Hard starting -> Bad battery?
 

I brought my car into the dealer this morning, and I mentioned to them that my car was hard to start (he wrote down long to turnover). So I get a call from my dealer and they said that they checked out the charging system and battery, and that the battery was not holding charge and it needs to be replaced. They said that Mazda covers the battery 100% for the first year, but for the second year it's prorated at 50/50 (Mazda pays 100% of the labor, and splits the cost of the battery 50/50). Does that sound right? I'm also curious if anyone else has had their battery replaced for the same problem? I've had the car for just over a year with 6200 miles. I wouldn't think that a battery would go bad so quickly? I did do a search and saw a bunch of threads about how the stock battery was weak to begin with. Just want to be sure that the dealer isn't BSing me and replacing things that aren't actually bad. Also, I already have the M-Flash if anyone is wondering.

Battery
 

I don't know much about the battery in the 8, but to be honest with you I would tell them thanks for the diagnosis and go and get the battery elsewhere. If the batteries are weak, then why would you want another one? You could get something better in the aftermarket. Aftermarket batteries will also be cheaper, and since you are paying for the battery might as well get a good deal. Finally, with a good after market battery you will get a long warranty, which means you will not have to dish out more cash in another year.

Good Luck!

Mine had a slow start a couple times and the dealer replaced it with a 750 cranking amp, the stock one is 400 amp I believe. With winter coming on, everyone should keep an eye on theirs.

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, I had already gave them the OK to replace the battery before reading the replies. I noticed that the engine did turn over much quicker when I went to pick it up from the dealer. Not sure if they replaced it with a higher CCA one or not, there was no mention of that on the service log. I guess I will have to take a look at the battery itself if the specs are labeled there.

The concept that you are referring to about the battery replacement is called "pro-rating". If you look at the replacement warranty for most batteries made they will use a pro-rated replacement scheme.

Charles