Quote:
Originally Posted by rjahl
I'd say once a battery gets past three years old it's on narrowed time. They can and often do last longer but they loose their storage capacity pretty quickly after a few years. Partly why the auto manufactures specify such large batteries.
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OEM batteries, at least in my experience (BMW and VW) always last way longer than aftermarket. 8 years would be an average number. I heard this from many other VW users (I was quite active on a VW forum when I used to drive one). Aftermarket batteries (I can't speak about all brands and product lines, but many) do tend to last just over 3 years, but it's not a rule, it might last over 5. So replacing it after 3 years with no sign of trouble would be a waste.