Sears  -  it should be named the die easy battery

I have bought Sears diehard batteries for over 30 years. They were always the best. I recently bought a battery from them and it was dead after one start. I tried to charge it and it would not charge. I then noticed they sold me a battery that was over 18 months old. When I took it back to Sears I pointed out how old the battery was and everyone on the shelf was less than 3 months old. They said it didn't matter. They put it on their tester and said it was fine and only needed charging. I let them charge it, they claimed it was fully charged. Of course it didn't even turn over my engine. I checked the charge and it was the same i when I took it to them- very depleted.

I have since bought another battery from a different store and my car is back to running just find. But I am out $185 from Sears because they claim their battery works fine. They are full of it. The truth is, this company is going out of business. They have old batteries on their shelves and I'm certain they are not topping them off. I will never step foot in a Sears again. However, I'm pretty certain no one will be able to set foot in that store again in a few months. You would be crazy to buy from them. It is sad to see a once great company go south so quickly.

Die Hard changed the warranty so now they at most carry a 4-year replacement warranty if you pay top dollar. Mine was bought in 2012 and it no longer hold charge. Had to pay a total about $150 for another 2-year warranty battery. And this is not the first time when a Die Hard battery failed before the "old" warranty is up. Guess I will not be going back any more.

Think this is discount double check on the consumer.. All the Platinum Batteries now are the former Gold Relabeled batteries and Johnson Controls/Sears is trying to make us PAY DOUBLE for what used to be a Sears Gold battery. My Ford Explorer 1999 Eddie Bauer had a Sears D Gold Diehard in it at the end of 2014. It had been in the vehicle for 7 years. Had the whole electrical system checked and put in a new alternator when I replaced the battery. Don't you know the Diehard Gold refused to start the car in less then 6 months in 2015? Went to the store they said a Cell was bad. Got a new one off the shelf and replaced it.. Two weeks later the Replacement Sears Gold Diehard battery Failed.. Not believing in any more OVER RATED SeaRs Gold Diehards.. they don't have the CC power that they used too. My neighbor a NASCAR mechanic says they only use Interstates because Sears/ Johnson Controls have lowered the quality of the Gold series batteries to make a Price point "space" for the Platinum series that they sell. .

I’ve bought tires and batteries from Sears for a long time. My Tahoe got a new Diehard battery in 2008 (3-yr free replacement); needed replaced in 2011; which needed replaced in 2013; which needed replaced in 2015. Service adviser was very rude this year when I went in with a bad battery and kept insisting that there was something wrong with my Tahoe’s wires. I told him since my stock Tahoe currently has less than 100, 000 miles and only gets serviced by the local GM dealer that he was mistaken. Next time I have a dead Diehard battery; I’ll buy a battery somewhere else.

I am in agreement with the poor longevity of this particular battery. I am currently researching batteries so as to replace the Die Hard DH Gold GP 79 currently within my H2. Purchased the Die Hard on 8/15/2011 and now in the market to replace on 1/5/2015 due to longevity of 3 years and 4 months. I am going to determine the manufacturer of the battery within my wife's 2004 Jaguar XJ; I replaced the original battery a week ago thus it lasted in excess of 10 years. I know it will be expensive; but, at least one gets their money's worth.

I purchased 2 die hard batteries and one didn't even make the six month mark before dying on me. They told me the battery was good at the first visit and the next time I spoke to a Carlo and I had to bring my car in to check even though I had an outside-mechanic check everything and my car runs great with interstate battery. Picture me letting Sears take my good battery out so they can look through and possibly mess up my charging system and they want to put on the old battery again lol? How can I trust anyone in Sears to take care of my cars if they are recommending crap products to me and my family? All I wanted is for a refund of one of the batteries which I purchased April 20 2014 for 152.05 and I would eat the loss on the other. They are not honest and don't have the decency to take care of the problem. Next I will post on Facebook and then I am sending a letter to Better business bureau and if I have to Sears is going to small claims court.

