RockAuto now sells batteries

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RockAuto's latest email says they now sells batteries. The selling price of a few of them listed was not a bargain by any means.
I put two in my shopping cart just to see what shipping would cost. One was $17 and the other was $22.
No clue how they would handle a battery on warranty. One item that, IMO, is not a bargain at all.
 
If RA employs their "multiple warehouse = multiple shipping charges" formula, this'll die out real fast.

There is the safety issue to consider when shipping FLA's.

Ha, I've been saying that the battery industry wants to abandon wet, 19th century technology.
This could be RA just getting in on the ground floor....shipping AGM batteries is hazard free.
 
I'll almost garauntee they are not shipping Flooded batteries, or if they do, they are shipping them dry with a separate container of electrolyte. Personally, I'd rather receive them that way since they would not have started to age.
 
Originally Posted By: ZZman
Batteries have gotten ridiculous!


That's what happens when you nearly outlaw lead in everything. I'm surprised you can even have a lead battery in a car in Kalifornia. Lead all over the road from accidents and Condors eating it!
 
Originally Posted By: Dan55
GRP 35 Deka $175 Is that a Bargain?


It's a Deka Intimidator AGM, not a flooded lead acid. A 9A34 for my Jeep (Group 34) from rockauto is $147 for an AGM.
I just looked it up and it seems that all they are selling are AGM batteries.
 
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Rockauto needs their version of Amazon Prime... "Rockauto Pro for $100/year with free shipping" or something like that. Then this could be a sweet deal.

Looks like they don't charge a core so you can take your old one in to the auto parts store and get a $10 gift card for it. Add in the 5% discount codes that are everywhere for RA and it's not a bad price. Check this out, same exact battery, different sticker:

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But warranty exchanges would be a disaster, and I think the convenience of getting it the same day (usually batteries just die, so you need it right away) is worth a few extra bucks.

You might say "but, but, it's an AGM battery, they don't fail under warranty" uh yeah, they do. Not nearly as frequently as regular batteries but it happens.
 
Originally Posted By: dogememe
Rockauto needs their version of Amazon Prime... "Rockauto Pro for $100/year with free shipping" or something like that. Then this could be a sweet deal.


And even so, Amazon will undercut them ever so slightly. Case in point, I had to get a AGM JIS-terminal battery for my car. Amazon was a good $20-30 cheaper than O'Reilly but I have my doubts about them handling the warranty - especially if Amazon themselves didn't stock and ship it(which is good reason to check for the Sold and shipped by Amazon line for goods there). I got the battery locally in case I needed warranty service.
 
I look at the shipping charge here as approximately equal to a core charge, since it's about the same $$$ neighborhood and you can get FLAPS gift cards in different amounts depending where you go for recycling a battery.

I ran the numbers for my applications, Group 48 & Group 94R AGM batteries.

Looking at Group 48 AGM @ RA, the Exide AGM is 12% cheaper than the Pep Boys shelf price of a Bosch AGM (manufactured by Exide) plus 5% RA discount with code so no great savings there as Pep Boys offers discount codes ranging from 20% to 35% throughout the year, plus offering $30 rebates on Bosch batteries every so often. Exact same 48 month free replacement warranty, although I *think* an Exide labeled battery can be exchanged at any Exide battery dealer like Parts Plus. For Deka / East Penn, RA price is $186.79 minus 5% RA discount is $177.45 for Group 48 AGM. At Sam's Club, Duracell (East Penn / Deka) Group 48 AGM is $159.74 so Sam's Club is still 10% less everyday price and Sam's Club occasionally offers an extra $20 off auto batteries throughout the year.

Looking at Group 94R, the Exide is out of stock on RA so no price listed to use for comparison. The Deka Group 94R AGM is $195.79 minus 5% RA discount equals $186.00. At Sam's Club the Duracell Group 94R AGM is $169.52 so Sam's Club everyday price is 9% less than RA.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Dan55
GRP 35 Deka $175 Is that a Bargain?
nope. $125 here forxan intimatator


That's a good price - the Group 35 / 85 AGM Duracell (East Penn) is $147.52 at Sam's Club.

After 5% RA discount the $175 drops to $166.25 still higher than both other prices.
 
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Brick & Mortar parts stores know about mail order and make their heavy stuff like batteries, starters, brake rotors etc expensive to match... even if they get them by the 18 wheeler load.

Rockauto does not need to own every category they sell in. Their depth in the market makes them a useful place to check even if a particular shipping cost situation is absurd.

