GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Had been meaning to replace the battery on my 2009 bought Jan. 2009. [I replaced the one in my 2003 bought Jan. 2003 in Oct. 2007 as a preventive measure.] Unusual cold spell hit the past day or so here. Was using a lighter socket plug in tire inflator as all tires were reading low. Then went to start the Vibe and not enough battery power left to do that. Now have it on a 2 amp trickle charge setting on my 2/10/50 amp Schmacher battery charger - thought that would be better than the 10 amp setting as I am not going anywhere tonight. Costco just opened here and I have both Costco and Sam's memberships at the moment. Probably will go to Sam's Club tomorrow morning as they install. For a 35 it is about $86 either place. Sam's has Duracell. Costco is their Kirkland brand.

5 years is good! My son is on his 3rd battery on the 06, and so am I on the 10 GT. On the GT, the original was replaced before I got it in 12/11 so the original only lasted about 2 yrs. I replaced that one back in Sept, but luckily was able to get it done under warranty since the battery was only about 2 yrs old. Now I have a new 3 yr warranty so I "should" be good for a while if my past experience continues. We seem to replace batteries every 24-40 months down here. I usually only pay full price for the first replacement battery, and every one after that is either free, or only costs a minimal amount (<$20) due to the pro-rata warranty.

will have to keep this in mind for my '10. i am planning on replacing mine next year (if asymptomatic, i go 5 years on stock batteries, 4 on replacements.)

fwiw, i do know that costco has a battery for the '09-'10 base (i checked a couple weeks back.) when last i checked, the kirkland batteries are made by johnson controls, and the 4 i have bought or installed for others have all been great.

i do not buy anything from sam's ever.

Jake, I live further north in Ohio. I count on getting a minimum of seven years out of a battery. I know you don't drive the Vibe much, I bet if you drove it more or kept it on a battery maintainer the battery would last longer. Any battery that is .01 volts below full charge will start to sulfate. A fully charged battery will be 12.6 volts or more.

Actually the Vibe gets driven often - just not very many miles. Out T&C is the vehicle that can sit for 2 weeks with being moved. You may be right but in the whole scheme of things I am not going to worry about whether I change a battery every 4.75 years or 7 years. I am mostly mad at myself that I didn't do this last month before this happened but with global warming and all I thought I had a little more time.

I'm on the third battery in my 09 GT. The original failed because of a "dead cell" and the second one failed within a week because of a "dead cell." Then I was worried so I had them check out the electrical system for any possible problems, which they assured me there wasn't and it was just my bad luck. #3 is going strong so far (knock on wood).

I've heard the Florida heat can take a toll on car batteries, but who knows.

same here. I replaced my OEM battery on my '09 Vibe back in 2011 with a Costco battery.

My OEM battery died at a little over 7 years. Stopped to get some dinner and the car wouldn't restart. After a jump, made it to my street and the car died. Luckily I had enough momentum to coast to my driveway. Got an AutoZone Duralast in it now.

This morning I called the Sam's Club I usually shop to make sure they had a "35" in stock. Put on hold - I finally gave up. Called a different Sam's location (better neighborhood a little further away). Was told they were slammed with battery replacement installations - suggested getting a 2 pm "appointment". That worked. $86.23 plus tax. The "35" I got at Costco 5 years ago for my 2003 was $56. The Costco "35" is now $87 and no installation. Batteries have gone up a lot. My favorite bakery here in Columbus (Resch's) is on the way so I got a dozen really good breakfast sweet rolls on the way back. This bakery is so good they can get away with not taking credit cards.
[PS - The Duralast Gold which I think is the equivalent is now $124.99 here according to their website.]

Kinda a blessing that the battery in my Hyundai accent lasted as long as it did... t's a 2001 and we just replaced the battery in 2011 so I guess it's just luck?

I replaced the OEM batteries in both our Vibes in August of 2012 with Optima Red Tops (didn't really need new batteries, but they were offering a $25.00 mail-in rebate on up to 4 batteries). We shouldn't have to worry about needing new batteries any time soon.

09Viberator wrote:Kinda a blessing that the battery in my Hyundai accent lasted as long as it did... t's a 2001 and we just replaced the battery in 2011 so I guess it's just luck?

If that's the original Hyundai battery, that's got to be a record. Call Hyundai, I'm sure they would be interested to know what went wrong, usually they fail long before that! I got about 2 years out of the OE battery in my 2006 Accent.

Does Hyundai make batteries?

Yeah, they own their OEM battery supplier.