Art161

I was surfing on the web and discovered that Interstate no longer manufactures the Group 40R battery that many of our cars use in its MTP series. That series carries a 30 month free replacement warranty. The Group 40R is available in the MT series, which carries a 24 month free replacement warranty.

Further, Interstate says the MT series is for cold to moderate climates. It's heat that kills batteries, and it gets hot under the hood. Batteries may fail more often in the winter because it takes more amps to start the car, but the real damage was done by heat.

AAA says the average life of a battery is 36 months.

So has Interstate gone to recommending a battery for our cars that is junk?

Motorcraft still has its BXT series, which offers a 36 month free replacement warranty.

Derf00

Gone are the days where batteries would last years. All batteries are cheaply made these days.

My 2000 V6 mustang had it's first battery last 6 years in it. After that, I was replacing them about every two years, even after replacing the first dead one with a Motorcraft battery in 2006. It died in 2008.

My 08 V8 is on it's 3rd battery, my wifes 2013 turbo beetle is on it's second battery. Our 06 escape has been through about 5 batteries, our 07 cobalt is on it's 2nd since we bought it about 3 years ago.

Now we do live in AZ and the summers literally boil the batteries but still, when my battery from 2000 survived a total of 6 years (two being in this summer heat) and brand new batteries can barely make it two, that says something.

I tried interstate and Napa batteries but found the Autozone duralast are a bit cheaper and last just as long with a 24 or 36 mo replacement, so why bother spending an extra $20-$50 for nothing? I haven't tried gel cell yet though....

movielover40

I bought a replacement battery at Autozone and it's about 3 inches shorter than the original one and the factory battery insulation just hangs over both sides now.