A battery philosophy

by Duane Ausherman

As some may remember, I was a new BMW motorcycle dealer and, therefore, also in the repair business.  Here is one thing that I learned.

A car battery costs just over a dollar a month to own.  A 60-month battery can be found for around $60-$80 on sale.  When you get near the battery life, it pays to replace it before it fails.  Of course, we all have a story where a battery outlasted the specified life by a year, so look at the bargain.  Those stories are nice, but far more are of a battery that didn’t quite make it to 60 months.  What is the worst case scenario?  I would say that a battery fails at midnight, in a bad neighborhood, in the rain, and you are way out where there is no cell service for calling Triple-A.

Is the small amount you saved by keeping the battery to the end of its life worth it?  Nearly everyone in that situation would say, “No way.”  Sacrifice those few remaining months by replacing your perfectly working battery ahead of failure.

Updated 17 July 2022