Don't they need to know the use if they're going to support the warranty?
Followup question: At what point is society victimizing Walmart rather than the other way around? I don't break things on purpose, therefore with all the other things i know about Walmart i am a LONG way from feeling bad for them about battery warranties.
Even then, it's maybe 60% percent policy and the other 40% is who you happen to talk to at that moment. They don't even stick to their own policies so it doesn't much matter what it is, in my opinion.
Battery sellers will generally accept any kind of lead acid battery as a core return for a car battery. Makes sense because a happy customer is worth more than the difference in scrap money between two different sizes of lead battery. The actual accepting of cores is just a necessary evil to go along the states allowing them to charge for not turning in cores in the first place. I'm sure most retailers wish everyone paid the core and didn't give them a battery to have to deal with at all. But it's been an INCREDIBLY successful 'sin tax' because now something like 99% of car batteries get recycled, which is tremendously important when you look at the health effects of lead in the environment.
I agree with cheapest, followed by heaviest. At this point im usually buying Walmart value line and marine batteries which i expect to outlive their short warranties anyway, but i guess i would put length of warranty in there at 3rd place.
Keeping lead acids alive comes down to a few major things followed by a bunch of minor ones. Do not let it sit at less than fully charged for long periods. Don't let it discharge deeply preferably ever, but as little as possible is nice. Engine cranking usually doesn't qualify as a deep discharge because duration is so short. They live longer in cold climates, so cooler storage generally makes them last longer. The less vibration, the longer they last. Avoid buildup of filth on top of the case between terminals because it WILL conduct electricity in many cases (poke it with a meter, it's measurable) and present a drain.
So a battery that's stored in a cool/cold place, allowed to fully recharge after each drain, and generally used shallowly and infrequently, will live a long time.
