Autozone battery replacement

[Makdaddymac]

Hey all,
i want to run something by everyone, this is not to knock the auto zone workers(like everyone already does) im hoping a atuozone worker reads this..

anyways i bought a duralast gold for the stang in june or july/09... i have let the car sit since the battery purchase, really only running it once or twice a month, well it sat for over a month and would not crank do to the battery at 10-11volts. i jumped it and it fired right up.

well i then let it sit for no more than a week and same thing and read 10-11volts(and will not rank just makes the ignition clicks)....
now i personally think i should not have to jump/charge a battery less than a year old. so i take it too auto zone and i get the 21 questions of course it is their job to blame the car maybe something draining it which is fine, but they test it and the machine says to charge and retest, so they charge it and i have to come back an hour later...when i come back they pull it directly off the charger and test it,and of course it passes!!wonder why....
now i talked to two guys and they seems to know what they are talking about,they say if a car sits for 1-2 weeks it is common especially in the cold, i cant agree with 1-2 week part but cold weather can have an effect, and the worker who has a fox and same battery says if he lets his sit for a week he always has to charge/jump it....and that if i dont run the car every 1-2 weeks for at least 45mins of driving for the charging system to kick in?!?!?)
i asked if this happens again what has to be done to get my 1year free replacement. he says well' we have to test it each time etc etc, my concern is the battery is not completely bad and will take a charge and hold it for a while(1 week(s)). what should i do, or are they being honest...

 

[cjrpony]

Yeah, I think they are full of it, my mustang sits for several weeks at a time (with an autozone battery) and always starts up. Same with my truck which usually goes even longer between starts.

 

[No.11]

My car sat for about 3 weeks on a duralast gold and didn't die... Then again it's not too cold here.

 

[Pimo]

Hey this is my first post but I think I can shed some light on the subject. I am a manager of an AutoZone in Massachusetts. If you bought a Duralast Gold battery for your stang it probably is a 58-DLG, the gold series of batteries have a 3 year free replacement warranty and an 8 year prorated warranty.

It is company policy to test all batteries that have come back for warranty issues. The machine we use to test the batteries places multiple loads on the battery and watches its recovery time and also how well it holds the load. It gives the following results: Bad Battery, Good Battery low charge, Good Battery, and Charge and Retest. There is a separate function to test a freshly charged battery that most AutoZoners do not use or know of.

Regardless of all this, if you are having issues with your battery even with a good test result we should replace it. The company preaches "Take care of the customer" and this is one of those instances. As long as your warranty information is in the system I would have no problem giving you a new battery. One little piece of info is that the new battery does not extend the warranty on the originally purchased battery.

If you want to make things happen ask to talk to the store manager, if that does not work ask for the district managers name and number. I can almost guarantee that this will get you a new battery. On another note my customer have had very good luck with the Duralast and Duralast Gold batteries. There have been issues but the majority have success. I couldn't help but throw in a shameless plug.

One last thing, being a car guy long before I worked at the Zone I share most car guys opinion of the place. I would always cringe walking into an AutoZone knowing some idiot was going to try and tell me what I need based on their computer screen. It is my goal to try and change that reputation, at least in my store. I have been really focusing on hiring people with automotive knowledge and offering customer service from a car persons perspective.

I apologize for the long winded response. I will do my best to answer any questions about the situation. PM me if you need any more personal advice. I am always looking to help the Mustang community.

Pimo

 

[cjrpony]

My car sat for about 3 weeks on a duralast gold and didn't die... Then again it's not too cold here.

It's plenty cold here, probably have another 6 weeks of winter here. I have 6 inches of snow on the hood of my truck which probably hasn't been started in over a month, and it WILL fire up if I go start it. I could see if it was an old battery, but a fairly new battery should hold it's charge more that a week or 2.

 

[mob]

They are being honest, one of the biggest pain in the ass working at a part store is batteries and their warranties. I work at advance and I have seen crazy things happen with batteries. I can believe if its not driven very often and in this cold weather it wont start. I dont work at autozone but it is strictly prohibited for us to exchange batteries if they are coming up good. Some people may like to think so but our machines are NOT rigged to say your battery is good when we dont want to exchange it, and say its bad when its not one of ours. Getting you a new battery doesnt come out of my wallet and the only thing I want to do is to get you a new battery and get the hell out of my store, cause I know thats what you want, but the last thing I want is a warranty exchange done under my name with a good battery. So you can give me your life story and if my machine says its good I dont care, I wont change it out.

Chances are you battery is bad and you just need to catch it at the right time. I see it happen everyday where someones car wont start, they jump it, drive it to the store, and my machine says its good. The best thing you can do is dont drive the car to the store, when it wont start, bring the battery up and get it tested. And keep doing that till it comes up bad, that usually happens when a battery is about to go bad, I usually see that person a couple days later, test the battery again and it comes up bad.

 

[Makdaddymac]

i figure they weren't scamming me just wanted to hear the input on the sitting for a couple weeks...i sprung for the gold series cause i expected some quality and they are affordable, it not even a year old approx 8 months... so basically i have to keep running it till it says bad on their machine, that sucks cause sometimes getting help with a battery can be a 2 hour process.....considering they charge it if the machine say charge and retest..

i could be a prick and pull the whole district manager stuff, but its not my style, especially since i am a regular at this store, which makes me think they should want to keep me happy cause i spend so much money there....

 

[Tanus]

I didnt read all posts, if you wanna get a battery warantied, thats still good, take a screwdriver and very carefully pry on the top case.

obviously this isnt the safest thing to do, but it'll get your battery replaced

 

[dgollem]

On the other hand make sure your car is not drawing any current and draining the battery while she sits. There have been several post including one from me about vanity mirrior lights staying on and draining batteies, Sometimes its as simple as the dome light that got turned on and you don't notice it. Check the current draw with everything off there should be almost no current draw.

 

[TRU 5.0]

We see this frequently, also from an Advance Auto perspective. Johnson Control makes most of the batteries sold by retailers. Their defect rate is less than 1%, but actual defect rate at the hands of the consumer is almost 10 times that. We do take care of the customer, but most times the failure of the battery is due to the vehicle it's bolted to. Take it to an auto parts store and they should be able to test your car and determine if a draw exists on the battery. Obvious, I know, but make sure you check if you have something on in the car ( trunk light, satellite radio, etc.) Or, try this; disconnect the negative battery cable and wait the same 7 days, then reconnect it - If the car starts without issue you know the problems isn't the battery.

 

[glowstang93]

This is way off topic, but to keep my Stang battery all warmed up, especially during the Winter when I don't drive it much. I use a battery tender. It plugs in and keeps the battery on a slow trickle when it needs it. Also keeps the batter from going bad by keeping it warm.

 

[giddyup306]

As far as the charging for an hour goes, that is just standard procedure in the service industry. I worked for two of the big three and that's just the way it is. They along with the parts stores also use the same Midtronics testers...

To check for a parasitic draw you should be under 50 ma (off the top of my head but really anything under 1a is probably okay).

What can I say you bought a cheap battery and your car won't start when it sits for a couple weeks.

 

[JustaMustangguy]

INTERSTATE BATTERY

Buy and Interstate battery. I run them in all of my Mustangs. When i park my Mustang in Oct/Nov i leave it sit all winter in my garage until april and i don't even start the car once, nor do i charge the battery. It starts perfect every spring without ever having to recharge it.

True story. 5 years and counting now.

Buy QUALITY. You only pay for it once. fyi