Automotive batteries in 2023

D60

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Nov 6, 2017
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I've seen a discussion or two about batteries (somewhat) recently declining in quality, and/or about manufacturers (eg E Penn) being preferable or not preferable.

I feel like I've seen new-ish batteries start to fail on me recently including Walmart batts for our '08 GMT900 Duramax and AGM Super Starts from O'Reilly for my '19 Wrangler JL, but in both cases I can't conclusively rule out parasitic draws so I can't condemn anything right now.

I need to get new batts now for our '02 Ram 2500 CTD and I'd appreciate thoughts on what is good and what is questionable today?

Most of my life I've had REALLY good luck with inexpensive to mid-level batteries but it seems those days may be over??
 
I buy Interstate from Costco because of the outstanding warranty process. Bring it in under warranty period (no receipt necessary) and they pull a new one off the shelf, no questions asked.

The only issue is, the warranty is for the purchaser, not the car owner. I just put a battery in my niece's '15 Odyssey; if it craps out I have to return it as it was sold under my membership.
 
I can't recommend a particular brand, but walmart at least is somewhat regional. Here in lowcountry SC the walmarts all have Johnson Controls batteries. A member here indicated the batteries at his walmart were all East Penn, but the East Penn were made in Mexico.

I would buy based on warranty and convenience of return, rather than trying to buy "the best", because I think they have figured out how to make batteries that last on average warranty + 1 month.
 
I don't know about how battery quality is these days, but some of my vehicles have more parasitic losses than others. I decided to add trickle charger jumper wiring to the batteries. The connection to the chargers is a common connector that I can close the hoods on with just a pigtail coming out. They are cheap and easy to add and the trickle chargers are also cheap. I've also added them for friends who drive short trip or little and had starting issues and had to call AAA of some such.
 
no matter the battery brand any battery setting without a regular charge is diying a slow death!! years ago i went thu 3 die hards at our small local catalog store. the odd-big batteries were for my 62 chev my daily driver, they obviously were slooooo sellers + after the 3rd one i took a refund!! so buyer beware of any previously activated batteries. batteries stored dry then activated at the seller with bulk acid then fully charged are a best bet!!
 
My wife has the original Panasonic car battery in her 2014 Toyota Rav 4 and is a daily in Minnesota. Winter gets to it and in the summer her 1 car garage can get to 130F. I have been looking for a Panasonic replacement, but their are non in the USA. Still turning over in -20.
 
Except for Napa and HD, most of the majors are JC here. I think it might depend on where the JC came from. I have had the best luck with American JC. With Mexican JC middling, and the worse luck with Korean JC. Wally sells Korean JC here, so it's off to Autozone for price match. I would use Advance, but they wont price match here. Unfortunately, the American ones are hard to find now.
 
I buy Interstate from Costco because of the outstanding warranty process. Bring it in under warranty period (no receipt necessary) and they pull a new one off the shelf, no questions asked.

The only issue is, the warranty is for the purchaser, not the car owner. I just put a battery in my niece's '15 Odyssey; if it craps out I have to return it as it was sold under my membership.
That’s standard. The official policy at the major auto parts chain I work at is warranty is not transferred to the next owner.
 
It’s tough. Even an Everstart Maxx can come from different suppliers. I have a six year old one , but how would one assume another one would also last six years. You’d have to trust that Walmart had a certain set of expectations for batteries sold under their 3 year free replacement warranty.
 
It’s tough. Even an Everstart Maxx can come from different suppliers. I have a six year old one , but how would one assume another one would also last six years. You’d have to trust that Walmart had a certain set of expectations for batteries sold under their 3 year free replacement warranty.
The Everstart Maxx here are JCI - made in Spain. Maybe because we are so close to a major port they can ship them in cheap enough. I have had a couple and they last about the warranty and not much more.
 
Except for Napa and HD, most of the majors are JC here. I think it might depend on where the JC came from. I have had the best luck with American JC. With Mexican JC middling, and the worse luck with Korean JC. Wally sells Korean JC here, so it's off to Autozone for price match. I would use Advance, but they wont price match here. Unfortunately, the American ones are hard to find now.
Delkor doesn’t supply any batteries to Walmart. Delkor, is of course Clarios Korea. They’re all made by Hyundai, Hankook and DN Automotive.

The local VatoZone is either Korean or German(Clarios Varta for DIN AGM) now. Exide now is just a relabler, the new batteries don’t have their rectangular vent caps. AZ switched to Exide as a battery supplier in the last few year, not surprising since a former Exide person is at the C-Suite in Memphis.
 
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I decided to add trickle charger jumper wiring to the batteries. The connection to the chargers is a common connector that I can close the hoods on with just a pigtail coming out.

I keep my riding mower battery on a trickle charger (one of those $10 Harbor Freight ones). That battery is from June 2017 and it's still working as of the last time I used the mower, in October 2022. Think that battery is an East Penn, I bought it from walmart.
 
From my experience, East Penn/Deka are the longest lasting battery.
In my area of the country, Duracell at Sam's club and Ever Start at Walmart are East Penn batteries. That could be different regionally.
Auto Value stores in my area also carry Deka batteries .
 
I keep my riding mower battery on a trickle charger (one of those $10 Harbor Freight ones). That battery is from June 2017 and it's still working as of the last time I used the mower, in October 2022. Think that battery is an East Penn, I bought it from walmart.

Trickle chargers can make any little used battery last 7 through even 15 years. The orig batt's in my 05 dodge diesel are in my 79 bronco (that even plows my neighborhood). Still working. Have plenty of batts 7 or more years still good.
 
I've seen a discussion or two about batteries (somewhat) recently declining in quality,

I need to get new batts now for our '02 Ram 2500 CTD and I'd appreciate thoughts on what is good and what is questionable today?

Most of my life I've had REALLY good luck with inexpensive to mid-level batteries but it seems those days may be over??
IMO, the difference is that today you need a trickle charger. I've had great success on a rarely used truck that has a cheap HF solar 1.5W charger, and no regulator even! The thing is when I tried to buy a second one, it immediately broke. When I returned it, the replacement broke again. So I can't buy another one.
 
Bought the last new batteries for my Ram from Les Schwab...........hope they last.
 
If it were me, go to RockAuto & see what they offer in AGM batteries. Best price & warranty
 
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