Amazon is like BJ's wholesale: There's a token membership fee that makes you think you're special. Get complacent and they own your wallet.
 
I found this thread while Googling for information and others' experiences concerning ordering car batteries from RockAuto. I didn't find any firsthand accounts of buying batteries from them, but I went ahead and ordered one yesterday. I thought I would share my experience here, whether it turns out good or bad. I know this thread is a few years old, but it seems like as good of a place as any to share my RockAuto battery buying experience because it appears high in Google search results.

I need to replace an AutoCraft (Advance Auto's brand made by Johnson Controls Power Solutions, which is now Clarios) Gold group 85 battery that failed last week and was manufactured in October 2015. If not for the risk of potentially exposing myself to the coronavirus, I would have probably gone to Walmart and bought a one-year-warranty group 24F battery for $54.88, since that's the closest one-year-warranty battery size to a group 85 they sell that will fit my application. I would rather not pay $100 more for a flooded battery at an auto parts store for an extra couple years of warranty. Since I couldn't find anyone who would ship me a conventional flooded battery for a resonable cost, and since I've never owned an AGM car battery, I decided to splurge and order one online.

I considered Northstar and Odyssey batteries, which seem to have among the best reputations, but decided they were too expensive. I also considered an Optima, but I found a disproportionate number of reviews and forum posts from people who were very dissatisfied with them. I ended up choosing between a DieHard Platinum AGM group 35 (which I suspect is made by Clarios) from Advance Auto and a Deka Intimidator AGM group 35/85 sold by RockAuto and made by East Penn. The two were priced very similarly after shipping, core charges, sales tax, and coupons were considered.

I read that DieHard Platinum AGM batteries sold by Sears were re-badged Odysseys, but that information was several years old, and the DieHard brand has since been sold to Advance Auto. Comparing pictures of DieHard AGM batteries sold at Advance Auto with AGM batteries made by Clarios, I believe Advance Auto's DieHard AGM batteries are made by Clarios. Because East Penn seems to have a better reputation than Clarios, I decided to go with a Deka from RockAuto. I chose RockAuto to order from because they had the best price I could find and I've been satisfied with previous RockAuto orders.

It was a hard choice because a warranty replacement would be cheaper and faster with Advance Auto. The DieHard also had a 3-year warranty compared to the Deka's 2.5-year warranty. I would have to pay to ship the battery back to RockAuto, which I believe would cost about $25 to $30.

The Deka Intimidator Battery was priced at $154.79 (before the 5% off coupon I used) from RockAuto, and shipping was $20.99. There was no core charge, and the only shipping option was FedEx Ground. I placed the order on Sunday, August 16, 2020, and they shipped it from San Bernardino, CA, on Monday. RockAuto said it should arrive by Friday when I submitted the order. They then said it should arrive by Thursday in their emailed shipping confirmation. FedEx tracking currently says it should arrive by Saturday.

I was leery about having a heavy item like a car battery shipped, especially since FedEx has damaged or lost several packages coming to me lately. However, I decided to roll the dice. I just hope it is well packaged.

I was also worried about getting an old battery since I won't be able to choose a battery with the freshest manufacturing date like I would at a store. I did notice RockAuto had 27 of these batteries in stock, split among five warehouses, on Saturday and had 25 in stock when I ordered mine. Hopefully that's an indication they go through their battery inventory fairly quickly. Since they had them at five warehouses, I was surprised mine is coming from as far away as California since I live in Tennessee. I wonder if they ship the oldest battery they have in stock instead of one from the nearest warehouse.

That's my experience so far. When the battery arrives, I'll update this thread with how it was packed, its physical condition, its age, and its state of charge.
 
I bought an Exide MX65 from Rockauto in mid April. My Expedition had been sitting almost a month due to COVID, and the battery was so dead it would not recover. The price from Rockauto was competitive with AGM batteries at local retailers, and at the time I was glad to not have to go shopping around looking for a battery. It came in two days, and had a recent manufacturing date.
 
RockAuto's latest email says they now sells batteries. The selling price of a few of them listed was not a bargain by any means.
I put two in my shopping cart just to see what shipping would cost. One was $17 and the other was $22.
No clue how they would handle a battery on warranty. One item that, IMO, is not a bargain at all.
pretty sure, lead acid batteries need hazmat certified driver
 
Interesting why would you want a lead acid battery mail order?

I have four different parts stores and walmart all within 5 miles of my house.

Did both cars this year, the ford battery was $99 at wally, and the Scion was $115 installed at AAP
 
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