Anyone have any horror stories after trying to get a battery replaced? My step-sons car needed a new battery last fall, Wally world was the only place open that time of night so that's where I went. Now,nine months later, the battery has died.

I've been reading online about all sorts of shenanigans Wal-Mart is trying to pull on folks regarding replacement, and wondered if anyone here has gone through any of this.

 

Why look for a problem before it exists? Has he returned the battery for warranty yet? What was the battery? Make, model, warranty?

 

Hey man, not looking for problems, just information. From what I have gleaned from a few other sites, the problem already exists.

Can't recall right off what size it is, but it is plainly marked 2 year free replacement.

 

Never had a problem with them. Got a brand new set of tires from them, paid the money for the warranty, and 3 months later my wife ran over something and punctured one of the tires. By the time she realized something was wrong she was a few miles from the house so decided to keep driving it. Ruined the tire doing that, but Walmart replaced it for free, no labor or anything.

I have two very large Walmart batteries in my diesel pickup. Have not had any problems. Batteries do go bad on occasion, but things need to be checked. Don't get all riled up if they want to check your son's charging system, and find out it's not working or there is a drain somewhere. If they find that, they can charge the battery back up and it will be up to you to get it fixed. They may go ahead and replace the battery, but would be doing you and them a dis-service if they didn't double check the car.

 

Thanks for the reply, I have no intention of not letting them go through whatever process they need to. I was basing my need to exchange the battery based on my own test of the charging system, and the fact that the battery won't hold a charge after being on a charger overnight.

Was only wondering how they handled warranty replacements. I know they are a business and are there to turn a profit, I also took the bad I read elsewhere with a grain of salt. Good to know you had a good experience, hopefully I will as well.

 

I am glad you checked it out yourself. That's the best way to do it.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the Wal Mart service center; several years ago I took my '79 in for a set of front tires in a pinch on the road. After a while I looked through the service bay window and saw my hood up with sparks flying forward. They let me come in the service bay where I found a battery charger hooked up because they couldn't get the truck started, only to find they had left the transmission in drive.

In my experience, the "value brand" of any retailer won't make it much past one year. The "ValueCraft" brand at AutoZone is similar. I've had good luck with the "SuperStart" type from O'Reilly's, which is what I've stuck with for the last few years. I'm sure Wal Mart will honor the 2-year replacement since you're 9 months into it, but you'll likely have another battery replacement closer to the end of the 2 years, and that third one will be the one that makes you start over.

 

When I was looking for two new batteriesyearlier this year, one for the 95 Mustang and one for the 2000 'Turd, I discovered that almost all the sellers had really tightened up the warranty terms. Except for two sellers, the days of prorated warranties was gone, replaced by an 18-24 month replacement warranty only.

Those two sellers: NAPA and the Ford dealer. I bought at the dealer since it was actually a better price for the Motorcraft battery.

 

I can't recall the last time I bought or installed anything other than an NAPA battery. Most I've used would sell for about $100 today but never had a failure that even required any action or replacement on their part.

FWIW I've had some installed trouble-free for 7+ years but IMHO anything past 5 is gravy!

 

im not a huge fan of walmart service center. or their batteries. Had a ATV battery fail a few months after i got it. Lost receipt. I have also had warranty issues with other things and was actually extremely insulted by service manager and called a idiot and that the replacement was not in yet. when it was plainly in sight behind her on the counter. Best luck i have had with batteries is Canadian tire. have some that are 15 years old and still workin great. Napa batteries are hit and miss. Replaced them in my diesel 3 times in 5 years. They came good on warranty everytime no issues but still a pain

 

Motorcraft batteries used to be more dependable than they are today, but my experience with Neverstarts has been that they are not very good at all. Your mileage may vary.

 

I went through three or four NeverStarts in less than 5 years with my old 97. The problem finally got resolved when the last one of them died a half mile from the local O'Reilly's stores.