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We recently had to have our 2006 Ford Mondeo battery replaced. We had only owned the vehicle for 18 months and had purchased from a Ford dealer. Isn't this a rather short shelf life for a car battery?

Peter

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 30 August 2009

To be honest I would expect a battery to last longer than three years and be grateful for a life span greater than five.

One of the issues surrounding the life of an original battery on a fairly new vehicle is its actual age when the vehicle was first registered. For example, all new cars are assembled at various plants around the world so by the time the car arrives in NZ and is sold, can mean the battery is several months old when the vehicle is registered and driven out of the showroom.

The more popular models move fairly quickly but vehicles which sit for long periods can have batteries fitted which are several months old by the time the vehicle is first registered. ..

With our current economic climate this sort of scenario may become a bigger issue further done the track.

Hopefully new car distributors will take the necessary steps to help preserve battery life with slow moving stock

I am not for one second suggesting the Mondeo is a slow seller, the exact oposite has in fact been the case in recent times.

Hopefully the Ford dealer covered the battery cost and installation under their new car warranty programme.

I answered a question on battery life recently that you may find helpful.