I’ve bought many a battery, but the last 2 I’ve bought have been NAPA premium. They still are serving me well.

There is a small one man battery manufacturer very close to me, Arc Battery in Sausalito, CA. He makes the best batteries he possibly can. You get an idea of their quality when lifting an Arc Battery up. They are 20% heavier than the battery they are replacing. Usually they last a minimum of 7 years, and sometimes they go 9.

I have purchased these locally made batteries for 20 years when in the yacht repair business, plus another 12. If you can find a local battery manufacturer, it might be a good way to go.

As to the price, they are LESS expensive than store bought batteries. This is probably because there are no middlemen or high overhead stores. Note that I have seen the Interstate truck pickup rare sized 8 volt marine batteries, for 32 volt systems, from Arc Battery.

Heat is the battery killer. One thing I noticed about batteries when I moved to Florida from Wisconsin is the warranties in Florida were shorter.

In Florida, batteries just fail outright or you notice the engine doesn't crank as fast as normal. In Wisconsin, everything seems fine until the first real cold snap and your car doesn't start. The cold didn't kill the battery, but rather the battery was marginal to begin with and couldn't produce enough juice when cold to start the car.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by J387:
Otherwise I would stick with OEM...

I will never grasp this response. What is an OEM battery? One with a Motorcraft, or Honda sticker on top and a price premium attached? Car manufacturers outsource batteries, so OEM is nothing more than whatever they could source the cheapest. Same reason you'll find different tires on the same vehicle across model years.

A good example is my "Nissan" battery lasted a paltry 2.5 years on my 2.5 year old truck. The only nice thing about it was full warranty including labor when an autoparts store likely would've been full warranty 2 years and then sliding scale warranty and zero money for labor.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal: Almost all current batteries are inferior to what they were years ago (Ex. Optima). As such I look for the least expensive, longest/best warranty I can find. That's been Walmart batteries of late. And to date, they've been every bit as good as anything else I've bought while being substantially less expensive.

I'm not so sure about that. In my experience, coming out from school or work on a cold winter day and having a dead battery was far more common a few decades ago.

quote:

I am NOT a member of Costco or Sam's.

Walmart, they remove, dispose of the old and install the new, good prices decent battery.

quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
I bought my 2010 Toyota brand new, and still have it. I have put a miserly 66K on it, original battery shows no sign of giving up the ghost.

(Knocks on wood)

Posts in December 2, 2019 that his battery died and had to buy a new one.

Just put a Farm and Fleet Platinum in yesterday. I think the last 4 batteries I've bought have been F&F Platinums. They come with a 7 year warranty.

I just put a F&F Platinum in my daughter's car. She never drives out of town and her batteries don't last long. F&F replaced her old one under warranty.

Has to be getting close to time to replace the Optima red top in the truck...I'll be monitoring the discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I prefer Optima Red Top batteries. I have never had an issue with them, and they have outlasted all other batteries I have owned.

Same here. it's what I use too.

I know some think their quality has gone down, but every one I've bought has lasted the balance of the time I've owned the car/truck.

For me I don't care about paying a little more to never have to worry about it again, as compared to an "affordable" battery.

Their blue tops are still good too. I have a pair that I bought in 2012 and (I think) 2009. Use them all summer, put them on Battery Tender over the winter and still going strong. That's crazy.

Other really good battery is whoever makes OEM for BMW. I just replaced one from 2009. Yes, I keep that on a Tender as well when not driving regularly, but that's nuts.

I use Motorcraft. Most of these mentioned are good batteries. Get the highest CCA for the size and one with a good warranty.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I prefer Optima Red Top batteries. I have never had an issue with them, and they have outlasted all other batteries I have owned.

Same here. it's what I use too.

I know some think their quality has gone down, but every one I've bought has lasted the balance of the time I've owned the car/truck.

For me I don't care about paying a little more to never have to worry about it again, as compared to an "affordable" battery.

Their blue tops are still good too. I have a pair that I bought in 2012 and (I think) 2009. Use them all summer, put them on Battery Tender over the winter and still going strong. That's crazy.

Other really good battery is whoever makes OEM for BMW. I just replaced one from 2009. Yes, I keep that on a Tender as well when not driving regularly, but that's nuts.

A few of the center consoles I manage have Optimas, usually 3-4 batteries per boat, the battery trays are cut for the stupid shape of the Optimas. Since they moved their manufacturing to Mexico several years back. I can tell you from my experience, they're no better than the equivalent Deka AGM, which is good to very good, but not great. I'm seeing 3 years +/- out of them......On one boat the first set went 6.5 years, same boat, same replacement batteries and they were bad 39 months later.

On my sixth year on a Wally Everstart, just had it tested, the print out says it is still good.

The problem with Project Farm’s tests is that he only tests new products. He does the same with motor oil, etc. The true test to see what the best battery is if he could test older batteries and see how they function after 2 or 3 years. Like he states, his videos are for entertainment.

Yes but if you were to test used batteries, you'd have a lot more variables.
You would have to have half a dozen of the same make, model, year of car and drive the same hours, miles and speed.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackTalonJHP:
Yes but if you were to test used batteries, you'd have a lot more variables.
You would have to have half a dozen of the same make, model, year of car and drive the same hours, miles and speed.

Not to mention the same temperature range, day by day.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackTalonJHP:
Yes but if you were to test used batteries, you'd have a lot more variables.
You would have to have half a dozen of the same make, model, year of car and drive the same hours, miles and speed.

Don’t get me wrong, I like watching his videos, but I know it would be a major undertaking to test batteries in real-world conditions for him. Id like to see CR test some in that fashion.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

I can tell you from my experience, they're no better than the equivalent Deka AGM, which is good to very good, but not great. I'm seeing 3 years +/- out of them......On one boat the first set went 6.5 years, same boat, same replacement batteries and they were bad 39 months later.

Running a Deka AGM in my Forester 6 years now.........going strong.