Quote:
Originally Posted by chevymad
Are the battery warranty's changing everywhere else? Our napa batteries just switched to a 2 year free replacement, no pro-rating. After 2 years no more warranty. We were told the industry is switching to this.
|
Most of the industry made the change to eliminate the pro-rata warranty before I left the business (ACDelco territory manager) back in 2018. I think ACD made the change around 2015.
Why? Because most consumers thought (incorrectly) that a 5 year warranty was full replacement, not pro-rata. Interstate batteries was sued over the pro-rata warranty over 10 years ago.
"With each battery it sells, Interstate provides a “Limited Warranty,” which entitles Interstate customers to purchase a replacement battery at a prorated charge based upon the number of months the original battery lasted. Other retailers use the suggested retail price (or the price the consumer paid) as the price to be prorated. Interstate, however, calculates the monthly credit based upon an inflated “List Price,” which is not mentioned in Interstate’s Warranty, is about 20 percent higher than Interstate’s suggested retail price, and is even higher still than the price at which the batteries are typically sold."
In most cases, once you enter the pro-rata portion of the warranty (usually 12 - 18 months), the consumer really didn't receive much value.
ACD batteries have full replacement warranties ranging from 24 - 42 months, depending on the battery purchased.
To me, the longer full replacement warranty is more consumer friendly and much easier to understand.