I appreciate the comment but I am sorry. I DO NOT shop at Walmart on principle. The Walton family now amongst the richest people in the world have done more to put Mom & Pop businesses out of business than any other entity in my humble opinion. Big Box stores like Walmart have turned many towns into "ghost towns" such as Main Street in Riverhead, Long Island, NY. (I just checked on Google Earth to see if they have street level photos of what Main Street looks like today) Blocks and blocks of vacant store fronts that were once occupied by locally owned business such as Sweezy's Department Store that had been in business for over 100 years. The families that used to make a decent living are now out of business and they, or their kids are now working at Walmart for $8.00 per hour with no benefits because they are part time. That is not a living wage IMHO.

I will get down off my soap box now.

 

Factory battery 00-05. OEM replacement still good.

 

Jonas,

I really appreciate your comments. Now that my S is pretty much a garage queen this is helpful input as I pretty much only drive it on weekends and it sits in the garage for much of the winter months.

Your in-put in addition to some research that I have done since my last post seems to justify the additional expense of an Optima versus a Die Hard under the service use.

Thanks.

Matt

 

Another battery you might consider, pricey like the Optima, but they offer a greater variety for the money. Even light weight models.

http://www.braillebattery.com/

 

Thanks. Money is not the consideration as I plan to keep the S as long as I can. I look for the best ROI.

 

Matt, aren't you the one who used to buy Mobil One oil at Walmart? I do.

 

I am at six years and still going strong. But this raises a question about sealed lead-acid battery technology. Does anyone know what wears out on a battery ? Is there a certain chronological battery life, or is it dependent on charge/discharge cycles, or run-time hours, or other factors ?

Never mind - found some good applicable answers HERE

 

6 1/2 Years, no issue............yet.

Not driven in winter, no battery tender/trickler charger either.

 

Last time I looked, Sam's Club (OOPS! Walmart) sold Optima but I can't recall which color(s) they had. I have been buying batteries at Costco as of late - great warranty. If you take your battery in and tell them it's not functioning properly, they don't even test it. They just adjust it for a new one.

BTW, I personally never had good luck with DieHards.

 

In my original S (the '01), the oem battery died after 4 years. It DID behave a little strangely before giving up the ghost by cranking a bit slowly on start-up and hesitating a bit before turning over. Then one morning it just refused to crank at all. I went to National Tire for a heavy duty 36 month warranty battery.