Originally Posted By: pzev
Buy a battery from a retailer that will be available should the battery fail. I purchased a Die Hard Gold from sears a couple years ago...when the battery died, there wasn't a sears close enough for me to replace the battery under warranty, and I ended up getting stuck buying a new one at PepBoys (needed car running asap for test later in day). Pick a brand and a retailer that is nation wide...so regardless of where the battery fails, the retailer is close by to swap it out.
Walmart is perhaps your best bet in this regard, next would be Autozone. AAA isn't a bad option either, but they are expensive. Had I bought my battery at pep-boys, autozone, or kragen...I could have swapped it out that day. Instead, I bought a new battery when the dead one had a year of free replacement left....sucks.
Too bad Starbucks doesn't sell car batteries. You wouldn't have to walk 20 feet to get a new one!!
I have a Peps Boys half a mile down the road. I like to buy things from them and keep them in business. The Napa store 2 miles away closed 3 years ago and the next one is actually 11 miles away. I like AAP but I think Napa staffs may be more knowledgeable as they tend to be DIY car guys as well. I have been giving dumb advices and suggestions from AAP before and usually try to stick with someone with some know-how. The local AAP seems to have a lot of turn-over lately though.
A lot of people like to buy from Walmart because it is almost every where. I think there is a better chance of running into a AAP, Auto Zone, or Napa than running into Walmart in small towns. It boils down to who would have national honor system for warranty. AAP keeps my purchase record so I can loose a receipt and am still covered. I don't know if that record is accessiable by other AAP store though. I need to get them to print me secondary receipts for those lifetime parts.
