There's an Interstate Battery place just down the street from me and I've been using them for years. I've no experience with short lives in my vehicles, and their service is exceptional.

flashguy

FWIW, the Interstate batteries at costco are different then what you would get at an actual Interstate dealer. Read different as not quite the same quality

I flew last fall and sat next to an Interstate salesman. He dealt with distributors, not the manufacturing side. I believe he said there are only 3 manufacturers of consumer grade batteries in the US.

I've had really good luck with the Interstate battery from Costco. I used to go directly to an Interstate distributor but they closed shop and I switched to Costco. I didn't see a drop off.

Another vote for East Penn/Deka batteries. Older top of the line Interstates used to be warrantied for 65 months, now it's 30, that alone should say something as to their build quality.

I purchase Interstate batteries direct from the distributor in my locale. They are excellent for warranty service.

There are fundamental and universal chemistry issues with lead-acid wet batteries. AGM is preferred for durability.

The Batteries Plus store sells X2 Power.
https://x2powerbattery.com/
This design appeals to me but I have no personal experience.

I'm of the "Buy cheap, replace often" school of thought for car batteries.

To me, a 5 year old battery (regardless of quality), is less desirable than a 3 year old battery of middling quality.

So, in this instance, I buy Costco branded Interstate batteries for cheap, and just replace them on a 3-year schedule.

OEM Toyota True Start 84 month battery on line for $148.00 free shipping. Thats a deal!

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
I buy batteries at Walmart and use them in all of our vehicles and equipment.

They are sold at a decent price, do well in consumer testing, and since I travel on occasion should I ever have an issue there's always a Walmart nearby.

I do the same for my marine and vehicle batteries. I fish tournaments and have a bunch of money/time ($500 - $1000) invested in each event. Even WAY up north in MN or WI there is a walmart within a hour of most places. If a battery fails (early) I can easily get it replaced (my marine batteries are replaced every 3 seasons) at any walmart. I've had good luck with EverStarts (walmart brand). When I had an interstate fail while up north - there were NONE in stock within 4 hours of my location. I was able to buy another brand of battery from a local shop (might have been when I started in on walmart brand). the interstate was less than 1 season old so would have been 100% covered under warranty.

quote:

Originally posted by robtom:
Another vote for East Penn/Deka batteries. Older top of the line Interstates used to be warrantied for 65 months, now it's 30, that alone should say something as to their build quality.

30 months is the free replacement period, not the entire warranty period which is pro-rated. None were ever warranted 100% for 65 months.

For my F350, I went with Motorcraft batteries, purchased directly from the local Ford dealer. I went to the next higher CCA rating, figuring a little extra couldn't hurt, especially on a diesel motor. I drive it infrequently and keep a batter tender on it as well. The original batteries lasted almost 6 years.

I just replaced two batteries in the last three weeks for our jeep and ram truck. Both went about 4,5 years. Watched the Project Farm video that Comet24 referenced on page 2 of this thread. Indeed, there are only about three manufactures in the US. I went with O’Reilly and Autozone AGM for my new batteries.

Four years on a battery, especially in warm/hot climates is not too bad. I'm sure people will pipe and and say they get much more, but regular old wet cell batteries, you're rolling the dice after 4 years. I'm on my third year with the OEM battery on my Tacoma and I'm preparing myself for replacing it with an AGM battery pretty soon. If you're not driving a vehicle that demands deep power, then a 36 month Walmart will give you... well 36 months.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
If you're not driving a vehicle that demands deep power, then a 36 month Walmart will give you... well 36 months.

The math works out, yeah.

I was always a buy the walmart batteries and replace often till I had several die early on my Ranger. While the Motorcraft OEM battery lasted 6-7 years and the OEM motorcraft batteries on the mustang and focus were still going strong at 8-9 years each. I just decided they each needed replacing and went with the OEM batteries again and they are all still going strong.

The AGM batteries look like a good option.

Deka, from a farm supply store or Duracell from Batteries Plus Bulbs store.

Both are manufactured by East Penn Manufacturing.


