paqman

Hey it's time to replace the battery in my 2010, and I was curious what your thoughts were on extending the life of my next battery by using a battery tender all the time when the car isn't being driven. Or maybe even just in the winter? I drive it mostly just to work and back about 8 miles each way. I've just heard that some folks are able to get more years out of their batteries by keeping them on a tender on a regular basis. That being said, my original OEM battery has lasted 8 years now, so pretty good in my book. Just curious on your thoughts. Thanks!

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

8 years on the OEM battery is great. Just this week I noticed that my car was starting slow. I had the battery checked and it was low so I charged it over night and its good to go. I have to add that my wife drives my car now until we buy her another one and she drives 11 miles to work, parks and comes home. On the weekend we drive my truck so the Maxima is only being driven about 4 hours and 125 miles per week which is really rough on the battery.

MadMax07SL

A lot of it is also dependent on average temp year round and driving conditions. Down south, there's not a lot you can do to keep a battery longer then 3 years. I had one last me just about 2 years was the best of the Advance Auto brand, then the other day it just died. No warning really, just one slow start, next start the following morning clicks. Jumped it, drove it for a bit, had volt meter with me to check it, seemed ok as soon as I parked it, was dead again that afternoon. Had a warrantee, completely covered for 3 years, so I got another for free. That's kind of where it's at. That said, I understand extreme cold can be hell on the battery too...

(Edit, I know someone's going to go off on my assertion that 3 years is all you get out of a battery, of course that's a general statement, and often times batteries do last 5-6 years with no problem...I'm just talking on my experience with multiple different brands)

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

MadMad, I know what you mean. I lived in Barstow, CA for 2 yrs from 2013 - 2015 in the Mojave Desert. The temperature averaged 109 degrees and sometimes got as high as 120. During that time I went thru a set of tires, a battery, had my windshield replaced and had to get my headlights buffed out due to the constant sand storms. The Optima battery I have now is the one I bought when out there is Oct 2015, it was exactly 8 days out of warranty. So I'm hoping my recharge and driving the car more on the weekends will solve the slow start issue.

mmrahul

Why don't you just get another battery and use it like you used the original one? You are already getting more life out of a battery than anyone else here. Why do you care to get even more? My 2012 Maxima OE battery lasted 4 years. Then I bought & installed myself, a group size 24F from Walmart (same polarity as OE size 35, and fits in the 7th gen perfectly). It's got 750 CCA compared to 640 CCA of OE size 35. It's been 2 years now, no problems so far and I hope it lasts, seems to be good so far.

paqman

Oh that's my plan. I just put in a new battery. I'm not like super worried about it or anything, just wanted to know if that was good practice to help extend the life of the battery or not. I'm not the original owner. Just bought it earlier this year from the original owner, not sure what they did that made it last that long. However I will say that typically here in Utah they do seem to last pretty long for me. Anywhere from 5-7 years seems pretty typical. Just wondered if using the battery tender would help my chances of having another 8 year battery rather than a 3-5 year battery. We have hot summers and cold winters, so worst of both worlds lol.

paqman

Yeah it seems for me, batteries can last pretty long. I've had them go 7 or 8 years (like this one), but a few have only gone 3-5 years. I'm really just curious if the tender can help extend the life, maybe give a better chance of having it be a 8 year battery than a 3 or 5.

ffb13

for many years i have been using the battery tender every day .. the battery on my cars last 10 plus years .i have one at 11 years now ( this one is a 2008 car ) .i have cars in the north and also in the south and the same both places . my longest lasting battery is always the VARTA from germany that have lasted me over 11 years in a mb and a vw . this was before i started using the tender , but can never find them here ..as cars utilize more and more computers the batteries last less.

paqman

Well there's one vote for the tender. Thanks for your input. At this point my thought is it definitely won't hurt battery life. Just trying to decide if it's definitely enough of a help to bother with it. I used it all the time on my motorcycle because I didn't ride it every day. But always wondered about a daily driver.