I have two cars in the garage and one is the Civic, the other one is a BMW. I've spent more on batteries for the Honda than for the BMW which has a much larger battery. I've probably gone through four batteries from 0 miles to around 112,000 today. Most of them only last a few years. A new Honda Civic 51R size battery cost $150 now at Walmart. I can get an H8 size massive battery for the BMW for $150 or $169 for the AGM one. The 2012 BMW has the original BMW H8 size battery from 2011 and it is just now showing signs of going out. Even if I shop around its still probably about $130 for the Honda battery which is tiny in comparison, way less CCA. Having the battery in the trunk is the one thing that makes it cheaper on. I can fit like three or so different battery sizes for the car.

Also, why does Honda use 51R instead of 51 type battery? This makes the battery much harder to find and much more expensive. In almost everything else, Honda is cheaper to maintain than a BMW with cheaper parts for everything but this battery thing is one exception. Maybe this backwards terminal thing is common in Japan?

I have basically been keeping the Honda on a Battery tender charger for last year or so because the battery is pretty much shot. If I had to commute to work, the battery would possibly be dead by the end of the day but for short trips to the store this works fine for now but at some point the battery will fail on short trips then I'll have to replace. The alternator is working fine.

 

Not very hard to make/get a different tray and run a different battery if that's what you want to do.

 

I have noticed the same thing. Why the tiny expensive 51R, or worse the even smaller and even more expensive 151R.

51R around here is about $120. Just bought a replacement battery for a piece of heavy equipment that has a battery so large it could make 6 51Rs and it was a well known name brand battery for $100. Makes zero sense if all the cost in making a battery is the lead. Smaller should be cheaper!

 

My factory battery lasted over a decade and over 150,000 miles. Costco carries replacements for under $100. I think you have an electrical issue. How's your alternator? One of the studs on mine broke somehow, but it would maintain contact enough to work intermittently. If you are providing the electricity from you battery instead of your alternator, the battery will wear out prematurely.

 

Never had an issue in 2 different Honda’s. One I have had since 08 and that’s stored part of the year.The other is a crv and that starts fine in -30c.If you let them get low a few times this will definitely affect service life capacity just like any other