Well, AFAIK, Johnson Controls makes the Diehard gold, Interstate, Motorcraft, Wal-Mart Everstart, Auto Zone Duralast, Pep Boys Prostart, Costco Kirkland, Advance Autoparts Autocraft, batteries and uses pretty much the same materials and Q.C. for all of them. If you're buying a Diehard make sure you check the date code to insure it's not been sitting on the shelf a year or two. There should be a alpha-numeric code indicating the month and year of manufacture (ie. E14 indicates May of 2014). Batteries will sulfurize if sitting for long periods of time, and this will greatly effect their life. Also if your battery is leaking at the terminals there's a good chance that the terminals were over-torqued (either by you or some clueless grease-monkey ).

going on my third battery in about 2 years! not so good.

Bought die hard Gold in Nov. 2011..It died in May 2013 had it replaced free.Now this one dead in March 2014 (9 months!) Replaced free.WTF though?
I want at least three years of CONTINUOuS service.
Now come Nov. 2014 I will be S.O.L.
Bad product!

same story as all the rest bad battery in its warrranty and was told that they got a bad batch of batteries they prorated it after 16 months and if you average it out i am paying 67 dollars a year, next time interstate here i come, sears is worthless they figured out how to get you to pay more

I purchased a Sear's Gold Die Easy battery on 12-11-12 for Jeep Grand Cherokee. On 12-09-13 two days short of a year the car failed to start. After jump starting the car my charge gage read it was charging @ 15 amps, yet the car again failed to start.

I returned to Sear's Towne West Mall and was advised that I had a 36 month free replacement warranty, but first I had to pay $21.42 to have my charging and starting system inspected and tested before they will test and replace the battery. What could I do it was 9 degrees outside and my car wouldn't start. Then after 2 1.2 hours waiting the battery guy came and advised me they broke the battery terminal clamps while testing the starting system (which was fine) but I had to agree to $4.80 additional before they could test the battery.

Finally after almost 3 hours he told me the car was done, and that they had been having a lot of trouble with the 65 series batteries and he should have just warranted it to begin with. Didn't stop him for charging my credit card his shop fees on top of the aforementioned charges. Shop fees--to reimburse them for their shop towels and cost of disposing of mop water the notice read.

I new Sear's was circling the drain, but I Didn't realize someone had already flushed. I will return to Sear's again. When the Federal Bankruptcy court orders their total liquidation. I am sure there will be some great deals on closeouts. Just wonder if I can use my credit card, or if it will be cash only?

Bye-Bye Sear's, your terrible customer service will bury you.

I have 3 fords and they all have die-hards and i have no problems what so ever untill now. Bought a gold item #[protected] on 10/21/13 and came home today and my alarm was chirping, charged battery for 5 hours and nothing. tested volts and got 8. WOW, had to swap batterys out of other truck at 10:00pm so i dident get ripped off by no alarm. What a hassle.

I purchased a new Diehard Gold in March 2004. This replaced the Motorcraft battery in our '99 Ford Windstar. In July 2005, the interior lamps were left on overnight by my wife or myself, depending on whose telling the story(hello, Dr. Phil). We jump-started the van; thought all was well. The battery died again within the week. We had Sears check for electrical drains, etc. The Sears service tech concluded that the battery would not hold a charge after being drained so severely and, in their words, "We will prorate the cost of a new battery for you, even though you admitted fault". This second battery lasted 3 months! We returned it to Sears, where we encountered the same service tech. He remembered us, and our one time incident of leaving the courtesy lamps on. However, he suggested that maybe we have a 'habit' of leaving our courtesy lamps on, because " we get this situation every day." While I stepped out of the building to breathe, my wife asked for a replacement battery. My wife came out smiling. They replaced the battery at a prorated cost. I said that this would be the last one. It died 6 months later! My little protest was to return the battery to Sears, specifically the same service tech, and to tell him that I did not want any Diehard battery, prorated or otherwise.
My Wallymart (haha) Everstart battery was trouble-free for the remaining 3-1/2 years that we owned the Windstar!

