Factory battery life length

[Randal Scott]

How long did your factory battery last?  Mine is a little over 5 years old. It's turning over hard. I know sitting for 6 weeks or more ,isn't helping. It's only been moved out and back in, just to get the mower out. Until we rearrange the garage. Being 5 years old probably makes the sitting worse. Should be used more now. Should be out of the wheelchair and walking again. 

[Pryme]

2 hours ago, Randal Scott said:

How long did your factory battery last?  Mine is a little over 5 years old. It's turning over hard. I know sitting for 6 weeks or more ,isn't helping. It's only been moved out and back in, just to get the mower out. Until we rearrange the garage. Being 5 years old probably makes the sitting worse. Should be used more now. Should be out of the wheelchair and walking again. 

Putting it on a maintainer would help if it’s not used often. Glad to hear you’re going to be walking again!

Edited June 5, 2025 by Pryme

[lineman1234]

Im in.................................................................

 

I bought my 2024 in January of 2025, new. 3500 wt gasser, regular cab. My oem batt was replaced under warranty 3 months ago. 

 

My mother got a chevy suv carryover the batt lasted 2 years and crapped out. 

    What a crap show.... I called, said batt was bad 8 volts after charging for hours. OK, bring it in service department sais. Cant i just bring the battery in. Nope, we need to test it. How do you want me to get it 35 miles there? Buy another battery and bring it there, put oem batt back in so you can test it. We need to test it hear is all i got, in the vehicle. 

     I went to napa and just got another one. 

 

My 2015 ram 2500 diesel, the batts lasted 7 years and i only changed because i got a code for turbo actuator going out. I had heard new vehicles can do strange things with low voltage, so took a chance, even after load testing both batts, they tested good, changed them instead of the actuator. 

   It turned out to be the actuator anyway. 

     

[garagerog]

Battery life has been decreasing over the last several years and this is supposition on my part but I'm going to wager that since flooded lead-acid cell batteries use recycled lead, that there has been a gradual contamination of said lead with non-ionic material over repeated recycling resulting in poorer performance and life cycle. I have no idea if there are currently any active lead mines in the US where pure new lead could be used in addition to the recycled lead to boost performance. I have 2 older AC-Delco group 78 batteries (one 9 years old, the other 10) that when sold had a 6 yr. warranty and an output of 800 CCA. The best that AC-Delco can offer in group 78 now has a 42 mo. warranty and 790 CCA. Both of my old batteries still function reliably in seldom driven vehicles with an occasional charge.

[Pryme]

My trucks factory battery is still going strong with no signs of degradation. 2022. I do put it on a maintainer when I think about it. 

[KARNUT]

Batteries are all over the charts. I was replacing a battery every two years in a car I drove once a month. I put a tender on it 5 years ago. Solved that problem. My wife’s Genesis first one lasted 4 years. Same brand, exact driving pattern. 10 years still going. The only reason I don’t replace it is, she’s never more than 10 minutes from me. My 02 avalanche same driving pattern 2 years, cheap auto zone battery.

[Grumpy Bear]

10 years, 2 months, 29 days for Pepper. Factory installed battery is still in service. Battery Tender when left alone for more than a week. Sits most of the winter months but starts when I ask it to. Had is tested a few months ago after a nap where I didn't have the tender on it and was told...

 

 

 

[Randal Scott]

Thanks all! I was driving it until a infection and I couldn't get my prosthetic leg on. I'm healed and should have it on tomorrow. But I have to get it on right away in morning. Or my leg starts to swell. 

[waltman]

I had a 2022 gas truck that had the battery go down 7 months in from new, I'm in a another 22 diesel and it still has the original batteries.

[redwngr]

I expect at least seven years from an OEM installed battery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mjm-1957]

I have a 2017 Sierra 2500HD gas that was made November 16 2016, we got it the following week at the dealer I work at and it sat there until I bought it September 7 2017. It still has the original AGM battery and still going strong.

[ManyCamaroz]

I usually keep a tender on my vehicles and get 5-8+ years on them. Last several I bought the Duracell batteries at Sams and so far so good. FWIW, I had a Harley and got 11 years out of the battery, always on a tender when she was put up for the night.

[Randal Scott]

I know about battery tenders. I have had one on motorcycle for years. The last battery lasted 9 years. I also have one on the running lawn mower. Batteries have lasted 5-6 years. I don't have one on the Silverado. I drive it, then I get laid up and can't drive. And it sits. I have left it sit for 4-5 weeks. So far it's always started. Sometimes it turned over hard, but always started. Then it's driven or let run for 15-30 minutes. The factory battery is 6 years old. Thinking that I may be on borrowed time. 

[Chuck FB]

With all the issues I have seen with some vehicles drawing down a battery if left sit for even a few weeks, never mind a few months as its stone dead by then, I already planned or should say was resigned to the fact that this 2025 is going to have an issue if left sitting for a while. Soon after I bought it I mounted up a tender under the hood that has the option to hard mount it into the system with eyelets on the 12 volt side of the charger, hooked the positive up to a spot in the fuseable box on top of the battery and the negative to a bracket bolt on the fender. I do have to pop the hood but have the cord protected with split loom to avoid vehicle use vibration damage to the cord and its end tucked away just behind the passenger headlight area when not being used. That is the good part about these trucks ironically that they don't have an underhood light that comes on to drain a battery, so if I figure I won't be using the truck for some days I will plug it in and its doing its thing and should help out some with cold weather starting since the battery should be topped up ready do do all it can. 

 

I haven't left it sit for more than a week without using the tender but I experimented with checking the voltage on both batteries hours after it was parked and as the days went by the main battery was slowly loosing some voltage where as the secondary battery on the gas is isolated when the truck is not turned on electrically and it says up pretty much with no issue at the same time the main battery is trending down. The tender is only charging the main battery, it can't feed into the aux battery since the solenoid is not powered up that connects the two together.  

[bruceb58]

If my truck is going to sit for 2 weeks or more, i have a solar panel and a solar controller that suction cups on the windshield. It's a 50W panel and I attach it to the vehicle via Anderson connectors.

 

My experience with  previous new vehicles is that they last 2 to 5 years. I think it all depends on how discharged the batteries have gotten while sitting around either before going into a vehicle or how long the vehicle has been sitting before sold. It's always interesting that the batteries in my new vehicles that last the longest are vehicles I special ordered. They sit around the least before being sold.

Edited December 3, 2025 by bruceb58