10 Year Old Battery

[Fursty]

Well, I have seen many posts about the viper battery going dead over the winter or in storage.

Mine, however, must be the exception to the rule. I just replaced my August of 1999 Mopar battery.

I didn' think a battery would last that long.

Fursty

 

[EllowViper]

My 01 has its original still in it.

 

[Martin]

I was actually amazed today - my GTS has a five or six year old Optima in it and I've been out of town for so long that I thought the car wouldn't start. Turned the key and it started up like the battery was brand new.

 

[jdeft1]

Most high quality, modern batteries, kept properly will last 10 +/- years...

Well kept means: keep it charged/tended and stored ay 77 deg.F.

You guys probably keep your cars parked in the garage and plugged into tenders most of the time IMO and maybe you live up north? The life span is seriously degraded by constant discharges and hot conditions (like most engine compartments..not ours)... Batteries last longer when kept cool/charged but produce less power.
-J

 

[RapidTransit]

My 97 318 Dakota went just shy of 10.......I wonder who is the maker, replaced it with a die hard, but when the viper batt goes I'm thinking optima.

 

[DVSGTS]

Environment and use. No battery lasts that long out here in AZ with any "real" summer use.

 

[Martin]

My car isn't garaged in an incredibly hot place - but it's regularly in the 90's during the summer and 30's in the winter. It's a detached garage with no climate control, too. I don't use a battery tender, and sometimes don't start the car for months. That Optima just keeps going and going... Took me two or three warranty returns to get one that lasted that long, but when you string those onto the life of this one, I've had a single 'paid for' Optima on my car for the last eight years or so. Also, I have a Yellow Top on my Jeep that's been there since 2000 and it's still as good as new as far as I can tell.

 

[RoadiJeff]

I replaced my original Viper battery after 7 years but only because of the stories I read on here about how batteries shouldn't last that long. It would have been interesting to see just how long it lasted. I never kept it on a trickle charger - I don't even own one.

The replacement is Diehard and no problems with it in 3 years. Starts right up, even if I leave it sitting for nearly 2 months.

 

[Neil - UK]

I swapped the battery in my 2000 GTS last summer as i was going on a euro trip and didnt want any problems it was still working fine, a week after removing it i gave it to another GTS owner whose battery had failed and he's still using it.

I always use a trickle charger

 

[martyb]

I normally change the viper battery every 3-4 years, cheap insurance.

 

[dave6666]

When I bought my '01 back in Dec 2006 it still had the factory battery. Appeared to be working fine. Car would start every time and no one uses tenders around here. I replaced it just because with an Interstate Megatron. I did notice it spun a little faster when cranking with the new battery, but basically, I replaced a perfectly good 5 year old battery.

 

[EllowViper]

My 2002 Dakota and 96 Mazda have both gone through several batteries (recently)...in fact I checked on the Viper replacement battery at the same time. Interstate model something #78 side post but didn't buy it ($84.00 here on base).

 

[ViperTony]

I still have my original 9 year old battery going strong on my BMW. Replaced my Viper battery twice. The OEM died at 5 years of age and I recently installed the Interstate Megatron to replace a leaky NAPA battery.

 

[Phil Lee 94 red RT]

my diehard still working after 11 years. only 26,000 miles during 11 years. i got to get out of the house more!

 

[PDCjonny]

It'll crap out on you in the worst possible spot, sooner or later.