Cheap Plastic Car :: 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage DE (Garage entry)

[stevedmc]

Less than 20 months is not a long battery life, but a free replacement is good.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the average American driver drives 13,474 miles per year. I drive a lot more than that.

The OEM battery gave me 170k miles.

In other terms, my OEM battery gave me 12.6 years of service based on how many miles the average American drives in a year.

My Walmart battery lasted 80k miles, which translates into 5.93 years of service.

Not too shabby for a low quality battery.

Does a replacement battery come with the same warranty?

I asked about this and the answer is no. My two year warranty started when I purchased the original battery and ends two years after that date, regardless of how many replacements I have.

Think of it as a service contract or extended warranty. The contract doesn't reset every time you have service done. If it did, you could potentially have a lifetime warranty every time something broke.

Of course, consumer laws certainly can vary from state to state. I'm just telling you how it is at my local Walmart. I would imagine consumer protection laws are much different in places like California.

[Mark]

I asked about this and the answer is now. My two year warranty started when I purchased the original battery and ends two years after that date, regardless of how many replacements I have.

Think of it as a service contract or extended warranty. The contract doesn't reset every time you have service done. If it did, you could potentially have a lifetime warranty every time something broke.

Of course, consumer laws certainly can vary from state to state. I'm just telling you how it is at my local Walmart. I would imagine consumer protection laws are much different in places like California.

That makes sense. I recently heard the same about expensive Optima batteries. A replacement battery falls under the original battery warranty, & the source was bashing the Optima batteries a good one, too!

It's not like batteries come with a lifetime warranty. I don't recall having a battery fail under warranty. Thus, I never gave this much thought.

[Mark]

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the average American driver drives 13,474 miles per year. I drive a lot more than that.

The OEM battery gave me 170k miles.

In other terms, my OEM battery gave me 12.6 years of service based on how many miles the average American drives in a year.

My Walmart battery lasted 80k miles, which translates into 5.93 years of service.

Not too shabby for a low quality battery.

Claiming two batteries have given you 18.5 years of service is a bit of stretch in my mind.

Personally, I don't care for products that just reach their warranty limit and then die. Everyone's situation is different, however. Buying a cheap battery & replacing it every 2 years is a better feeling than buying an expensive one & having to replace it early, too! Regardless, batteries are replacement items that come with car ownership.

There are a lot of factors that impact batteries. Batteries age just sitting there doing nothing. People who do short trips or live close to work will probably have shorter battery life than someone that drives further (allowing the alternator to recharge your battery). Areas with extreme temperatures (hot or cold)reduce battery life. If your case, higher temperatures are probably more of an issue.

If my memory serves me right, you drive 24/7 with your headlights on. I am not claiming that you drive 24/7, but whenever you drive your headlights are on. If your alternator is doing its job, how much strain is added to a battery?

Walmart honoring their battery warranty is good. Walmart stores being everywhere is also good. It surely simplifies the process of making a battery warranty claim.

If a battery dies before its stated warranty period, that wouldn't inspire me to think it's a great product. I don't care how many miles are on the car, but that's me. If you are content with 20 months from a battery, that's all that really matters. Hopefully, the warranty (replacement battery) will get you way beyond 24 months. Thus, all is good!

[stevedmc]

Claiming two batteries have given you 18.5 years of service is a bit of stretch in my mind......... If you are content with 20 months from a battery, that's all that really matters.

I did 80k miles of driving in those 20 months as well. Its safe to say I got a lot more use out of that battery in 20 months than the average person would have.

There are a lot of factors that impact batteries. Batteries age just sitting there doing nothing. People who do short trips or live close to work will probably have shorter battery life than someone that drives further (allowing the alternator to recharge your battery). Areas with extreme temperatures (hot or cold)reduce battery life. If your case, higher temperatures are probably more of an issue.

I agree 100%. Lots of things affect battery life. My crazy exaggeration of how many "years" I got out of the battery was simply my way of saying I got plenty of use out of it for such a short time.

[Mark]

I did 80k miles of driving in those 20 months as well. Its safe to say I got a lot more use out of that battery in 20 months than the average person would have.

I agree 100%. Lots of things affect battery life. My crazy exaggeration of how many "years" I got out of the battery was simply my way of saying I got plenty of use out of it for such a short time.

Yeah, I don't mean to be critical either. You use your Mirage way more than the average Joe for sure! I think a person can overthink things like car batteries. I include myself when saying that. Car batteries are replacement items. When it's time to replace one, a person should just do it.

Considering the hundreds (perhaps thousand) of $$$ you have saved in free oil changes, a new battery every now and then is nothing!

[Eggman]

I can't see how miles traveled has an affect on a battery, as once the engine is running the car gets it's operating power from the alternator, not the battery. Myself, I would expect much longer service out of that battery.

It's fun to look at it from another perspective though.

[stevedmc]

251,204 miles

Summer is here and the AC hasn’t been blowing as cold as it usually does. I topped it off with a few ounces of r134a and it’s blowing nice and cold again. I will survive this summer.

I’ve been too busy lately to go in for my free oil change. I checked he oil today and it looks good. Proper level and the color is nice. I will try to make time to go get to changed on Tuesday.

[stevedmc]

251,706 miles

Getting another free oil change.

Coffee, capachino, hot chocolate and water are complimentary. I decided to splurge this time and spend 85 cents on a 12 ounce can of Diet Coke to compliment my free granola bar.

[tytotheler92]

How much stop/go do you do? Or is it basically all highway?

[MetroMPG]

Congrats on passing 250k miles.

At this rate, you're going to take the highest-miles Mirage slot this summer.