[veganskater]

Hi everyone,
Am about to take off on a long road trip, 700 miles each way with the car sitting for about 10 days (in hot conditions) in between.

I have an '08 purchased used (in excellent condition) at 8500 miles. Now we have 14,500 miles.

The tires were utterly junky--only lasted 14,500. I just replaced all 4 of 'em. I'm told that (of course) when new cars are sold they cut corners on things like tires and batteries.

In your experience how long/how many miles have the batteries on new E's lasted? Do they show a specific pattern when they're weakening? (Some of my other cars' batteries have; and some haven't.) In your opinion, would it be really necessary (or a good idea) for me to run over to Pep Boys tomorrow & have them test it? I will do it if you guys feel it's a clear safety issue; otherwise I'm reluctant to spend the $, after those tires--ouch!

My car starts fairly easily, say after 3 revolutions. Once, right after I got it, I accidentally left the interior light on for about 20 hours. It started right up & gave no problems. It doesn't look like it needs any maintenance at this point.

Thoughts appreciated!
Best regards,
veganskater (and her blue '08 E)

 

[Yoda E SC]

that leaving the light on for so long could lead to its early demise... although the battery was not fully deep cycled to the point it didnt start on its own when one is it will only ever come back to 75% of its original capacity.

 

[veganskater]

Well, should I replace it before I go? Am I at risk of it not starting after 14,500 miles?

 

[chefjames]

my is an 07, with 51,000 miles...still the original battery. Had to jump start once, gf left the light on. Granted, San Diego is not a hot place.

 

[BigTzElement]

BigTzSqueeze's E, has about 140,000 miles on it. We bought it new in July of 2004 and just last week I had to replace the original battery.

The original battery had been showing signs of wear for the last two years and each winter I thought for sure it would be the winter her E would not start....

But it always did.

Anyway she came out from work the last week and it would not start. She got a jump to meet me at walmart and we put a new battery in it.

Walmart was not my first choice of batteries to install but she had to have one that day.

Anyway, with only 14k miles on your E it should be just fine. My only question would be:

Is your E totally stock? Do you have any aftermarket alarms or remote starters or anything like that? If you do they might cause your battery to drain slowly over time.

You can have a mechanic check the amp draw when the E is turned off. They should be able to tell you if it is excessive or not.

I say go on your trip and have a wonderful time, don't worry about your E she will take care of you.

 

[Jackson49]

I would get the battery load tested to determine what condition it is in. At the same time you may as well have the charging system checked too. Personally I do not think you have anything to worry about. Batteries usually give you some indication that they are ready to be replaced i.e. slow cranking, frequent jumps, etc. A good rule of thumb is normal battery life is about three years. Some folks have had batteries last much longer. I replaced mine after 4 years with one from Wal-Mart, no problems. Hope that helped some.

 

[ramblerdan]

I would get the battery load tested to determine what condition it is in. At the same time you may as well have the charging system checked too.

Quoted for truth! No need for guesswork when hard data is available.

 

[scorsone]

You should be fine. Just be sure you don't sit with the radio on for prolonged periods of time or leave any lights on. If you don't have one yet, JUMPER CABLES!!! get a set in your E.

I have killed my stock battery twice now with 70k+ miles on the car although I don't think mileage is a good way to judge a battery.

It really won't take long to run into an auto parts store and have them check your battery and alternator. They generally all do this free of charge. You can pick up a good set of jumper cables while your there if you need them.

 

[Island E]

You're worried about your battery being on its last leg at 14,000 miles?
You've got about another 80,000 before you really need to worry about it.

 

[paulj]

Hi everyone,
Am about to take off on a long road trip, 700 miles each way with the car sitting for about 10 days (in hot conditions) in between.

700 miles? Isn't that just a normal week's worth of commuting in LA?

I replaced my battery after about 4 yrs.

 

[Jojo]

I pulled my battery around 85,000 miles, my mechanic said it was still good, but was an "02", I had a 3500 mile road trip to make, so changed it just to be safe.

Note; since it was "still good" it now powers our teardrop.;-)

Best Auto Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

[Quicksilver]

I bought my E new in March of '04. By March '09, I only had about 22,000 miles on it but the original tires were done. I'm still using the original battery without any problems but I'm going to replace it in November when I put the snow tires on.

 

[box-E]

The original battery in my 07 lasted about a year an 30k when it died. Dead cell left me in the middle of nowhere. Put in a new battery it's at about 90k now. I learned and now carry a little jump starter battery, cost me about 20.00 at Auto Zone works great. Drew

 

[in2steam]

You're worried about your battery being on its last leg at 14,000 miles?
You've got about another 80,000 before you really need to worry about it.

Lacking hard data from a VAT test as Jackson49 says mileage is less of consideration then time and conditions. I would not worry at 2 years of age to much, but I would think about it at 3 years with a factory battery. Other things to consider is temperature, number of deep discharges, number of start cycles, and drive cycles . Someone who drives alot of very short trips infrequently is much harder on a battery then someone who drives 30 miles to work and back every day. Sitting in extremely cold (-10 or less) for prolonged times is hard on batterys, and heat kills batterys in short order. Someone like me who puts on nearly 500 miles a week, mileage will be of little value. Although the OP did not have that many miles on for a 2008, if you have a week battery a good long road trip for that vehicle can bring out the worst in a battery.

Chris

 

[dparrothead1]

Mine lasted 5 years in the heat of Florida......I wouldn't worry about it....

 

[reh523]

Mine lasted 5 years in the heat of Florida......I wouldn't worry about it....

5 years in the desert... Although I am getting concerned because out here they just die one day. Going to start looking around for sales.