Dorman Battery Experiences

That might be true in general, but the rebuilds come from NC. I'm not saying the refurbs are good or bad, only that they should be judged distinct from Dorman. And since the refurbs sold through NAPA seem to have a real, convenient, and actually free warranty policy (no S/H), I would not dismiss them out of hand.

 

it is impossible to make a homogeneous refurbished battery. so the major concern if going that route is warranty coverage and ease of access.

 

I've wondered about that. In the case of Dorman perhaps some of their reported QA problems are related to how long they sit on a shelf in a store or at a distribution node.

 

i wonder if there is a 'born on' date, or 'reinCARnated'?

 

I don't think any parts supplier actually sits on the hv battery inventory, I would think they are all special orders that get shipped in when ordered.

How ever long they sit at the dorman warehouse is another thing

 

That is an interesting question I would like to ask the Dorman folks as it relates to NAPA

 

Unless NAPA is a designated distribution point, they would not stock this.

 

nimh batteries have a pretty long shelf life, yes? but a refurbished battery with cells all over the place may be another question.

 

Explain please

 

If Dorman needed some warehouse to stock this item, maybe a few per distribution warehouse, they might have it at a NAPA warehouse. This is to reduce the freight covering the entire USA and the parts can be in the customers hands in a shorter time frame. This item is really big and bulky, so air shipping is not an option. So in order to get the items to a customer in a timely matter via ground shipping, they "may" use a warehouse to stock this item. This is similar to the distribution network of Amazon, stocking items throughout the USA so they can still utilize the cheaper ground shipping option and still get it to customers in 2 days.

 

Thanks.

Timely delivery to the customer as a reason to use a NAPA warehouses makes sense, but is it the only one ? How about volume purchase discount ? Reliable supply ? Savings in shipping ?

 

I meant to say a "few", not 1 as this would be a warehouse. Shipping wise, it would be shipped via freight on pallets for the lowest cost.I think the reliable supply is still questionable as NAPA seems to run out. But they can't really oversupply the market, they have a limited shelf life and there isn't an endless supply of these things to go around. They have to keep turning them over and rebuild the inventory

 

And perhaps variable.

 

Dorman sells these nationwide through all auto parts stores, they have to have a few distribution warehouses that takes all the orders. I just use NAPA because they seem to be the lowest price around......thus probably the people stocking them for others and not needing to charge the middle man fee

 

Yes, Dorman has a 6 month expiration date from the time it is refurbished, before it has to be returned if not sold.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

Is the date readable by the consumer ?

 

Yes, printed on a label on the outside of the crate

 

what's the difference between the battery the customer gets that's 180 days old, and one that's 181 days?

 

I know, I know!

One day

 

I've removed my hv battery from my 2005 over a year ago. At the time the modules measured 7.6 volts. Today they are 7.5 volts. So I don't think good modules have issues sitting long periods