If you want the best of the best, buy a X2 Power dual purpose battery from Batteries Plus Bulbs.
Like this one.. last I knew, they have a three year no cost replacement warranty.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/...ycling)/bci-group-65

Batteries Plus Bulbs is to batteries as Discount Tire is to tires.

Rick's Free Auto Repair Advice - how to choose a battery
(Note: there are some pop-up ads.)

Synopsis: only three companies make batteries in the US, with different retailers putting their labels on them. Look more for the battery specs, warranty, ease of making a warranty claim and (overlapping) the retailer's customer service.

Whoever you choose to go with, be sure to check the top strip as to where the battery is made. While we still make batteries, we buy them too right now. We are short around 1500 employees, if not more, due to the "pandemic" so manufacturing is down. We have plenty of orders but short on supply for a lot of battery types.

Go here https://www.eastpennmanufacturing.com/ and see if there is a warehouse close to where you live and see what they have. You might be able to get a 2nd for a reduced price over a new one.

Sold batteries at an auto parts store and Interstate was a popular core with barely the warranty service life.

Die Hards usually went right back to Sears for another.

AGM's are pricey for the normal buyer but deliver longevity for the money. Optima are considered overpriced (we sold them) and it was common to see them die at three years, well used deep cycles in two years. Motorcraft was a good value in gp 65 for trucks, AC Delco the same for Chevy's. Some of the odd GM batts it was better to go with the AC as it fit and works.

One major issue that caused a lot of early battery purchases was simply not charging it up on a 10 amp charger for 72 hours when dead. Nope, people gotta go and a discharged battery was more hassle than spending $150 for a new one. Which would be dead in two days because nobody checks the ALTERNATOR to see if it's actually working.

Seeing a new alternator and new battery under the hood shopping for a used vehicle tells you somebody didn't do proper diagnosis.

There are a lot of fans of high end batteries, an Optima will not power both a car running A/C and the amp pushing 1000's of watts - if the drain is more than the alternator output you will drain the battery and coast to a stop on the freeway. Calculate the total draw in amps and deal with it - if you are pulling 240 amps it's either time for an upgraded alternator - or, two, like a lot of ambulances. I've had dozens of guys bring in their amp equipped car, we do the math, it's no surprise why the Optima is dead with 12 hours of loud cruising. "But the sound shop said it would be ok!" No, the sound shop knew another $500 to boost the output of the electrical system was a no sale. Happens all the time.

Keep the terminals clean, make sure the ground cable is large enough and clean, enjoy your issue free life and expect that the last year of the warranty you are going to lose it - better to install a new one before you break down on the road when you can budget it without a tow fee and have it timed at your convenience.

And avoid the cheap Interstates. You get what you pay for.

I have two Caterpillar-branded batteries in my Dodge diesel. Both batteries bought in 2013.

Last year I replaced the Motorcraft battery in the Escape with another Motorcraft as I got 7 years on the old one.

Possible qualifiers to the above:

- both vehicles see only about 5k miles/year.
- once/month I'll hook up an Optimate 5 battery tender/desulfator to each battery and let it run for 24 hrs.

https://optimate1.com/om5-612v/

quote:

Originally posted by Tirod:
One major issue that caused a lot of early battery purchases was simply not charging it up on a 10 amp charger for 72 hours when dead. Nope, people gotta go and a discharged battery was more hassle than spending $150 for a new one. Which would be dead in two days because nobody checks the ALTERNATOR to see if it's actually working.

In my case, my truck barely cranked, and not the first time I tried. I got wooorwoooooooooorrrrrrrclickclickclickclick....

Waited ten seconds, tried again- wooooorVROOOOM!!

I let it idle for five minutes, then drove it for ten minutes. Shut it off. Waited 25 minutes and it cranked right away.

Unless I've really misunderstood how these things work in my 45 years of driving automobiles, my alternator is charging, and therefore, I need a new battery (assuming the terminal connections are not loose or corroded).

Yes? That juice didn't seep into the battery through the air.

Now, the battery is four or so years old, yes, but in the past two and a half years, I haven't put 500 miles on this truck, and I ain't a happy camper with Interstate.