Purchased Diehard in April 2012, battery won't charge as of Dec. 2012 - taking it in for a refund. Must be a fluke :-)

Clearly nobody knows anything about batteries that has posted here. One guy even said something about polarity? This man is clueless. These Batteries last a very long time as long as there maintained correctly. If you do nothing they will not last just like any other battery! I have had problems with interstate batteries as any brand of battery. As a mechanic I've had to deal with many battery problems.most the time if there cracked its because the guy behind hit something like a curb and Jarred the battery in a bad way or the battery holds own came loose. All the the buyers fault. If a battery went dead it most likely because the buyer has either a charging problem or something drained it like leaving the head lights on. But as we know even when it your fault you still try to get a freebie! And then get upset when you don't get one . I use these batteries a lot here in. Fairbanks Alaska land of the 40 below 0 weather and there very good cold weather batteries and last a long time when properly maintained! They also have a great amp rating for people who like to run a lot of lights and even a winch on there trucks. I recommend the die hard gold for anyone living in a cold climate place! Just take care of it if you do buy one and it will last longer then most of your cars!

I bought a die hard 2 weeks ago & once installed my dash lights began to flicker. I took my truck to the chevy dealer & they went through everything possible...cleaned grounds, installed additional ground on the back of the alternator, and replaced the alternator. Nothing worked to solve the problem. No one expected a brand new battery to be bad. However once they replaced the battery the problem was solved. The battery tests good on the machine but obviously has a problem. Sears will not give me a full refund since their tester shows the battery to be good. Nor will they take any responsibility & help pay for any service work at the Chevy dealer. I offered to let them put the die hard back into my truck & if the problem was there they would pay all bills...if the problem was not there I would leave without any type of refund...they declined. Sears has really went downhill in service & reliability. I will never do business with the company again.

Do not buy a Die Hard Battery from Sears. They won't hold a charge.
Had a bad experience today. The Die Hard Gold was approximately 3 years old.
The Sears service person said the battery was good. We did a test in Sears service department and left the head lights on for fifteen minutes and showed him that the battery was unable to start the car. The battery should not be dead in such a short period of time.
We did this same test at O'Rilley Auto Parts and the told us that the battery was toast. We bought a battery at O'Rilley auto parts.

I have a diehard battery and it wasn't working so I got a new one
And the new one didn't work too

Just had a diehard create a leak at the battery terminal post in a 94 E320. Bought the battery in 2006 so it is still in the 100 month prorate period. Funny thing is, it never lost a charge and there was nothing that indicated I had a faulty electrical system. I just noticed when I lifted the hood one day, there was a huge blob of acid at the terminal. It was like toothpaste. So the technician suggested that the gases inside caused it from a really hot day. OK, whatever, it never gets over 110 in Raleigh and the seals should be designed for a lot hotter than that under the hood of a car. I am going with a DEKA AGM, as I have had my share of acid leaks over the years.

I bought a new diehard gold in December 2009. It crapped out in Feb 2011. Sears tried to blame it on the alternator. After I demanded they replace the battery per the warranty prior to doing any work, my truck started up without a problem. Noticed in the past few days that the power is starting to wane. It has been 11 months since it was replaced. This last one could not even make it a year. Will be going in tomorrow to have the battery replaced, again. For those looking to blame someone/something else for these failures, open your eyes - something is wrong with diehards now. I had one in my old explorer that lasted 5-6 years but that is not the case now. We are lucky if we can get a year out of it. As long as I can get a free replacement, I will keep getting a diehard but once that is gone, maybe I will purchase an optima.

