Had a similar experience a week ago. The Walmart I went to didn't have an automotive, so went to customer service to do the swap. The lady tried to tell me that they didn't take dead batteries. I pointed to one that was sitting right behind her that was clearly used and dead, but she told me she didn't know why that was there and they didn't take them. Just said screw it and went to a different Walmart rather than keep arguing with her

What podunk Walmart doesn't have automotive?

I don't think the new one in central Houston have them. Yale/10 & Silber/10 don't have automotive oil changes/tires etc but they sell oil as that's what I buy mine for changing oil at home.

drumboy said:

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Flaith said:

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Shoulda hit Crosstimbers if you really wanted to round out the danger circus

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That's where they wanted me to go to get it tested, or S Wayside.

Oh well, at least my kids got to visit grandma, eat well, and get their bath, and she sent me home w/ a big thing of sticky rice & Chinese sausage.

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maroon barchetta said:

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What podunk Walmart doesn't have automotive?

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I10 and beltway 8 on westisde doesn't. But they sell batteries.

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Sounds like you could save yourself a lot of hassle and maybe some money by investing in a jumper box. I got a noco on black friday and had a "battery week" a couple weeks ago where i used it 5x i think. Super impressed. The battery that had died in my new-to-me car was an exide dated june 2015. My wife's last car (2001 civic) the factory battery lasted 10 years. Neverstart and duralast last 3 years

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I have a jumper as well, that's a good suggestion. I have heard the 10 year battery stories, but thats never been the case for me. Never had a battery make it to 5, and never had one fail in less than 3 years. I don't really think running a battery until it quits is worth it. Low voltage can be hard on a cars alternator, starter, etc. I don't mind paying $40 bucks a year to replace every 3, versus $12 if I somehow happen to get a decade out of a battery.

MTTANK said:

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I don't mind paying $40 bucks a year to replace every 3, versus $12 if I somehow happen to get a decade out of a battery.

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Makes sense when you put it that way, like an extra oil change a year, or half a tank of gas

Not a bad idea to set a reminder to replace after 3 years as I generally get that on average as I think all of mine failed before or just after 3 years, never after 4 IIRC.

For motorcycles I know folks that always replace their battery before road trips but that's a little different than normal commuting in a car.

Dang, E-dog, y'all must just have crap WMs in Houston area. I've gotten free WM battery replacements twice in the past month. Both had 3 year free replacement warranties and both went out at about 2.5 years. I didn't even keep the receipts, they can scan the barcode and tell when you bought them. I just take them straight to the auto department. They'll scan them and put the tester on them. Last one I did, it wouldn't test because it was fully dead, so they said they had to put it on their "rapid charger" that would test it to see if it held a charge. I fully expected them to tell me it was still good, but they couldn't get it to test properly, so the guy just said "I'm just going to mark it as bad and give you a new one."