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Hi, I was considering getting a used 2009 Honda Civic that had gotten the original battery changed out a couple years ago by a local Honda dealership. I was wondering if these new batteries are better than the originals and will last a while, or if they are only good for a couple years. The car has around 70,000 miles on the replacement battery (135,000 total) and I was not sure what the projected lifetime of the battery is, and if it would need to be changed out in the next couple years. I will put about 10,000 miles/year in the car.

Thanks for your help!

 
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Warranty coverage for new batteries (full or partial) probably won't last you much longer than 5 years, which is a pretty average lifespan. Mileage is rarely a factor unless your battery is improperly maintained (electrolyte levels) or you make REALLY short trips all the time. The battery needs a chance to fully charge.
I think a general rule with batteries is that it depends on where you live and where you park. Here in the AZ desert without a garage, batteries tend to die in less than 5 years. I'm sure extreme cold has the same effect (but I wouldn't know!). Garage parking dramatically increases their lifespans as well.

 
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Ah ok, so if the battery is 4-5 years old, I should probably expect to change it in the next 2-3 years? I live in Indiana, so the weather isn't too extreme, but I do not know if it was kept outside during the winter.

 
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Also, I was talking about the hybrid battery, just so we are on the same page. I realized I may have not explicitly mentioned that.

 
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Oh. That changes EVERYTHING lol. Well, not really but I would hope the lifespan is longer than 5 years. Consumer Reports says 8 years/80,000 miles. You'll probably get more than that if you keep it garaged this winter, although used batteries are always a crap shoot. There is probably a way to test the battery but that is beyond me.

 
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I own two 2003 Honda Civic hybrids. Thought I'd pass on my many years of experience with these cars. On the first one that I bought new in 2003 when it was rather a gamble to buy one, it went 120,000 miles before the IMA battery gave out. Stockton (Ca) Honda replaced it at no charge to me because the law had just changed to cover 150,000 miles or 10 years--whichever comes first. So that mileage seems to be pretty decent and what you can expect. That car is now over 210,000 miles. It began showing the IMA light and trouble light last year and Honda said the diagnosis was it needed a new IMA battery. However, when I'd run it on the highway about 100 miles, the IMA light would go off and a few days later, the trouble light would also go off. Then one night when I left the headlights on and had to call my Allstate road tow service, that trouble shooter asked me if I knew there wasn't any water in the 12 volt battery. I told him I thought it was a "maintenance free battery" and didn't think we had to deal with that anymore. He said not true, and put water in the battery, and I charged it up with my 12 volt charger when I got home. Now the IMA light and trouble light stayed off much longer. So I began to add 2 plus 2 to get the answer that the 12 volt battery must have a big impact on the IMA battery. When I took the car into Honda to test just the two year old 12 volt battery, they found it was defective and replaced it free on the warrantee. Again, I lucked out in two ways... not only did I get a free replacement 12 volt battery that should last more than 5 years, the IMA light has not come back on at all yet. So don't take the word of the Honda dealers that you need a replacement $3,000 IMA battery... scrutinize the 12 volt battery. Find out how to put water in it if you are in a hot climate, especially, like the extreme California Delta summers area where we live. Recharge it with a common 12 volt battery charger, then see if the IMA light is still on. If it goes off, it takes several days and a number of restarts before it will turn off the other dash trouble light. And if I do need a new hybrid battery, I will go to GreenTech in Rancho Cordova, CA in the Sacramento area, which gives many options. They will redo your own IMA battery for under $1,000 with a six months warrantee, or have several rebuilt options for you to buy for less than $3,000. You can Google them for more complete information. (I have no ownership or financial incentive to recommend that option.) As for the other 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid, I bought it when the dealer had replaced the Hybrid battery and have not had any problems with it yet. However, when my wife's 2012 Mazda gave out, we leased her a 2016 Honda Civic gas car that usually gets as good as gas mileage as the 2003 Hondas. She drives only about 6,000 miles a year and has the perfect profile of someone that's a good fit for leasing. And if we do end up purchasing it at the end of the lease, I won't have to worry about IMA battery problems and their cost to replace them. That's why I'm skeptical for the future of hybrids. I think they got us from Point A to Point B well, but will end up filling a lot of junkyards because it costs more to buy an even discounted good hybrid battery than the value of the car now.