I purchased a new Diehard Gold battery in February of 2011, and in May of 2011 it crapped out on me and would not hold a charge. Since the battery was only three months old at that point, I assumed something was wrong with the electrical system in my car and took it to a garage. After thorough diagnostic testing, my mechanic indicated my charging system was fine and there was no parasitic drain on the battery or other fault in my electrical system. He indicated my battery was bad and also suggested I stay away from Sears Diehard batteries. I went back to Sears with the defective battery and asked for a replacement. The Sears associate insisted on testing the battery, which seemed reasonable to me, so I left the battery with him and went next door to do some shopping. After more than an hour, I returned to the Sears store and the associate indicated his mechanic initially had trouble getting the battery to hold a charge, but eventually he did get the battery charged, and offered to have it reinstalled in my car and also check the charging system for $17.00, to which I agreed. Once the battery was reinstalled, I spoke to the Sears auto center manager and he indicated the alternator, voltage regulator, belts and all charging system components checked out fine, but that he thought perhaps there was a weak ground in my car's electrical circuitry. He indicated his mechanic cleaned and tightened all the grounding connections, and that the battery was holding a charge. At this point, I wondered if maybe the Sears folks had discovered something my mechanic missed, and I left the store thinking/hoping the problem had been fixed once and for all. Well, the battery seemed to perform fine for two weeks, but now it's acting up again and won't hold a charge. I am a former Navy avionics technician, and all of my own testing, plus the comprehensive diagnostic by a certified mechanic indicate this battery is defective. I plan to take the battery back to Sears again tomorrow and ask for a refund. I will not waste my time having it replaced with another Diehard Gold battery. I simply do not trust these batteries. I will post an update to this thread after my trip to Sears tomorrow. We'll see if the manager there agrees to refund my money (or at least give me store credit), and we'll see if the Interstate battery I'm planning to buy takes care of the problem with my car once and for all.

I bought a Sears Diehard Gold in Aug 08. It crapped out in May 2011. I took the car to Sears and the service manager wanted to charge me $19.95 to "trouble shoot my electronic system." I said, "why not just check the battery first?" With that he didn't say a word and left in a huff. Next, the mechanic comes and tells me that their Sears Diehard tester says the battery is good and that I have a short in my car's wiring that drains the battery. I don't relent on the battery being the problem. A third mechanic says to put a known good battery in my car and see if it gets drained. 15 mins later, the service manager shows up and without explanation says that they've put a new battery in my car. WTF--is this incompetence, or them trying to sell me an electronic diagnostic service, or a bad battery tester. In any case, the Die Hard died and I will NOT buy one again.

First DieHard only last 13 months, the replacement last 6 months. Now I am trying the third one. Yes it would be free forever if your battery only last one year.

I 'USED' to have great Sears Diehard batteries, but have 'Recently' noticed a decrease in quality of these batteries. I purchased a Diehard Gold on 8/14/2006. It died and was replaced 4/13/2009, this is 32 months later. Yes, I received a 'new' free battery due to the the warranty being 36 months, with 100 months prorated. Well, this battery is now dead, 4/14/2011, that's 24 months later. I cannot remember in my 30 years of driving of having this bad of luck with batteries. Clearly there is a quality issue 'NOW' with Sears Diehard. Now I could go back and get a prorated price but I'm pretty sure it will die in 2-3 years too. I remember when Sears tools and Sears Diehard meant quality, wow have times changed. I'll buy nothing Sears in the future.

BUY this battery if you want a NEW FREE battery every year. The warranty is for 3 years for the Die Hard Gold battery. I purchased the battery from Sears in November of 2008. Since then, the battery has been replaced twice, way before the warranty expired. Thus, I have had two new batteries installed in my Jeep Cherokee. But I will NEVER pay for a Die Hard battery...they die way too easily, and always during the winter months.

I purchased a Gold Sears Die-hard battery for my 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse in August 2000. Today being December
2010 my battery needed replacement. Battery still worked but developed a leak on its side and one of the cells was totally dry from the leak.
A battery lasting this long was great, hope my new one bought today does as well. 10 years and four months people.
Thats quality.

I purchased a die hard gold in March this year, the battery would no long hold a charge in December. Took the battery to local auto parts store to be tested. Battery would only register 10.2 volts. parts store recommended a new battery. I then took battery back to sears and they test battery. They say battery is to weak to test and they have charge for 48mins first. I agree to last them charge and test, of course it test good for them. service person did label the battery with test date and marked battery good and said if I have anymore problems with battery to bring it back and they would replace it. Two weeks later, today the battery failed again. I go back to sears and two people were ahead of me with 2010 die hard gold batteries on floor to be replaced. they were furious and the salesperson remembered me from two weeks ago. I didn't have to say much, she just had her colorant replace the battery for me with a new one no charge. No questions asked... I asked the service guy that got the new battery for me, "what's up with these Die hard batteries" I have a 10year die hard in another vehicle that doesn't get driven much and actually sits for months at a time, but fires right up 99 percent of the time. He told me That the 2009 / 2010 die hards were not like the old ones and they have been getting a lot of returns. Where there's smoke there could be fire, but if the smoke comes out of your die hard, you're toast...Don't think I will buy another Die Hard unless they double the warranty and pay for towing.

