# Life-time alternator replacement warranty AutoZone question.



## Tom Foolery (Feb 16, 2018)

My brother asked me to change his alternator on his car. It's about 7 years old. I ran the part number and it came up as an Autozone Duralast alternator. He doesn't have the receipt because of how long it has been. The part number is still clearly visible and there is a barcode with 80% of the bar code completely readable. Serial number and a bunch of other numbers clearly visible. 

Here is the alternator.


https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting-and-charging/alternator/p/duralast-alternator-15564/88007_0_0



Will Autozone give me any problems about swapping out a lifetime warranty part without a receipt? I know the autozone store the alternator was originally purchased from.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Only AutoZone can answer that question. Will they hide behind the "you need the receipt" excuse? Or will they take the opportunity to demonstrate how good their warranty policy really is?

If you get a "no" kick it up to the public relations department as they have a different budget and different purpose.

Bud


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Our local AZ stores don't require a receipt but you do need to provide the phone number of the person who bought it. They register all warranty purchases in their computer using your name and phone number.


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## Moammopls (Aug 6, 2013)

I have found that one "trick" they use to get around these "lifetime" warranties is to claim their system had a "problem" and lost all it's information (except your personal info)...so you'll need that receipt. Hundreds of thousands of "lifetime" warranties can be mitigated this way.
Shockingly, this seems to occur periodically with their system.
I always make a photocopy of lifetime warranty items receipts, then I tape the stable receipt to the inside of the box and store it in my garage because this has happened to me at both AutoZone and Advance Auto.
Also, the receipts are thermo printed and designed to fade to plain paper within a few weeks under ideal cool storage conditions so making photo copies is advisable.
Leave it in the Sun or humidity and you'll have a blank receipt in days.

This may not occur in certain stores but certainly has in the area where I live and shop.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I've bought a lot of parts at AZ over the last 30 yrs. Twice they couldn't find where I bought something with a lifetime warranty BUT when I went back a day or two later they could pull it up. Not sure if it was a computer glitch or the person on the other side of the counter not being very competent.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I drive a Ram 3500 with 561,000 miles on it and have gone through 4 Auto Zone alternators. I have my phone number registered with my local store so I never need a receipt.
The first replacement was weird. I took my old one in, and the guy presented me with a new one, plus money for the difference in price from the original to the new one. I was skeptical, but he said it was company policy if the price drops, they have to equalize my loss. It was probably $20 or so.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I had an AZ starter that was rebuilt incorrectly but it was a year before I used it. I took it back and they said they didn’t sell that particular starter. If it had AZ identification on it they would have swapped it. I went home and found the receipt and they took it back. In your situation they will probably take it back as long as their warranty hasn’t changed, making the purchase date critical. I would take it to Autozones until one accepts it.


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## Tom Foolery (Feb 16, 2018)

Thanks for all the replies. The car is an Acura TL. I know the store it was bought from. I know the guy who bought it and I am sure he can give me the phone number he used when purchasing the alternator. 

The issue I am coming up with. Honda's aka. Acura is known to have issues with after market alternators. The OEM is Denso and I can get a rebuilt Denso for $200 minus a 20% discount. I have no personal experience doing auto repair other than a can do attitude and American know how. My point is that I do not want to do this again. I had to order a special tool for hard a hard to access bolt. I have the alternator out of the car. I am sure I can get autozone to swap it out because it has all the markings part number, serial number and most of a bar code clearly legible. 

My fear/worry is that these alternators are not great but the warranty is great. Meaning if you got the time they will swap out bad alternators every year forever. The car is getting old 2006. I just want to do it once and never again. He will probably keep the car for another 2-3 years. The alternator has been going for close to 7 years but it was not without problems early on. It had been limping along for two or 3 years before completely failing.

The Denso from Napa has a 1 year warranty. Thoughts from you guys moving forward.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

The Auto Zone alternator has a lifetime warranty and will certainly last for more than a year. The NAPA alternator will certainly last for more than a year as well. BUT if it fails, and it very well could, you have to pay full price for a replacement. I have never heard of a car manufacturer stating non OEM parts cause problems. They want you to buy from a dealership, so they disseminate that information to perk your ears up.


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## Tom Foolery (Feb 16, 2018)

chandler48 said:


> The Auto Zone alternator has a lifetime warranty and will certainly last for more than a year. The NAPA alternator will certainly last for more than a year as well. BUT if it fails, and it very well could, you have to pay full price for a replacement. I have never heard of a car manufacturer stating non OEM parts cause problems. They want you to buy from a dealership, so they disseminate that information to perk your ears up.


It's not Honda/Acura saying non OEM parts do not work well with their cars. It's the Acura forum. Comments, experiences from people who used auto parts store alternator and had problems. Some non Acura forums had the same opinion of different makes and models of cars as well. Some cars will work well with any alternator.


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## JustinRaney (Jun 1, 2018)

You have to give them your phone number. If its been 7 years and know what phone number was used the house phone or cell phone and or name names that could have been possibly used.

