Interstate battery warning

I guess thankfully the dealer didn’t suggest that I go the pro-rated amount route or I would have tried to see if I could have gotten that battery stuck in his rear end. As it was I called him pretty much every dirty name I could think of, but he didn’t back down. That’s the way Interstate warranted their batteries he said. Sure enough I looked on their web sight and that is exactly what they say there.

How in the world can they get by saying a battery has a 36 month pro-rated warrantee when after only 21 months it costs more to replace the battery under warrantee than to buy it brand new in the first place?

Well as you can guess I’ve got nothing good to say about the Interstate battery company, and will never, ever buy another one of their products. And of course my reason for telling you all, is in the hope you’ll look at their practices and never buy one of their batteries either. They may make a good battery, as any manufacturer can have a battery fail, but don’t think you’ve got ANY warrantee beyond the free replacement period. They need to be honest and up front about that and not hide it in small print.

You can check for yourself at Link

I AM NOT complaining about a few dollars!!!

If anything has a 60 month warrantee, then at 59 months that warrantee ought be worth something the the consumer. If it isn't, it IS NOT a warrantee!!! The company is lying if they call it a warrantee.

I would have had no complaint if Interstate had just said the battery had a 18-month replacement warrantee. Because, that is what it had.

You can't sell a dog and claim he's a cow, even if you can teach him to mooo.

I don't blame the stores one bit. In fact, some stores now require you to bring the battery to them for load test/recharge or they will sell you the alternator "as is", that is, with no warranty of any kind.

A similar thing happened many years ago with clutches. Wannabe mechanics would install a new clutch and refuse to surface the flywheel. This, of course, is the quickest way to destroy a perfectly good clutch. Most stores now require you to bring the flywheel to them for resurfacing or provide proof of purchase of a new flywheel before they will warranty a clutch.

You might be amazed at the number of wannabees who attempt to return a perfectly good but discharged battery with the old "this stinking battery won't hold a charge" speech. Of course, the wannabe never had enough sense to verify the condition of the charging system.

--->Paul

I sell about 150 interstates a year and almost never have to warranty one. When I do, I warranty it my way and Interstate warranties them to me their way. My customer's are worth doing it this way to me.

Free replacements warranties times mean just that. You get a new battery no charge. Over that time limit I divide the price I sell them for (less than their list) by the months stated on the battery. That gives you a per month value. Then I multiply that by the time it has been used. Period. No funny stuff. I may have 2-3 failed ones a year. With that kind of service and quality I will not sell any other brand as my first line.

I know that a battery is going to fail one in a while regardless of who made it. I don"t know that Interstate is any better or worse than any other brand. Just depends if a person is unlucky enough to get one of the few that is going to fail.

list price--$100.00
for sake of easy math 25 months warranty=$4.00 per month
15 months of warrany left=$60.00 credit toward a new batery
I normally sell battery for ----- ----$80.00
Less warranty credit----- ----- ----- $60.00
price you pay to replace bad battery--$20.00
Now how can you say the $20.00 you would pay is more than buying a new battery for $80.00 I dunno, maybe my math is wrong????

What I usually run into using your numbers would be they take the $60 credit off the list price and I would have to pay $40 for the replacement. Once I am down to 5 months or less left on the warrantee they will want $80 or more for the replacement.

It would be fair to everyone if it was just based on the actual current selling price. $80 battery with 25 months coverage is worth $3.20 a month. If I use up 20 months my credit shoud be $16; charge me $64 ($80 minus $16). But I think what others are saying is you won't even get that from most dealers.

You bought a cheap battery, you get what you pay for. Next time, buy a battery with a 72 month pro-rated warranty.