JCPenney Lifetime battery in my 72 FJ40

[65swb45]

When I first started wheeling in 1980 one
Of the guys in my local club had a similar deal with Sears and their DieHard for going on 10 years at that point.

I listened in stunned amazement about how he had NEVER had a dead battery off road. His simple plan: at 36 months he just laid a crescent wrench across the terminals. It saved all those silly discussions about having to load-test the battery

 

[45Kevin]

Good thread.
At Canadian Tire about 6 years ago I bought a battery and for an extra $9 they would triple the warranty. I took the deal.
That meant I would have a full replacement for 9 years and a further 18 years of prorated warranty.
Last year I went in for my third replacement (winching and a bad regulator) and they didn't have the same battery anymore. My choices where a lower quality battery, or buy up to a higher grade. To get the higher grade I had to give up the original warranty. The new warranty is 5 years full replacement so I figure I am still doing OK.

 

[1911]

They probably started this lifetime warranty thing because in reality, very few models of vehicles really survive all that long.

It's even easier than that - some accountant figured out that some huge majority of people now either just lease a new car every three years, or trade in on a new one on a regular basis if they actually buy it. So their lifetime warranty sounds great in advertising copy, but they almost never have to cough up for it - except for neanderthals like us that pay cash for a vehicle and keep it for many years.

 

[Kayaker]

Well, a Google search on the "JC Penny Lifetime Battery" turns up this IH8MUD thread, so I guess I better update it and keep it up for the duration (Like the ad says, "for as long as I own my personal car or truck").

The Interstate battery I was given at my previous replacement finally failed to hold a charge after 6.5 years of faithful service. I did hate that green color though so I'm not sad to see it go. This time they gave me a Die Hard Silver battery; retails for $222 at Advance Auto which is where they got it.

To Firestone's credit, they had entered me into their data base, so replacement was a breeze. All I had to do was provide my cell phone number and my name turned up as the owner of a JC Penny Lifetime Battery. Once he saw that, he called his supplier (Advance Auto) and shortly thereafter, my new battery arrived. "Here you are sir, thank you for your patience, you are good to go". That was it, no paperwork no State of Florida recycle fee, nothing but a thank you. Sweet.

I did ask how many of these replacements they still handle (I'm in Jacksonville, Fl, so it's not a huge population) expecting to hear I was the only one. To my surprise he said they still get one every now and again, so I guess there are still a few of us who refuse to get rid of their old cars because we don't want to miss out on these free replacement batteries every 6 years or so.