What are your best car battery purchase options?

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hushpuppy
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What are your best car battery purchase options?

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Sandtrap
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by Sandtrap »

Costco for golf cart deep cycle batteries. In stock. Great prices.
Over the years Costco has had better prices for car batteries and great and fast service.
However:
Just bought an AGM Battery (high end) direct from Interstate for my truck. $300
Costco could not special order it.
However:
When limping a car with a barely dead battery that also needs a charging systems check. Sears Auto is an alternate.
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runner3081
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by runner3081 »

We always go to Sam's Club and buy the cheapest battery with the best warranty for our cars. AZ heat kills even the best of them!
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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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denovo
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by denovo »

Costco for batteries. Sears used to have great DieHard batteries, but like everything else Sears-related these days, it's garbage now.
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investor997
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by investor997 »

If you're a AAA member, call them. They'll send a someone out to your house to R&R the battery. They're re-branded units from Interstate. Overall cost will be comparable to buying the battery off the shelf and DIY. The advantage is that when (not if) the battery fails, even if you're out on the road somewhere, AAA will send someone to R&R it on the spot under warranty. Just remember to keep the receipt in the glove box.

Note that I said "when" and not "if" it will fail. It's been my experience in the past couple years that car batteries just aren't made like they used to be. I bought batteries from AAA and from O'Reilly Auto (DIY) and in each case, the batteries failed within a year requiring warranty replacement. One minute they were fine and the next, nothing but "click" when you turn the key and ineffective jump starting. They each had failed/shorted internal cells. Maybe the ultra-expensive AGM units are better.
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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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inbox788
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by inbox788 »

hushpuppy wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:21 pm
denovo wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:10 pm Costco for batteries. Sears used to have great DieHard batteries, but like everything else Sears-related these days, it's garbage now.
A long time ago I actually worked in a Sears auto center. However, I agree completely with your sentiment. How far they have fallen. I remember when Sears was the place to purchase almost anything. :oops:

Regards,

hushpuppy
I bought my first buggy there:

http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/web ... df#page=21

A while back, I think Sears became synonymous with auto repair scams. I don't know how fair a depiction it was, but I've avoided them even before that. Have always stuck to local mechanics recommended by people I trust (i.e more car types).

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/12/busin ... sears.html

I've been buying batteries at Costco for a long time now, but the value proposition has decayed. Battery costs have risen and I've experienced more problems (earlier failures) more recently. Last battery I replaced might have had a few months left on the prorated warranty, but I think it would have been $5 or $10, which was less than trading in the battery for a new one. They said it was one or the other, and since I bought the replacement there, the tail end of the warranty was useless.
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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by hushpuppy »

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runner3081
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by runner3081 »

hushpuppy wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:08 pm
runner3081 wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 5:48 pm We always go to Sam's Club and buy the cheapest battery with the best warranty for our cars. AZ heat kills even the best of them!
Does Sam's Club honor the battery warranty without question? We are also members of Sam's Club, but through the years we have found Costco is nearly without peer in terms of warranty policies. We spent 12 years in Phoenix, but they say it's a dry heat. :)

Regards,

hushpuppy
Yep, just swapped out batteries, no questions asked in the last 6-month on both cars.

The guy even told me about the new battery still falling under the old warranty... (they used to allow a perpetual cycle of free batteries until a policy change!) He said bring it in a few months before that expires and just tell them it is dead. They will swap again.
runner3081
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by runner3081 »

hushpuppy wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:04 pm
investor997 wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:16 pm If you're a AAA member, call them. They'll send a someone out to your house to R&R the battery. They're re-branded units from Interstate. Overall cost will be comparable to buying the battery off the shelf and DIY. The advantage is that when (not if) the battery fails, even if you're out on the road somewhere, AAA will send someone to R&R it on the spot under warranty. Just remember to keep the receipt in the glove box.

Note that I said "when" and not "if" it will fail. It's been my experience in the past couple years that car batteries just aren't made like they used to be. I bought batteries from AAA and from O'Reilly Auto (DIY) and in each case, the batteries failed within a year requiring warranty replacement. One minute they were fine and the next, nothing but "click" when you turn the key and ineffective jump starting. They each had failed/shorted internal cells. Maybe the ultra-expensive AGM units are better.
We are members of AAA and I actually called them upon a battery failure, when I was working in California in 2010. My 2001 Subaru Forester also takes a group 35 and AAA replaced the battery for a little over $100. It was tons more convenient than fighting Pacific Coast Highway traffic to get to the nearest Costco, even if my battery had not been stone cold dead. :shock:

The AAA 2010 battery is still alive and well in my Subaru.
Have had multiple friends use the AAA service. They mark up batteries here by a significant amount!
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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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hushpuppy
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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bob60014
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by bob60014 »

The warranties and customer service aspect are what satisfies almost everyone. But, just for fun info, its interesting that the majority of car batteries in the US are made by a just handful of manufacturers, with Johnson Controls, Exide and East Penn being the main players.

It could be easier to read but here is a list cross referencing just about all types of lead acid battery manufacturers , brands and private label info.

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

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3dream3
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by 3dream3 »

denovo wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:10 pm Costco for batteries. Sears used to have great DieHard batteries, but like everything else Sears-related these days, it's garbage now.
I have to agree. I used to always go with Sears DieHard batteries before but now I get the Interstate batteries from Costco... have been very good thus far.
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Re: What are your best car battery purchase options?

Post by bottlecap »

I bought my last battery for my vehicle from Costco. It was no more expensive than anywhere else. It has lasted nearly 48 months and is still going, which is about a year longer than any other battery has lasted in the last 18 years in this vehicle.

I was concerned when I went to Costco to get a battery for my wife recently, as they were selling Interstates (Although I've always heard good things about Interstate). We shall see...

JT
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