Starter battery replacement on NA Miata

[Spectre]

Walmart sells the same battery for less with a better replacement policy as the Everstart MAXX.

 

[Dr_Grip]

Just heard back from Pasadena, CA: The car started fine after sitting in the driveway for six weeks, so the "bad battery" seems to be not-so-bad after all. Thanks for your input, it'll come in handy when a replacement will really be necessary.

 

[argatoga]

Cars shouldn't magically fix themselves. I'd look into what is causing it to not start..

 

[Dr_Grip]

Cars shouldn't magically fix themselves. I'd look into what is causing it to not start..

As far as i got it, the car had problems starting the last time she did not use it for an extended amount of time, but finally fired up. My friend took it to a garage where they told her the battery is on the way out. She figured that there's no need to replace it as long as it starts the car up every morning but decided to replace it if she needs jump leads the next time she gets back from europe. But she didn't need any, thus postponed the battery replacement until the battery changes from "not-really-good-anymore" to "broken".

 

[GRtak]

She could solve the not starting problem by: 1) getting a battery tender for when she is gone, or 2) remove the negative cable from the battery so it doesn't loose it's charge to the parasitic drain that all cars have.

 

[Dr_Grip]

She could solve the not starting problem by: 1) getting a battery tender for when she is gone, or 2) remove the negative cable from the battery so it doesn't loose it's charge to the parasitic drain that all cars have.

Told her that, too (especially solution 2) - but she's quite right in arguing that the battery should be able to make it to a month of parasitic drain.

 

[thedguy]

Told her that, too (especially solution 2) - but she's quite right in arguing that the battery should be able to make it to a month of parasitic drain.

Not really. A lot of cars I've seen, especially the newer they get, can't seem to survive much over 2 weeks. Besides "should" and "does" are 2 different things. 1x10mm socket and 15 seconds of her time could save from having to run out and buy a new battery. Not doing so because she believes it shouldn't do that, yet still seems to anyway, sounds like she's in Denial and delusional... or just very lazy.

edit: I actually start to worry about either of mine if they sit more than a week and a half. My friends Audi 20v quattro can't go 2 weeks without flattening a battery.