On Sat, 26 Oct 2019 11:48:28 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
T i m wrote:
Eg, the battery itself was probably very good (most factory ones are
(or were)), often lasting a long time.

I never buy a new car - preferring to buy at about 3 years old and avoid
the worst of the depreciation. But with a full service history. And that
seems to show the original battery doesn't last as well as a decent
quality replacement. Of course it might have been badly treated before I
bought the car.

Quite.

I was just going from the observation that many people that have taken
their cars to my friends garage have stated (or he has observed) that
they are still bearing the factory fitted battery when the vehicle was
then quite old (as confirmed by the markings, vehicle reg and the
battery date code etc).

The only ever new car I've had was my company Sierra and in spite of
many stop / starts (I lived near to work, came home for lunch when not
on site and used it for lights when camping etc), I seem to remember
it lasting a good few years from new. I think I fitted the biggest
battery the tray would take when it needed replacing because 1) It
wasn't my money and 2) I wasn't using it typically (re the camping
etc) and was often towing (so had an extra pair of lamps on it).

Cheers, T i m