Mazda5 Battery Life Expectancy Question

[coolmazda5]

I don't remember seeing something like this posted before, so here is the question:

What is the expected lifespan of the Mazda5 battery if the car really experiences the 4 seasons (hot summers, cold winters) and is driven 5k-10k miles a year?

For the last month or so I feel that the 06 (bought in July 2005) has much less "dough" when starting, especially as Winter has been harsher lately. I might be biased as the 08 is my daily driver and it cranks like new, but wanna play safe as is the wife's ride

My battery lifespan experience on different cars varies crazily, from 2-7yrs so (dunno)

Thx

 

[mazdadude]

My OE battery was replaced and prorated by the dealer this last spring. Only got 2.5yrs out of it.

 

[coolmazda5]

Damn, 3.5 years on mine so far. I think the 06s were really an experimental model or the guys at Mazda had a series of bad car parts lots for these first models (scratch)

Oh well, I'll monitor it this week to see how it goes, it needs to be serviced soon anyway.

The 06 and the 08 come with the same battery (Mazda has not changed supplier it seems), so crossing fingers

Do you mind if I ask what battery did you buy to replace it?

 

[Mntnbkr]

My OE battery was replaced (prorated) in my 2006 at 2 years from purchase (probably 2.5 years since the hit the road). I thought the 5 was a little sluggish starting and with winter coming, asked the dealership to check it.
At my initial service visit, they checked battery status 'green' on the form w/o the battery analysis printout attached, then at the next visit after more or less admitting they never checked it the first time, they checked it 'again' and claimed it tested at 87 CCA - again no printout produced, so you be the judge if it was really bad or not in the first place. Again, wonderful dealership service...not.
2 years from a battery is not good.
If you are at a point where it is not warranty I would suggest NOT replacing with Mazda OE brand, I recommend Deka/East Penn - I've had good luck with them - my other car '01 Jetta is approaching 5 years with same Deka replacement battery.

 

[coolmazda5]

Thanks for the info. Did they replace it as part of the warranty? I still have like 11 months left (naughty)

If not I'll check for the ones you mention aftermarket. For things like batteries and tires I know the OEM are close to rubbish...

 

[808mz5]

Mine finally died tonight.... 3 yrs and 2 mos the car was in service in Nov and they said the battery was about to go... they were only going to give me $20 on the prorate and charge me $150 for the battery... I'd rather buy and Optima red top instead... I couldn't located the red top so went with the Costco brand... not a bad warranty 100 month prorate 36 month replacement for $65...

 

[coolmazda5]

Just got my battery changed today during the dealer service visit. Dealer said it was not critical to change and it still works but with Winter morning crank-ups it may die in a couple of months anyway.

Pro-rated at USD$90 so I took the plunge. Yeah, I would have bought it aftermarket but given that they also replaced at no cost one of my keyfobs (cutting and reprogramming included) which broke recently plus had some service discount vouchers, I could not resist

 

[meackerman]

ours died on our 06 in December. replaced it with a Costco one, didn't even bother with the dealer, since we pretty much hate their service advisor.

 

[richardmayo]

The OEM battery on my '06 bit the dust today.

Manufacture date on the car was January 2006, so we got about 3.5 years out of the battery. I'm not going to deal with the dealer replacement proration.

 

[coolmazda5]

Damn thing, let us know what you get

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Kids...

I don't remember seeing something like this posted before, so here is the question:

What is the expected lifespan of the Mazda5 battery if the car really experiences the 4 seasons (hot summers, cold winters) and is driven 5k-10k miles a year?

For the last month or so I feel that the 06 (bought in July 2005) has much less "dough" when starting, especially as Winter has been harsher lately. I might be biased as the 08 is my daily driver and it cranks like new, but wanna play safe as is the wife's ride

My battery lifespan experience on different cars varies crazily, from 2-7yrs so (dunno)

Thx

Well mine died after just over 3 years and 50,000 miles. Honeslty though I have kids who constantly move the center interior light from door to on and my wife hadn't noticed it for several days. The 5 does have protection to prevent drain if someone were to leave a door open but there's no protection from intentionally leaving the switch on.

And whomever said there was a bunch of bad parts the first year, well please refrain from such generalizations. All it takes is one comment like that to have all the naysayers come out of the woodwork and argue that the 5 has more 1st year problems than any other car. Which is doesn't. FYI We have one of the first ot come off the boat and except for two Emissions recirc pump failures the car has been solid as a rock.

 

[coolmazda5]

And whomever said there was a bunch of bad parts the first year, well please refrain from such generalizations. All it takes is one comment like that to have all the naysayers come out of the woodwork and argue that the 5 has more 1st year problems than any other car. Which is doesn't. FYI We have one of the first ot come off the boat and except for two Emissions recirc pump failures the car has been solid as a rock.

I'm one of those, but it is not out of the blue, it is based on following this and other forums' threads plus the number of relevant TSBs for the 06 model. Nothing deal breaking in my case either so far, very good car, love it, but the facts are there

 

[wmzda5]

I'm one of those, but it is not out of the blue, it is based on following this and other forums' threads plus the number of relevant TSBs for the 06 model. Nothing deal breaking in my case either so far, very good car, love it, but the facts are there

Maybe when the boat sank and they lost all that cars, and with all the orders on wait..... they rushed production... the reason for bad parts???....i donno

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

I would put a battery life today at 3 years to be at its peak. JMO

 

[TheMAN]

heat kills batteries, simple as that

but if you keep an eye on the electrolyte levels and keep it topped off (with NEW distilled water), it will help the battery last longer