Autozone website has a chat line during the day live chat i asked if they could look up lifetime warranty items for my 98 z28 and 2007 g6. They asked that the store would print it out but i mentioned that they had once emailed me a list of what was under warranty for my 98 z28 under my old house phone number alternator, starter, brake pads, spark plug wires, etc he begin listing in autozone chat all the parts i had lifetime warranty on since i had my 98 z28 back in 2009. Same with the 2007 g6 my grandparents owned i seen it had duralast brake pads 2 years ago when i was changing them. I went up to autozone gave them my grandparents phone number and sure enough the front duralast brake pads came up under warranty. Same with the rear brake pads on the 2007 g6 say duralast on them. My grandparents both passed away 7 years ago.


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

Moammopls said:


> I have found that one "trick" they use to get around these "lifetime" warranties is to claim their system had a "problem" and lost all it's information (except your personal info)...so you'll need that receipt. Hundreds of thousands of "lifetime" warranties can be mitigated this way.
> Shockingly, this seems to occur periodically with their system.
> I always make a photocopy of lifetime warranty items receipts, then I tape the stable receipt to the inside of the box and store it in my garage because this has happened to me at both AutoZone and Advance Auto.
> Also, the receipts are thermo printed and designed to fade to plain paper within a few weeks under ideal cool storage conditions so making photo copies is advisable.
> ...


I found out the hard way about the thermo paper. I wait until the end of a rebate period, and took the receipt out, and you couldn't read anything on it, so no rebate.


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## seharper (Mar 17, 2020)

chandler48 said:


> I drive a Ram 3500 with 561,000 miles on it and have gone through 4 Auto Zone alternators.


That's not much of a recommendation lol. 



Tom Foolery said:


> The Denso from Napa has a 1 year warranty.


I have a rule. I only buy from auto parts stores whose mainline business is selling to pro mechanics and only do a little walk-up sales to the public. 

Pro mechanics need 2 things that O'reilly and Autozone do not offer. A) same day delivery. B) _assured_ high quality parts they can stand behind to their customers. Warranty work costs the mechanic money, so the shops' priority is keeping trust with their mechanic customers, so they don't sell junk. The spotter's guide for these stores is an army of delivery pickup trucks.

Other auto parts chains specialize in serving DIYers. They are big enough to get whole lines of el-cheapo products made that no self-respecting mechanic would ever put in a customer car. 

Anyway, NAPA is the first kind. I endorse them. But they make a reasonable play for retail business. Napaonline.com does everything the other auto parts sites do.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

seharper said:


> That's not much of a recommendation lol.


Could be. That's only one alternator for every 140,000 miles. My main thrust was the service was there and unquestioned. If I had bought from one of the Pro Mechanics, there would be a 50,000 mile warranty at best, and a weird look if I took one back each time. No thanks.


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## Tom Foolery (Feb 16, 2018)

3 month update. It's running perfect. No issues at all. The Denso was a good investment. I asked my brother what it's like starting up his Acura. It starts up every time and runs perfect. For years he was driving a car that he couldn't trust. There are countless stories on the Acura forum of people who love their TL but can't trust it. I think most of them were putting in alternators from Autozone or O'reilly's.


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## LawrenceS (Oct 21, 2020)

Tom Foolery said:


> 3 month update. It's running perfect. No issues at all. The Denso was a good investment. I asked my brother what it's like starting up his Acura. It starts up every time and runs perfect. For years he was driving a car that he couldn't trust. There are countless stories on the Acura forum of people who love their TL but can't trust it. I think most of them were putting in alternators from Autozone or O'reilly's.


Honda Master tech here, Acura is basically the same. Yes most aftermarket parts in Honda's suck, alternators, starters, compressors and calipers. The real fun ones are like 08-12 accord with the k24 4 cylinder, aftermarket starters spin slower then the factory and it screws up the crank pattern signal causing them to trigger p0339 CKP sensor codes. We have a forum through the manufacturer and someone one graphed the waveform for the CKP sensor with an OE and aftermarket starter, you could see the noticeable difference in the CKP digital signal. What I believe happens is the slower spin causes a normal CKP pulse to match the TDC pulse(which is a longer reference pulse) so it counts a reduced number of pulses between the normal cranking pulse and the TDC pulse. Example there are supposed to be 58 pulses in 1 revolution of the motor, I'm going to exaggerate the length of time to make the math easy but say the reference pulse is 2.5 seconds and the normal pulse is .5 seconds, once the engine catches and the rpm's go from cranking speed of 250 to 1250 the reference pulse becomes .5 seconds and the normal pulse becomes .1 seconds, so the cranking pulse of .5 seconds now matches the running reference pulse of .5 seconds and the PCM thinks that cranking pulse was a reference pulse so it counts less pulses before and after that fake reference pulse.

