to three years after purchase. After that, the manufacturer or store you bought the battery from prorates the battery. This means they give you some money towards another battery. Just how much money they decide to give you is determined by how old the battery is and its particular warranty.

To save yourself some trouble with your used car, spend a few extra dollars on a battery made by a reputable company. Batteries made by companies like Johnson Controls, Exide and East Penn have been shown to last for the duration of their warranty.

[tags]used cars, certified cars, certified mercedes, battery, battery life, battery warranty, car batteries, Johnson Controls, Exide, East Penn[/tags]

Filed Under: Certified Mercedes-Benz • Mercedes-Benz