I use to believe it was due to batteries being recycled over and over so lower quality. But I agree that parasitic drain and short trips are probably the culprit. Then my spouses vehicle is a hybrid so the 12vt is only charging when the ICE is running. Driving even less lately, I've begun trickle charging every 2 or 3 weeks with a battery tender.
I never use trickle chargers. FLAs need more amps. Better to charge it once a month for 8-12hrs with a decent charger.
There's usually ways to permanently disable that if you look hard enough, but if she likes that feature for some reason find a battery that has a high reserve capacity rating. The extra reserve capacity help keep the battery from fully depleting while sitting there with all the electronics running.
Some newer vehicles need to be programmed when a new battery is installed. The computer needs to be told to reset the amount the alternator charges the battery.
Did you install an AGM battery?
I learned that the hard way on my truck. Battery dead so I plunked a new one in just like I have for the last 35+ years. About a week later started getting a battery warning light come on. Went to the F150 forum and read that the computer needs to be reset, so either buy the special tool to do it, or make it an overnight ordeal where the truck sits for 8 hours with zero battery source so the computer can reset. Battery gets put on a charger and must be at full charge state when installed again. All this to gain an unmeasurable increase in mpg because the alternator is not charging 100% of the time
I had no idea Ford was in that club. It used to just be some of the fancy imports. Guess it's more common than I thought.
Now, we all know, Mark, you asked "pretty please..."