Rock auto is a good source to get OE supplier parts like Denso brand which are the same as Honda factory.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I get the part number from the Rock Auto site and use it to buy the parts from Amazon. I like fast shipping and easy returns. I have received wrong parts from Rock Auto and if their catalog says it fits, I pay shipping back after paying to have it shipped to me. A broken parts takes time to ship back and wait for a replacement if they acknowledge getting it back. A broken Amazon part is replaced right away and I have a few weeks to send the broken part back. I gave up on the Rock.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Tom Foolery said:


> My brother asked me to change his alternator on his car. It's about 7 years old. I ran the part number and it came up as an Autozone Duralast alternator. He doesn't have the receipt because of how long it has been. The part number is still clearly visible and there is a barcode with 80% of the bar code completely readable. Serial number and a bunch of other numbers clearly visible.
> 
> Here is the alternator.
> 
> ...


Ayuh,.... I've got a Napa lifetime starter on my pickup, 'n the original receipt lives in an envelope over the visor,....
I've gotten 3 new starters, by havin' that original receipt,......
Without it, you get to buy another new one,.....


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Bondo said:


> I've gotten 3 new starters, by havin' that original receipt,......
> Without it, you get to buy another new one,.....


That is the neat thing about AutoZone and others that put the warranty into their computer - you don't have to keep the receipt ..... and many of the receipts that I have kept - the print faded away making them worthless.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

mark sr said:


> put the warranty into their computer


That is what surprised me on my first alternator failure. He asked me for my phone number, and handed me the new alternator. I didn't have the receipt.


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## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

Old Thomas said:


> I get the part number from the Rock Auto site and use it to buy the parts from Amazon.


I did that for a timing cover last year. Rockauto gave a part number; Amazon said it didn't fit, but I ordered it anyway. It didn't fit. Amazon was right and Rockauto was wrong. My only issue with Amazon is their search functions suck. Ebay has them beat by miles in that respect.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

mark sr said:


> That is the neat thing about AutoZone and others that put the warranty into their computer - you don't have to keep the receipt ..... and many of the receipts that I have kept - the print faded away making them worthless.


Ayuh,..... Didn't know that,..... probably don't work so well for me, as the "_Company"_ bought the original one,.....


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I had the deal of a lifetime a while back. I needed a harmonic balancer for my Cummins 5.9. Rock, and everyone else wanted from $300 to $600 for them. One local parts guy suggested I go to the school bus barn in Fannin County just west of us. I was dubious, but I went. I asked the head guy if he had access to any balancers. He kicked one on the floor and asked if that would work. I asked what was wrong with it. He said absolutely nothing. We have to change them at regular intervals and that one had the least miles on it. I asked what I owed, and he said, just let me know if it works, and do you need bolts to go with that???
I took it to my diesel shop, where my crippled truck was and an old man I had never met before asked to look at it. He threw it in the front seat of his truck and took off. I asked my mechanic what was going on and he said be still. About an hour later he returned with it. He ran a metal shop and took it to be glass beaded and inspected for cracks. He said that's a good one. I asked what I owed. Again, he said just let me sharpen your saw blades. Great deal for me.


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## Tom Foolery (Feb 16, 2018)

I just want to point out the obvious here. I do not have a lift or a pit to get under the car. I do not have a Daytona Jack or anything to prop the car up. Every youtube video they have of Acura TL alternator replacements omit the removal of the bolt on the bottom of the fan. It's a ***** to get at. I bought a special tool making that bolt a 30 second operation with a spotter. It's still a blind grab without a lift or access pit under the car. Because people have trade secrets or tools to the trade they keep to themselves. I will do the same. 

I could have got a re-manufactured autozone alternator that was a lifetime warranty. But after the disaster that was the autozone alternator, I decided that would be another disaster. If I had one of those American cars or trucks that has the alternator (on top of the engine) without any obstructions. I would have gone the autozone route another time or two. The autozone alternator was basically defective within a month and completely dead within a year. How my brother managed to make it work for 4 or 5 years is another story. One of those that is no way to live kind of stories. He had a portable jump starter and had these bizarre rituals to make the car start/work. I of course added another trick/ritual that extended the life of the alternator before it completely died. The simple solution was to replace the alternator long ago. 

I have never heard of a car that just dies while driving but the autozone alternator provided that experience. What is worse, other Acura TL owners had the same experience because they all had autozone or O'Reilly's alternators as well. There is a problem with the hands free system in the Acura TL. I disconnected the hands free (voice calls through speakers) device. The cars alternator no longer can burn out by the hands free device. 

The car is old, I think the Denso will last the rest of the useful life of the car. Putting in a new/refurbished alternator should be like replacing a light bulb. It should simply work for years trouble free. From what I have heard and read. The store branded alternators do not work correctly out of the box from the start or for long. It seems the auto parts store branded alternators are essentially the same (same supplier) with a different name on them. Whereas the Denso alternators are OEM stuff and re-manufactured. On Rock Auto Denso's have the heart for loved by the car repair community. They say just get a Denso and call it a day.


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