How long should the starting battery hold its charge?

[OlisGarage]

Has the battery quality really decreased that much recently that a 4 year old battery is old?

Some of my semi recent data points that make me believe batteries should last more than 4 years:

2003 VW Jetta TDI got a new battery (from the dealer) in 2018. It is still going super strong. That is after i drained it to absolute zero twice due to some negligence on my end.

1984 rabbit convertible has a battery (Menards store brand) from 2016 that is still going strong.

1997 ford super duty diesel has twin batteries (random auto parts store brand) from 2013 that just this winter showed age to replace.
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1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run)

[kamzcab86]

[Ahwahnee]

X2 on the T5 - found at Walmart and other fine stores.

I have used Group 41 but some are too tall for the space.

[zerotofifty]

lead acid Batteries become damaged when stored at less then full charge. they do self discharge even with no parasitic loads. at 1.75 volts per cell, the battery is considered fully discharged (10.5 volts in a six cell 12 volt battery) a typical self discharge rate is around 5 to 10% per month the discharge rate may be higher on a damaged battery, and the rate increases with temperature. Specific gravity tests can be done on nonsealed batteries to determine charge state.

hence it is important to periodically charge or continuously trickle charge a stored battery. If the battery is allowed to drop to 3/4 charge, its life will be shortened, damage done.

this is why it is important when purchasing a new battery to note the date on the battery as many times batteries at stores, at warehouse may sit for months without recharging. when this happens your battery will have become damaged before you buy it, and thus have a reduced life. Since our vans have a very less than common battery size, few are sold, so stocks at distributors and stores may have a low turn over. i have twice found vanagon batteries one year old at stores. one store refused to sell it, and instead ordered me a fresh one arriving a couple days later. one I bought in desperation, needed for a vacation road trip that day, that battery was weak from the get go, despite being put on a charger, it had low voltage and within the warrentee period completely failed.
so buy the newest battery per the date code. refuse to buy a battery if more than a few months old, like produce at the grocery store, you buy them fresh, not old

[Ahwahnee]

[jimf909]

[halfassleatherworks]

[harvgwen]

Battery life can vary greatly (as already stated), for reasons that we may or may not have control over. My wife’s ’04 V6 Mustang’s original battery lasted 11 years. I reasoned that Ford batteries must be very good quality, so I replaced it with a new one from the Ford dealer. That one lasted only 4 years. We didn’t treat it any differently than the original, nor did it ever get discharged. Also, as alluded to already, I have more recently been buying my batteries from International Batteries, in part because they specialize in batteries and I reason that they turn their products over enough to not have their batteries sit on the shelf for too long. In times gone by, when you bought a battery, they took a dry one off the shelf and filled it with acid and charged it before you could take it.
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1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[SoquelDude]

[harvgwen]

As far as I know there are no lithium batteries that are rated for starting a car engine.
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1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[jimf909]

[vanagonjr]

[SoquelDude]

[jlrftype7]

[vanagonjr]

[SoquelDude]

[E1]

58 months on our Interstate. Gotten way more time from many batteries.

People forget only four US companies make batteries.

There’s honestly not a huge diff between them.
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1984 Westfailure/2.1 Digijet/5.43 Ring & Pinion/Peloquin/D-rated BFG KO2s
AI empowers us to steal, cheat, spread illiteracy, and destroy other humans

"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." — Colin Chapman

[kamzcab86]

[SoquelDude]

[Ahwahnee]

I did add a block of wood on the right side of the T5 to assure it didn't slide around. A piece of 2x4 or a copy of Bullfinch's Mythology should be about right.