Okay, first of all, has anyone on here noticed the amount of terrible grammatical errors posted on this page. It is difficult to read someone's complaint about something when they can not even use proper English. They hardly seem like a credible source. How about we spell words correctly and use proper punctuation, then perhaps people will respect your opinion. It even says at the bottom of the page before you submit your comments, "Please check text spelling before submitting a comment."

Secondly, I have had a 100 month Die Hard Gold battery in my 1996 Toyota Camry and only recently has it just died. It was supposed to expire back in March, this is now October. It probably would have lasted even longer if I hadn't stopped driving my car because I am 9 months pregnant. As someone else mentioned, with proper maintenance and care, the batteries last just fine. Of course there are horror stories of people having defective batteries, nothing made today is perfect. It is a shame that they got so unlucky, but the truth is it's rare. Yes, do your research to see which battery matches your car, but Die Hards are good batteries.

I just looked this up after I had a Diehard gold die in my '99 blazer in 16 months. Its warrantied for 3 years, but we'll see what I can do about it, I called AAA to come out and jump it when it went down, but the battery wouldn't charge so I jsut had them put in a new one for 110 bucks. Had paid 90 for the gold diehard at kmart after my old interstate, that had lasted 5 years beyond the3 year warranty finally faded out. Last one of those damn batteries I buy, that's some pathetic ###.

1st diehard lasted 33 months. replaced free. 2nd diehard lasted 20 months, prorated out so i pd $60 for #3. i hope this lasts 2 years. no more diehards for me. interstate next time.
diehards not what they used to be in the 80's & 90's.

Let me get this straight. You bought a USED CAR that had a battery in it that was cracked and you expect Sears to fully honor the warranty! What a Joke! The battery was obviously dropped or broken and you have no idea of it's history prior to your purchase of the USED CAR. If that were the case, I could buy a 2 month old Ford car with a blown engine from a used car dealership and then drive directly to a ford dealership and expect then to honor the warranty and fix the engine at no charge. Come on people.

As for the guy that commented on the battery he had that was totaly dead with almost no voltage at all, When a battery has a dead cell it will be 10.5 volts. (2.1 volts per good cell). If a battery is at 1 volt it is not beacuse of a bad battery (unless it was sitting for a very long time - like over a year, which again is not the batteries fault) It is most certainly from something draining the battery down, mostly likely a light left on, a short somewhere or a bad starter or alternator (diodes sticking will most definetly drain a battery down VERY fast).

And lastly, I know nobody likes this one, you must always have a receipt to return anything these days! Try taking back electronics without a reciept! GIVE ME A BREAK

Die Hard Golds suck, sears customer service sucks, the batteries prices have skyrocketed. I bought a battery for my 4Runner, for $79 and now I'm just outside of the 3 year warranty. It's 100 month prorated so now I have another one and it was 79 dollars since the price went up. Not cool. My optima in my Blazer has lasted 8 YEARS! No sign of weakness.

Bought a new DieHard for my 2002 VW Golf in March 2009. It replaced a 2003 DieHard for which I was given a prorated credit. This is/was a $125 battery. Anyway, the March 2009 battery died and was pronounced bad in December 2009. I said fine, give me a new one for free, because the contract says "36-month full replacement." Oh no, says the Sears rep, your warranty is tied to the warranty on the 2003 battery, so this one will cost you $75.00. I controlled myself enough to point out that I had in my hand a 2009 contract that stated "36 month full replacement" and that was the governing document and I wanted a new battery, period. He finally agreed to "consult with his manager" after which they put in a new battery for no charge except $15 for labor, which I had no problem with. Now, someone please tell me how the hell a warranty on a battery that I bought in 2003, died in 2009, and was replaced in 2009, affects my warranty on the new battery. I think that this is a cheating ploy that Sears' staffers are probably trained to try on customers to see if they can get away with it. In any event it stinks, and this is my last Sears el-crappo battery, and I don't expect this latest one to last very long anyway. Next battery will be a Delco, sold by my idependent shop and warranted for 60-months full replacement no questions asked, rather than the lousy 36-month Sears warranty. Someone should wise up the Sears management about how much their poor quality merchandise and poor customer quality is affecting their business. This scenario took place at the Sears Auto Center at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland.

