Curahee

Now that quite a few of us have owned our C7s for about three years, it would be interesting to know how many have had to replace their batteries, and what they have used for replacements. I have had my C7 for 33 months and (knock on wood) have not yet had a battery problem. I do use the battery tender all the time when not driving. I'd appreciate input from as many as are willing to submit a response. Merry Christmas!

Dan Hintz

I've seen more comments about battery failures (and known several who have had theirs fail) in a short period of time on this car than all other cars I've owned combined... WTH?

Red Roan

2016 Z51, owned it for 5 months, drive it 150 miles a week. Battery died, had to charge it for several hours just to get it to turn over.


Dealer tested the battery and told me it was fine, and that they are not going to replace it under warranty. I replaced it anyway. If it happened once, it'll happen again, as the weather is only getting colder. I figured 145$ for a battery is a lot better than a late night tow. I replaced it with the same battery that came in it.

I had a C5Z that ate 3 batteries in 9 years, I thought I was all done with that nonsense with the C7, maybe not.

roadbike56

I bought a CTEK battery charger, the same model that the Corvette includes in the Battery maintenance package. According to their owners manual, the CTEK doesn't just charge the battery, it also sends different pulses to maintain and improve the life of the battery. Even though I'm in the southeast, during the winter I'm going to charge the battery of the Vette (although I drive it at least once every two or three weeks, sometimes more and our DD, my wife's Lexus at least once a month. We'll see how long these batteries last.
It isn't just the Corvette that's hard on batteries, any car that has delayed headlight turnoff, automatic seat and steering wheel retraction and other automatic features that operate AFTER the engine and alternator are turned off are hard on batteries. Our Lexus is worse than the Corvette burning them out.

robert miller

2014 Vette here early model here still on the one it was born with. Never has failed me with no sign of it. Now watch it go out on me. Robert

JerryU

I've had a low voltage since new. Dealer said it was fine and in fairness it operated fine for 3 years. Even was on vacation several times for 2 1/2 weeks without a charger etc. it started fine.

However thought I'd get a new one before it's 4 winter. Bought a Sears AGM Diehard (Model 50748) when it was on sale late summer. Glad I did when I had the time and was not in a rush to get a replacement. It is not a simple change! This is a picture PDF with a few of the "tricks." http://netwelding.com/Battery_Issues.pdf

Note: You need a special top configuration so if not getting an exact Delco replacement be careful as an Optima and a number of other won't fit the large power board on the positive terminal. One trick is how to release that large power board from the battery. The 2014 Service Manual was of little help, it just said, "Unclip from the battery" with no pic or description of where the clips were! Not obvious. Needs a pic, which the PDF provides!

Side Bar: When I brought my old C7 battery back to Sears, talked with the auto service manager and mentioned a few tricks, like how not to rip the carpet when getting to the battery, which once poster mentioned the dealer did and for sure an AAA driver would do even if just jump starting! Told him about removing the power board as well. He said in cars with batteries in "funny" locations they will not install and recommend they go to the dealer!

Can understand as with our Porsche Cayenne it was far under the drivers seat and a YouTube Video showed a ~3 hour effort to change since you had to remove the seat!. That is after getting a very large metric star bit for my 1/2 inch drive wrenches! In fact since that battery was showing only 11.8/11.9 volts when I needed to take a 1000 mile trip and before I had time to replace it, decided to trade that 4 year old SUV in on a BMW 5X SUV. Better vehicle however BMW already changed the battery at their cost for one they said was a $900 battery! Was operating fine but they switched to a higher capacity huge AGM battery since the car has energy saving features and only operates the alternator when braking or coasting! A gauge shows it as energy recovery.

trivette

My '14 was a September '13 build so I'm in the same situation-39 months on the battery since delivery plus however long prior to assembly it was actually manufactured. It's stored now and I always use a tender but my concern will come in the Spring when I start driving it regularly again. Part of me wants to just replace it then and know I've got a reliable battery for the Summer trips and be able to do the replacement on my terms and not in a parking lot somewhere and try to figure out how the carpeting pulls back to access it, etc. For approx. $120 or so it's probably not a bad investment for added peace of mind.

