24F Battery Recommendations

[camarocle]

I'm looking for a new 24F battery for my '15 Camry. I have had really good luck in the past with Johnson Controls batteries. The OEM battery is a JCI battery made in the US and still tests good at 6 years (I'm just changing to be proactive). Before I had bought JCI batteries at AAP with the coupon codes and would get 5+ years out of them, but no more discount. The last Walmart battery I bought was a JCI one as well that is still going at 5 years. Now, my local Walmart only has the East Penn batteries (Everstart Maxx), but they are by far the cheapest. I've never had one of these, and don't like the lack of caps to top off the water. But I'm willing to give them a try. Another option is a Toyota Truestart Battery from the dealer. It's about $15 more than the Walmart one and I'm told they're supplied by Interstate. Are those JCI batteries? I've also heard since JCI was bought and changed to Clarios the quality isn't the same as the ones I've had experience with (still made in US?).

Any recommendations would greatly appreciated!

 

[Passport1]

That's a common size. Three of my vehicles take that. Each as a Walmart battery. Good value, no hassle. Go with that, rest easy.

 

[Wolf359]

That's a super common size, you could even do the $50 Walmart battery which just has a 1 year warranty, people are saying they get 3-4 years out of it. Maybe it's just the winter or the time of the pandemic, but there doesn't seem to be any discounts on batteries lately. Pepboys used to have 25% off Champion batteries and they also had rebates on top of that, but the rebates went away a few months ago and the 25% off went down to 15%. The Champion battery is a JCI/Clarios battery.

 

[skyactiv]

Most long time Bitog members would rather have a East Penn made Everstart rather than a JCI battery, including me.

 

[The Critic]

Costco sellings JCI 24F batteries for a better price than Walmart.

 

[2EHA]

the walmart value EP batteries are supposedly the same as the maxx

 

[Highboy]

Just put one in my Highlander this weekend. Replaced a 7 year old Advance Auto AGM. $96 out the door from Costco.

 

[jayjr1105]

I buy mine from Costco, It was $78 for my car and $85 for my Van or something like that. Can't remember the warranty period but Costco backs their products like no other company.

 

[wdn]

Sam’s Club Duracell batteries go on sale twice a year for $20 off. They are $82 in size 24F. They are made by East Penn and have 3-year free replacement warranty.

 

[wdn]

Advance Auto Parts paid $200 million for the DieHard brand name and it will be interesting to see when, if ever, they can recoup that $200 million. They could hardly have picked a worse time to do it. People are not too keen on paying $170 for a car battery these days, with no discounts.

 

[sky jumper]

i just got the 24F value start JCI from Wmart to replace a 2yr old OEM Toyota JCI battery. it measures 660cca (rated 585). $48 I have no idea how they make money on these things. best deal ever. even costco wants $85 you're paying for the warranty not a better battery.

 

[MrPlow]

Might be a shame if the JCI Everstart Maxx batteries are being phased out. I have a 24f Maxx that is 4 years old and it cranks the 3L v6 like a roided out beast on cold mornings. Much better battery than the garbage I picked up for my other rig at NAPA. The NAPA Legend cost a lot more and cranks like frozen molasses in the cold, even after having the first copy warrantied, the second is just as bad.

Looks like I'll have to try the East Penn version when it comes time, although for some reason I got the impression that the JCI Maxx batteries were better?

 

[samven]

I really believe that the best thing you can do when you go to buy a battery is take a voltmeter with you. Even a great battery that has sat in a partial discharge state will not last. Get the most recent date with the highest voltage, min 12.6 then take it home and put it on a charger.

 

[wdn]

Batteries I see in stores all have plastic caps covering both of the terminals. They might take a dim view of somebody taking the caps off of multiple batteries and taking readings with a multimeter.

 

[sky jumper]

I really believe that the best thing you can do when you go to buy a battery is take a voltmeter with you. Even a great battery that has sat in a partial discharge state will not last. Get the most recent date with the highest voltage, min 12.6 then take it home and put it on a charger.

YES! i'll do you one better.... not more than 2 months since mfg date and get one of the new fangled $40 amazon battery analyzers that measure resistance and CCA is even better than a dmm.

 

[samven]

Batteries I see in stores all have plastic caps covering both of the terminals. They might take a dim view of somebody taking the caps off of multiple batteries and taking readings with a multimeter.

Too bad for them, its not like I am unboxing them. I just snap the little covers back on. No one has ever said anything but if they did I would leave and buy someplace else.

 

[Wolf359]

I usually just look at the date code and buy the most recent one. Even if that means taking down a few batteries to get at the one in the back.

 

[bbhero]

I have a group 24f East Penn battery from Federated Auto parts. It cost $89 for 2 free replacement warranty. At $44 per warranty year it is a pretty good deal.

Like the guys have said the Wally world East Penn group 24f for $55 is a good deal has well.

 

[60jeffrey]

Advance Auto Parts paid $200 million for the DieHard brand name and it will be interesting to see when, if ever, they can recoup that $200 million. They could hardly have picked a worse time to do it. People are not too keen on paying $170 for a car battery these days, with no discounts.

I have made the same observation; that they no longer allow the discount codes to be applied towards a purchase of a battery, so as to more quickly try to recoup that $200M. If I owned stock in the company, I'd be very upset that they bought the rights to the DieHard name, at least at that price. But, I guess, that they are counting on the fact that many people would still believe that the name infers something special. We BITOG'ers know differently.

 

[wdn]

DieHard is a brand from the past they lost their cachet when Sears went out of business. It’s like buying a new Kelvinator refrigerator or something. The fact they practically had to drag Bruce Willis out of the nursing home to make that TV ad for a car battery doesn’t help. Maybe they are marketing the brand to geezers for the nostalgia value, but at 170 bucks, no thanks.