These Sears Gold Die Hard batteries are failing in record numbers. I had one installed in March and it was absolutely totally dead in May. Not any voltage whatsoever. My car had to be towed to the Toyota dealership as I thought the electrical system was completely gone since the Sears battery would not take a jump. After attempting to charge the Sears battery for an hour it wouldn't register any voltage at all, there was obviously a dead cell in the battery. The service manager had them put in a Toyota shop battery and the car started fine, all the electrical worked and no problem. By the way Sears put in a new alternator when I got the battery and the alternator was working fine. At that point, I decided to go ahead and buy the Toyota brand battery because it is guaranteed for 7 years, and that includes free towing to the Toyota dealer you want. It only cost like $10 more than the Sears Die Hard.

The Toyota service manager said they get between 10 and 20 dead Sears Die Hards every week and end up replacing them, they are not the old Sears Die Hard batteries with high quality in the 80's or 90's. Multiple that by the number of Toyota dealerships alone nationwide and the number of defective Sears Die Hard batteries is huge.

The next day I go back to Sears with the dead 2-month old Sears battery and ask for a refund explaining that I don't need a new battery, I just shelled out $119 for a new Toyota battery that will be warranteed for 7 years. The Sears service manager says he first needs to test the Sears battery and see if it's really dead and more or less admits that this is an ongoing problem. After about 45 minutes of checking the battery he said he can give me a refund via a Sears Gift Card only which is good forever at either Sears or K-Mart but no cash refund. Better that than being stuck with another Sears Die Hard battery that I don't need after buying a new Toyota battery.

By the way these newer crappy Sears batteries are now built in Mexico probably by non-English speaking workers. I'd definitely trust a Chinese made battery over a Mexican-made one, at least they build batteries for cell phones, computers and cordless phones that work.

If your Sears Die Hard dies, try to get a refund at least by a gift card, and don't even think about buying another Sears Die Hard battery.

I agree with the author Sear Gold Diehards aren't the same quality as they used to be, I have replaced one purchased in 2006 once each year of the 3 year warranty. Now Sears offers a Sries Above Gold called the Platinum battery at DOUBLE to price of the gold ones.. I wonder did they switch the cases & double the prices on us?

I bought a Die Hard Gold battery and the same thing happened to me... the thing Died less than a year after I purchased it. The previous battery that I had in the car was an Interstate Battery and It never gave me 1 problem in 5 years. I know interstate batteries are expensive but I think that I going back to what I know works.

Die Hard batteries are not what they use to be. Go with Interstate, You will not be sorry.

I have used Sears Diehards for over 30 YEARS and have NEVER had even one problem with them. Basic maint needs to be done on any battery, IE check the water and keep the terminals clean. I have always found the personel, from front desk to the techs, to be friendly and professional. Maybe YOUR attitude cause their attitude?

My DieHard battery lasted less than 2.5 years out of 100 months. My oil change guy tested it and found it to be defective, but Sears' 1st test said it was OK. It later lost its charge and was returned to Sears and the new test said it was defective. Sears wanted to charge to put the new battery in the vehicle, but had the old battery out of the vehicles so the work for them would have been the same to install the new battery. I was told, in a less than customer frendly way, that labor is not free.

Past experience has shown me that the Sears DieHard batteries are not what I would expect. I only bought this battery because it was the only one I could find on the shelf that matched the polarity configuration needed. Next time I will consider walking until one can be ordered from a better store.

What about the date code on the battery itself, it shouldn't be off the purchase date by more than 6 months as batteries start to sulfate at 3 months and is pretty bad at 6 months on the shelf. The battery can't possibly be older than the date code so if that's still within the warranty period, they should at least pro-rate it by that date.