Home Depot Exide 24F car battery warranty (2023 Update)

[andrew]

On the Home Depot web site is a 24F 750CCA Exide car battery.

I bought it today but Home Depot didn't have any explanation of how the "3 years free warranty" works. There are Q&A's asking and the responses conflict. Worse, they're incomplete.

I called Home Depot at 1-800-466-3337 and they referred me right back to the useless Q&A (which conflicts, and who knows if it's correct because it's not run by Home Depot but by the Internet).

Googling, I found multiple Exide executives already went to jail for selling used Exide batteries as new Die Hard batteries at Sears in New Jersey, so now it's even more pertinent to obtain the warranty information (who knows if they're not still knowingly selling defective batteries as new).

Have you ever brought an Exide battery back to Home Depot under warranty? What documentation do they require? (the date stamped on the battery is

09/23/19)

Is the 3 years pro-rated? If full (which it probably is), what happens if a new battery is more money?

Do you get a free battery (even if the new one costs more in a year than the old did today?)

Or do you pay the difference? How does Home Depot determine the battery is bad? Do they just take your word for it? Do they require a mechanic's signature?

NONE of the information I need for the warranty is on the Home Depot web site and when I called Home Depot they told me to ask on the web site (which puts me into a useless endless circle).

[trader_4]

A quick Google provides this:

So you get what it says, a free replacement battery if it fails during the first three years.

[Ralph Mowery]

Bought a Die Hard at the local auto parts store a few months back. They have a 3 year free replacement . If it goes bad they are suppose to put in a new one for free for you. Not prorated like some used to be in the past.

Working my way through college I worked for Sears in the auto shop . One night a man came in with a bad battery when I checked it. He was all smiles for a while thinking he would get a new battery as he had the paper work and had 2 months to go. Found out about the prorating. Forgot the exect ammount he got off on a new battery,but it was less than a dollar. That was around 1970.

[Clare Snyder]

Yes

No

They test with what is known as a "transconductance tester"

No - but they DO need the original sales receipt. Take a picture of it and print it out on a laser printer before it fades away totally and keep it with the ownership and insurance papers

[gfretwell]

That's why I buy Walmart batteries. They scan the bar code when you buy it and it stays in their computer. Bring the old one back, they scan the bar code and they can tell you when you bought it. They are pretty good about the warranty too. It is a no hassle swap if it is within the warranty period.

[The Real Bev]

Maybe 40 years ago we bought a lifetime Penney's battery for our 1960 Dodge van which made many trips across the country. The battery eventually failed. Penney's by then had sold their auto parts business to Firestone. I had to go to Penney's customer service to get my warranty 'validated' or something before I could go to the Firestone store to get a new battery.

Firestone said they'd have to check the van's charging system before giving me a new battery. I pointed out the obvious and that there was NOTHING in the warranty requiring that. I got a new battery.

Maybe 10 years later the battery was dead. Back to Penney's and the Firestone store. They wanted to give me a new BETTER 3-year battery to replace my 'lifetime' battery. I said no. Then they wanted to take my warranty papers into the back room to make a copy. I said I'd be happy to make the copy for them while they watched. They gave up. I got a new battery.

We still have the van and I bet if I went back with the paperwork I'd get a new battery. Lifetime means lifetime. Penney's sold the warranty to Firestone, which is on the hook until they go belly-up.

[rbowman]

Yes.

No.

Warranties on any expendable item like batteries or tires aren't going to give you any free stuff. This isn't the US government.

[Wade Garrett]

The language you're looking for is "free replacement within three years".

Your quote of "3 year free warranty" doesn't mean much except you'll have a warranty for three years and you don't have to pay annually to keep it in force. No wonder HD couldn't answer your question. The

*replacement terms* of a warranty are what is important.

Maybe the "warranty" you have for free is you get an exterior car wash and a chocolate chip cookie when you come in with a kaput battery within three years of purchase...but have to pay the then-current full price if you want a new one from them.

You get the car wash and the cookie nio matter what you decide ;-)

[rbowman]

It's all in the fine print as they say. However the Product Overview on the referenced page explicitly says '3-year free replacement'.

