I think is best to load test a suspect battery and replace when it fails the load test. Load test in the fall or start of winter in the areas where it gets cold.
I have only purchased one once, but it was very good on the car while I had it. Not universal, but Odyssey and X2 Power have pretty good ratings on Consumer Reports. But in one size X2 Power was the absolute worse (Group 65). But in general, both test well. Not to say there are not outstanding brands in other specific sizes and designs.
Varta!
Im "there too, same deal. Cant believe the battery in the 2017 Traverse is still good. Batteries in the South I ALWAYS replaced every less than 4 years, many times 3, heat kills them.
Same: High turnover (= fresh battery for you), fair price, excellent return policy, if you move or on VAC pretty much every city has a COSTCO.
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Why not get another Varta? The AC Delco AGM is manufactured in Germany by Varta. I have had one in my E39 BMW for over five years and it still tests over 1000 CCA which is higher than its 900 CCA rating. As I stated, you may find group 49 H8 Interstates around that are manufactured by Varta, but a bit of a crap shoot lately as they have more than one supplier.
Smaller than your factory original H8 Group 49 battery. Stay with the original size.
The Costco return policy on car batteries changed over one year ago. It is now one of the worst warranties. It is a prorated three year warranty. So after the first month, you start losing 1/36th the value each month...down to zero on the 37th month.Same: High turnover (= fresh battery for you), fair price, excellent return policy, if you move or on VAC pretty much every city has a COSTCO.
FWIW: Same theory would apply for Walmart... That's what I did with my kids car (00's Honda Fit) before she moved across country just so she could have easy access for a return/warranty/replacement... Note to that.. Battery crapped out <2 years in the TX heat; because it was right there she took it to Autozone they sold/installed a new one for her on the spot (So no chance to take advantage of the Walmart warranty
Also, have you considered my recommendation to purchase a battery tester? The batteries in my 2018 BMW are over 6 years old and still exceed their CCA ratings. I see no reason to replace them. I just check them a couple times per year.
Great. How do you verify that reserve capacity number? How can you verify it over the life of the battery?
We are talking about applying a 25 amp load and then waiting an hour or two for the battery to fall to 10.5 vts at 80F. That is basically completely discharging the battery. Assuming I had a 25 amp load source, that is not something you can do to a starting battery with any regularity as it will shorten its life considerably. I don't know of anyone (even experienced shop technicians) that check or confirm reserve capacity of a battery. Have you ever performed this test? And you cannot trust the rating stamped on the battery. Just look at the Consumer Reports ratings on reserve capacity and you will see many batteries don't meet their specification, just as they don't for CCA. At least with CCA we have a simple and quick test to verify, that is non invasive to the battery.
They are Korean now at the WalMarts in WA State. They were Germany up until a few months ago.
