Rogers 07

Well it was bound to happen....again. Yesterday I went to start the car and nothing, not even the door locks opened, So for the first time I had a chance to actually use the real key they gave me, I opened the back hatch, pulled the little tab, opened the drivers door, then opened the hood. all very mundane stuff, Checked the battery and sure enough, it's dead. So the good news, I take the battery out (Its was about 4 years old) with a 3 year warranty...Damn. I head down to Pep Boys to buy the latest Volt Master X5000 Super Start Special
There are about 3 other guys waiting to by batteries, all have discount coupons except me of course, I'm talking to the guy ahead of me and he hands me copy of the discount coupon, so I saved $20.00 on the battery . Replaced the battery in about 5 minutes, the car starts right up, re-indexed the windows and all is good. Still it's a little surprising the battery died just like that, no warning, no slow starts, no low voltage, just dead!. It seems my car goes thru a battery about every 4 or 5 years, wether I need it to or not!

cclive

After almost 7 years on my original battery, I replaced it for that very reason. My experience with batteries has been that most of the time, they die on me suddenly and extremely. If I get any warning at all, I feel very lucky.

RocketDawg

Mine died the same way -- good one day, totally dead the next.

I got an AutoZone Platinum AGM.

cclive

I think that since the starter motor is a huge sudden hit to the battery, most of the time, that big hit is what finally kills the battery. The driver may or may not actually see anything happen at this point and the battery just appears dead.

1bdvet

Talk about batteries going dead, bought in January 2013 OEM Delco, yesterday morning went start the car dead. Glad I bought 42 months free replacement. All I had to pay was the tax.
Hope this last longer, then 2 years.

KX

I have owned my C6 for 7 years now. It sits a lot, but no longer than 10 days in a row. Replaced battery just once, but after reading the post about pulling the On Star fuse, I no longer have to hook up the trickle charger. On Star draws power even if you do not subscribe to it, like I once did. Pull that fuse if you do not want your battery to drain needlessly....

NY09C6

My car will be 6 years old in a few months. It still has the original but will be getting a new one as a precaution.

jimmie jam

8 years, 6 months and still going .......

Guard Dad

Back in the day when weight wasn't such an issue the internal structure of the battery was more robust and the batteries died a slower death. Today's lighter batteries, in my experience, die sudden deaths. One moment you are great the next you are toast. Heat is the biggest killer so batteries under the hood die early and often but batteries in the rear of the car can last two to three times longer.18-24 months with a couple of exceptions, is typical for front mounted batteries for our family. One rear mounted batterry went as long as seven years at which point I replaced it out of a sense of caution. The rear mounted battery in my GS is 4.5 years old and I'm starting to wonder how long it will last.

ant21b

I replaced mine right after 5 years on my 2010 it still started the car but it was time. 5 years is the right time here in Orange county.

09_BSM_Z51

Got 6 years out of the AC Delco battery, then on tuesday the car didn't have enough power to start. It had been starting to get a little weak but I didn't really notice until it finally went. Got an AutoZone Gold with 3 year warranty. Car actually runs better now, wish I had noticed the problem earlier. I prefer optima's, I've always had good luck with them but they didn't have the right size in stock. So 6 years is pretty good for a battery imo.

Rogers 07

Thanks for all the responses. There sure doesn't seem to be any one thing to hang our hats on for battery life, I would say 3-5 years seems to be the going average, Though my original AC battery went 6+ years before it went bad, oddly, that one actually gave some warning in the form of slow cranking a couple of times before the fatal 0 condition!!

SCcues

I missed the thread about pulling the OnStar fuse and this is the first time I've heard about it. I've never subscribed to OnStar and I had no idea it could drain your battery even if you aren't subscribed. Thanks for the info and if you can please post a link to the thread you are referring to.

FortMorganAl

OnStar WILL use a small amount of power but it is trivial if you don't have a subscription because it will then not be transmitting. If you are keeping the car on a battery tender when not in use as you should so that you can get 8 years or more out of these batteries, then the additional load will be covered anyway.

Sunset-C6

The battery is good until it dies

Rocketmanwpb

My Delcos lasted about 24 months each for the first two, went to an Optima, no problems since.

Guard Dad

I've considered the Optima but I've read that the durability has been off the mark in recent times. How long have you had your Optima?

pure zen

OEM factory batteries are new, 'fresh' batteries supplied to the production plant, and generally last a much longer life than a 'new' battery one might buy from a auto parts store or repair garage. The latter, come from battery storage warehouses and maybe six to eighteen months old before you purchase it........thus, a shorter life span. New vehicles are loaded with computers that draw current even as the vehicles sits. Several weeks sitting does draw down the battery, so either drive 'em or keep on a automatic/battery tender if pro-long storage is normal for your car.


Previously mentioned,,,trunk mounted batteries last much longer. (?)
My '06 Viper coupe had a trunk mounted battery, and it went dead in less than 24 months. New OEM battery installed, and after each 10 day period of just sitting,,,,it would still have a slow start feed before firing over. I finally had to hook-up to the Battery Tender Plus to overcome this situation.


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Where is the On-Star fuse location?


Thanks!

FortMorganAl

That's why you see so many Interstate Battery trucks on the road. Interstate recycles every battery in every store that is over 30 days old. Every lead acid battery will be damaged by any amount of discharge. All lead acid batteries self discharge just sitting. They discharge even faster running our computers. One 75% discharge sitting on a store shelf will take a noticeable amount of life out of a battery. Just sitting a day in a C6 without a battery tender/maintainer will also take some life.

Where is the OnStar fuse? Do you have an owner's manual? On page 421 of mine it shows the OnStar fuse is in instrument panel fuse block and is labeled ONSTAR.

ant21b

When I bought my 2010 new in October 2010 the battery had a date code of March 2010 which is 7 months old that is not fresh. My Az battery that I bought this month was date coded May 2015 much fresher.