I guess it's the nature of the beast. My alternator was brand new (not a rebuild) and had less than 20,000 miles on it. I'd call that very poor performance in a factory car, and would expect the dealer to replace it at no charge.

To be fair to the electronics, my various electrical experiments and less than stellar wiring probably played into its early demise. I "may" have even crossed the wires trying to jump-start it once. Maybe it's a miracle that it lasted as long as it did.