[fos]

Doesn't the word "Home" in Home Depot mean anything to anybody?

Is it really that difficult to Google "exide battery dealer near me" ?!

You don't go to an auto parts store to buy hardware, so why in the actual f*ck would anyone go to a hardware store to buy motor vehicle parts?

[Michael Trew]

Haha, I read about a woman who had the same car for DECADES, and had one of those life-time Penney's batteries. She really got a good deal... they had to keep honoring it and giving her new batteries.

Never give that '60 Dodge van up, how cool! If you do, shoot me an e-mail first, I'd love to get my hands on one of those. Especially if it has a straight 6 and 3 on the tree. Those are indestructible.

[Clare Snyder]

Sears was famous for always selling batteries at a "discount" Say the battery sold for $50, the "list price" would be $100 and you got 50% off. The pro rated replacement cost was a percentage of list - so if the battery was half way through the warranty period replacement cost was what you paid for the battery new.

It was a total scam\

I bought several "lifetime guarantee" batteries fron Canadian Tire. As long as you had the original receith they would replace the battery free for as long as it was in the original vehicleunder the original ownership. It was a good warrantee - the average person didn't keep the car longer than bout 3 years after replacing the battery so they didn't end up replacing too many. However, with that lifetime battery costing almost double what the "regular" battery cost it generally wasn't a good DEAL for the customer. I DID keep the car long enough to get 2 free batteries out of them

[Clare Snyder]

The A 100 Dodge van came out in '64. Was it a Town Wagon or Town van (Panel truck buased on the F100 pickup)?

[fos]

Better off going to a distributor and getting a new "blem"(ished) battery without a warranty than buying who knows what the f*ck you're getting at a hardware store then chasing ghosts for a warranty if needed.

[The Real Bev]

What, I have a twin? Slick! For a while all the businesses that sold batteries gave lifetime warranties. Pep Boys is still in business nearby, but Sears is going belly-up along with K-Mart. If I need a new battery for my Corolla I'll probably go to Costco.

V8, auto. One of us may be buried in it.

[gfretwell]

Walmart. It's a Johnson controls battery and the warranty is pretty much no questions asked. I am not sure about which one is the best because I suspect most of the price difference is just the warranty. I put their top grade in my boat and it blew a cell open about 20 months in. They just gave me another one, no hassle. I knew how it worked so I had the new one in my cart when I went to the service desk. I got out faster than if I stood in line at a cashier and bought one.

[micky]

I remember those days. that's when i figured you were renting a batttery, not buying one. I didn't know they had changed, and my Autozone battery seems to be giving me trouble after only a year, but I haven't done a proper check.

This is my favorite Sears story. My brother bought a new car with a

2-year warranty, a 1965 model, and it gave him constant problems. The dealer says he replaced the battery, alternator and starter, or maybe it was regulator 2 times each. And still the car wouldn't start sometimes, inconveniencing my brother tremendoously.

He lent me the car when he went to Viet Nam, and I concluded from some test that it needed a new battery. I took it to Sears which is really big in Chicago, and the mechanic said, Do you want our free 435-point multicheck, and I said, No, I just want a battery. And he said again, It's free. Not wanting to be a wet blanket or an ingrate I said Yes, and he found the problem in under 10 minutes that the dealer hadn't found in

2 years! I was very impressed.

(I think I did still need a battery, fwiw.)

The problem was a dirty connection where the battery cable connects to the starter solenoid on a GM car. Just had to be cleaned. But it reappeared whenever I forgot and left the lights on. The first time I took it apart and cleaned it but after that I learned to just twist it on the solenoid bolt and the car was good again. I could even do it wearing decent clothes and only get my hand dirty.

Do you konw why this was? Did they use the wrong material in the battery cable end? or the solenoid stud? Is this a GM problem?

[gfretwell]

Missing star washer?

[Scott Dorsey]

This would explain why you are so concerned about warranties.

--scott

[Clare Snyder]

The lowest initial price is very seldom the cheapest over-all or the best deal.

My guiding principal is never buy the cheapest or the most expensive becuse either way you are usually over-paying