CAR BATTERY RECOMMENDATION

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: M Smith
Thanks for the replies.

morris: I already have AAA. Recently, though, a neighbor phoned AAA for a Sunday afternoon car break down. The AAA service center told them "too bad, too sad, we're closed on Sunday." That made me rethink the wisdom of buying and renewing a AAA membership.


AAA just promises to tow you to safety, or possibly jump start or bring you fuel.

Even if a mechanic shop were open, they couldn't get parts.

The shop you wind up at, after a tow, varies in quality. There's probably a feedback loop through which you can rate them with AAA on quality, value, etc but I wouldn't judge their emergency service any differently than expecting your primary care doctor to work Sundays.

 

[Papa Bear]

Originally Posted By: EricF
what's the year/make/model?


Right on, Eric. In this case the group number would be helpful.
(I'm not going to look it up)

Most battery comparison results I've seen vary by group and location (north-south)

 

[strat81]

I've been happy with the Johnson Controls batteries I've gotten from Sam's Club.

 

[MetalSlug]

autocraft gold ( advance auto part ).

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: M Smith
Please offer a battery recommendation for my daughter's car. I'm sending her off to college and I'm trying desperately to reduce the chances of her having any car problems, the battery being one. I can't have my baby stranded with a bum battery.


Anything fresh and made by East Penn or JCI will be fine for at least two years, and buy her a good motor club subscription with enhanced road service. Not every breakdown is due to a bad battery.

 

[CaspianM]

Johnson Controls makes Diehard (Sears), Duralast (AutoZone), Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Motorcraft (Ford), and some EverStarts."

 

[Zeus33]

Originally Posted By: M Smith
Please offer a battery recommendation for my daughter's car. I'm sending her off to college and I'm trying desperately to reduce the chances of her having any car problems, the battery being one. I can't have my baby stranded with a bum battery.



Whatever you decide on, make sure they have locations near to where she will be located. IF she has a problem, you don't want it to be a huge ordeal to get it warrantied/swapped out.

 

[SteveSRT8]

since there are very few mfgrs, we now buy batteries based on the longest non pro rated warranty period.

 

[MetalSlug]

Originally Posted By: CaspianM
Johnson Controls makes Diehard (Sears), Duralast (AutoZone), Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Motorcraft (Ford), and some EverStarts."


I think they also make autocraft too

 

[wag123]

There are only 3 major manufacturers of automotive batteries in the USA (plus one very small one that produces the expensive DieHard AGM battery)...
1. Johnson Controls (the 800lb gorilla of battery manufacturers)
2. Exide
3. East Penn
Of these three manufacturers, IMHO East Penn easily produces the best quality batteries. I have one in a collector car that is over 10 years old and the one in my boat is over 6 years old. Their batteries are hard to find. They sell batteries under their own brand name, Deka, and they sell to auto parts store chains, like O'reilly, and I assume that they must produce some OEM batteries for the car manufacturers. For what it is worth, ALL of East Penn's batteries are made in the USA. Most of Johnson Control's batteries are made in Mexico, including the Optima.

 

[Volvohead]

East Penn is also sold under the NAPA brand in the eastern US. So they are readily available in a lot of areas.

I agree, East Penn makes an excellent battery, including a first-rate AGM, and they are Pennsylvania based. They are also still family run, although their CEO was killed in a running accident a few weeks ago.

JCI is the old GM of battery makers at the moment, in a good way. Hopefully, they maintain that standard.

Exide is not a battery I recommend these days. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the other two tried to acquire it at some point.

 

[javacontour]

Without getting into the pros or cons of CR, the information here is good. Not to mention with a Wal*Mart around every corner, if your daughter had issues with the battery while away, chances are, she's not far from a Wal*Mart Tire and Lube location that can test and/or replace the battery.


Originally Posted By: skyactiv
The non profit Consumers Reports recommends the Wal-Mart Evermaxx batteries in the southern version of the group sizes they tested. Southern batteries are built different than north versions. Truth be told, there are only a few battery manufactures in the USA and the manufactures don't make them better for one retailer over another.

 

[BigBird57]

+1
Look at there AGM battery at $50 off with code.

 

[BigBird57]

I would like to get that kind of service. Just ordered the 34/78 Yellow Top for a winching application. I learned from the Optima tech you have to connect the winch to the top posts only. The GM side terminals are not a direct connection and are to be used for starting only. The side terminals are connected to the top posts by a plate. The plate is not rated for high current draws.i.e. a winch. Knowing is half the battle.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Not falling for marketing is the other half of the battle.

Six pack batteries compromise capacity for increased physical case strength and increased vibration resistance.

A 34/78 optima vs a 34/78 odyssey is about a 25% difference in capacity, and about 100 cold cranking amps, in favor of the odyssey.

Price the two. NOt much difference, and if one gets a Sears Die hard Platinum, which is a rebadged Odyssey, one gets both more capacity and CCA for less money.

The Odyssey demands very high recharge rates when heavily depleted. The optima is likely friendlier in this regard.

 

[artificialist]

I use East Penn/Deka. Carquest batteries are Deka batteries, and that is where I get mine.

I also get the ones with the longest warranty and highest CCA just to be safe.

It isn't always easy to know who will make ACDelco batteries. About 5 years ago, I got an ACDelco 26R for a friend, it looked like no other standard brand of battery, and it was made in Korea. It lasted 4 years in Florida, so I can't complain, but the fact that anybody could be making them somewhat disturbs me.

Does this car have side terminal batteries or top terminal batteries? My auto teacher often found that sometimes batteries that have both side and top posts will have a failure where the side post is internally connected to the top post. He recommends using batteries with only side posts if a car uses side post batteries.

I am unsure what car your daughter is driving, I rarely see side post batteries outside GM cars/trucks and a few Chrysler cars.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I got the largest that would fit Diehard AGM (Gold iirc) as Platinum did not come in size for the Sonata. Sequoia has been on a Yellow top for many years.

One of the portable jump starters is a great to keep thing. Check out Anti-gravity Micro Start and Powerall. Both basically the same. Most of the guys in the firehouse have the Powerall. Yup we tried it on 4-5 diesel pickups and others with the cables disconnected from stock battery and it just keeps starting. I think it's every couple months to keep charge and doubles as back up cell charger etc. It fits in glove box it's that small. I just ordered 2 so I can keep one in each car.

 

[jimbrewer]

I'm of the opinion that you can't generalize too much. Probably the newest name brand battery of the correct size is the best battery.

When you think about it, its the battery that is the one thing most likely to leave you stranded, so I would say get a name brand battery and watch it and the rest of the charging system like a hawk. Probably you ought to think about replacing the radiator hoses too. Plenty of things left that could stop your car, but not that many that won't allow you to get to a safe place.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: CaspianM
Johnson Controls makes Diehard (Sears), Duralast (AutoZone), Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Motorcraft (Ford), and some EverStarts."


I use them. Thus this is my recommendation.