Kracka

3 years/31k miles here and my OEM battery still functions as it did when new. The C7 doesn't run a consistent 13-14v like a "normal" car, sometimes it will drop down into the 12's while driving, as needed, based on electrical system demand. No reason to run the alternator any harder than needed, just like the oil pump, since its just wasted energy lowering MPG ratings.

juanvaldez

Probably more than five years if is never allowed to run down. I've heard that every time a battery is run down it cuts the life in half.

rmorin1249

IMHO using a quality battery tender on a regular basis will extend the useful life of your battery especially if your C7 is not driven frequently for at least 30 minutes. My battery went completely dead after my trip to the Bash last year. I do mean completely dead. Could not even open the door. Dealer tested it after charging it and said it passed. It has been OK since but I have been using my CTEK religiously. I plan to replace it at about 35 months as it won't be under warranty. Probably will go with an AGM from either AutoZone, Advance or Sears. I believe you can get up to a 7 yr pro rata warranty if you buy the top of the line. I also see a lot of fluctuation in battery voltage while driving. It was concerning at first but seems this is normal for the C7s.

Hoonose

(LOL)

Obviously you were not around here for the C6 and DBS. Temporarily dead batteries were very common with 2005 C6's with manual trannies. Totally dead far more often than anything I've seen here with C7's. In fact that was one reason supporting my C7 purchasing decision.

checkur6

2014 also. Keeping my fingers crossed but so far so good!

Boiler_81

GM has done a much better job on the C7 key off power loads. The C6 was a disaster. I have not seen a lot of complaints on this forum for C7 battery life issues.

REZ1

Mine was fine for 32 months......a couple weeks ago dead....replaced under warrantee

eboggs_jkvl

2014. 32 months. Still going strong. I drive the car quite often if not daily. Most of my trips are short so I don't believe I get a full charge back in the battery to make up for the battery drain to start the car. I RELIGIOUSLY attach my magnetic connection to the C-Tek every time I pull it into my garage. I have the same hook up for my wife's car and it goes on her C-Tek when she parks. Both batteries have a long life going so far.


Knock on wood!


Elmer

Hopper12

If we keep a car for a while, I just replace the battery at around 4 years, even if there's no sign of trouble. Learned that the hard way a few times. A wifey with a dead battery when I'm out of town is not a good combination.

BTW, nice cars in your avatar!!!

JerryU

That is why I replaced mine in addition to the low voltage reading after the surface charge was depleted >~12 hr after shutting it off. My new AGM reads where it should.

Most of my miles are put on ~40/50 miles min trips (live 16 miles from town) so I never used a charger in the 3 years I've had it. Did buy the equivalent of the GM charger when I got the car to see if my low voltage was caused perhaps by the charging system. It charged it fully but after checking when the surface charge was depleted, it was ~12.4 volts about 1/2 volt under where it should be. Probably a weak cell. However having the battery go in my C6 and S-10 truck after 3 to 4 years thought changing when the AGM battery was on sale and when "I wanted and had time" before it's 4th winter was worth the cost!

When you review my PDF, you'll see it's not like changing one in a the C6.

trivette

I appreciate the PDF; it's certainly more involved than earlier models. My C6 had the Dead Battery Syndrome (manual trans.) before a new BCM was installed and I replaced that one pro-actively not wanting to get stranded knowing the history of it being discharged. My C1 and C3 batteries were a pain to replace due to their location but were simple in the actual procedure. The C7 is a bit more involved in both.

4thC4at60

My C6 battery lasted five years. I replaced it with an OEM battery.

My C7 now has 34,000 miles on it in two years.... starts fine.... when it stumbles a start the first time I will replace it with an OEM battery.

Sixth Corvette - 600,000 plus miles over 26 years - OEM batteries work fine.

Patches

32 months and 36k miles and no issues. It's my dd so it gets driven 4-5 times/week.