Battery Replacement

[greg_J35]

Replaced an Autocraft AGM group 65 in service for 7.5 years with a non AGM Duracell group 65 850 CCA from Sam’s Club. The price was almost $100.00 cheaper than the Diehard of AAP.
Back when I bought the Autocraft in 2013, AAP would allow multiple discounts toward a battery, but not anymore.

 

[Kira]

Someone suggested Winter months being prime time for battery sales as motivation to curtail battery discounts.
The general downturn in all vehicle related activities likely moved the industry to maintain higher pricing on whatever is needed most.

 

[ripcord]

With cars sitting so much over the pandemic and so many batteries sitting at a low state of charge, I expect battery sales have been pretty brisk this past year without any sales being needed.

 

[Dave9]

Last couple group 65N FLA I got were Everstart Maxx 850CCA from Walmart... open 24/7 (automotive department closes at night but you can pull one off the rack at my local WM, and checkout at front registers, even leave your old battery at the front register for a core return if automotive dept. is closed), $100 w/tax. They've gone up in price by $4 since then.

Robot or human?

The older of the two is only 3.5 yrs at present but had no problem starting a vehicle at 5F a ~week ago. I usually get about 6 years from a group 65 FLA, with 3yr replace, 5yr pro-rated warranty, so can't justify spending more for an AGM.

 

[greg_J35]

Last couple group 65N FLA I got were Everstart Maxx 850CCA from Walmart... open 24/7 (automotive department closes at night but you can pull one off the rack at my local WM, and checkout at front registers, even leave your old battery at the front register for a core return if automotive dept. is closed), $100 w/tax. They've gone up in price by $4 since then.

Robot or human?

The older of the two is only 3.5 yrs at present but had no problem starting a vehicle at 5F a ~week ago. I usually get about 6 years from a group 65 FLA, with 3yr replace, 5yr pro-rated warranty, so can't justify spending more for an AGM.

I went to Walmart and they had no group 65 battery. My local Sam’s Club is beside the Walmart and had some fresh ones.

 

[Fattylocks]

I went to Walmart and they had no group 65 battery. My local Sam’s Club is beside the Walmart and had some fresh ones.

Good thing Walllyworld didn't have a group 65. All the Everstart currently sitting in my local Wally have a made in China sticker. The Sams Duracell are American made. I think East Penn and I know they're significantly cheaper.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Regular battery prices are ridiculous. I needed a 24F for the Camry I'm selling, and Napa, AAP, Pep Boys and ORL were all at least $150 for a 3 year battery. ORL listed an ACDelco two year battery for $90 but it had to be shipped from the manufacturer (5-7 days). Ended up with a 2 year battery at Walmart for $80 with a higher CCA rating than the OEM battery. The only other stores where I've seen decent prices are Rural King and Tractor Supply. No East Penn batteries in my local area.

 

[ripcord]

In the past, I've purchased batteries from the junkyard for cars I wanted to sell... charged it up, load tested it, and scrub the grease pen writing off it if it passed.

 

[greg_J35]

Good thing Walllyworld didn't have a group 65. All the Everstart currently sitting in my local Wally have a made in China sticker. The Sams Duracell are American made. I think East Penn and I know they're significantly cheaper.

I saw and concluded the same.

 

[Donald]

Where in the country does Walmart sell AGM batteries? My local Walmart is n MA has a advertising sign in battery area for AGM but no AGM batteries.

The $10 rollback for Group 65 batteries at Walmart is no more.

 

[Dave9]

Good thing Walllyworld didn't have a group 65. All the Everstart currently sitting in my local Wally have a made in China sticker. The Sams Duracell are American made. I think East Penn and I know they're significantly cheaper.

Might be a regional thing, where your local WM batteries are sourced from.

What do the Sams Duracells cost? My last wm group 65 w/850CCA was $94 pre-tax. Now $99, but Sams, Costco, and Walmart are usually pretty competitive on SOME of the popular battery groups, though I have noted that certain sizes at WM are inexplicably higher priced than they should be for their size. For example a 590CCA group 59 WM Everstart Maxx is $120, and not an uncommon battery size.

Regardless, I've seen no performance issues that make me feel that the WM Johnson Controls batteries aren't up to the job. One I have is pushing 4 years old and had no problem this winter, on a short-trip vehicle no less. It replaced a JC battery that lasted 6 years. Really 7 but in hindsight was cranking slow the last winter of service.

 

[blupupher]

Replaced an Autocraft AGM group 65 in service for 7.5 years with a non AGM Duracell group 65 850 CCA from Sam’s Club. The price was almost $100.00 cheaper than the Diehard of AAP.
Back when I bought the Autocraft in 2013, AAP would allow multiple discounts toward a battery, but not anymore.

Yeah, the good discount codes at AAP are no more. I had bought a few with rewards points and discount codes in the $80 range. Now can't get one for less than $140 with discount code.

My brother in law is probably going to need a new group 65, he has not driven his truck in weeks and would not start the other day. I need to go over and take a look tomorrow at it and see if it is dead or just needs to be charged.

 

[bbhero]

Where in the country does Walmart sell AGM batteries? My local Walmart is n MA has a advertising sign in battery area for AGM but no AGM batteries.

The $10 rollback for Group 65 batteries at Walmart is no more.

I have seen AGM batteries in my local Walmart here in Williamsburg... And at the Wally world at Mechanicsville and the Wally world off Rte 288 west of Richmond.

 

[Wolf359]

Yeah, the good discount codes at AAP are no more. I had bought a few with rewards points and discount codes in the $80 range. Now can't get one for less than $140 with discount code.

My brother in law is probably going to need a new group 65, he has not driven his truck in weeks and would not start the other day. I need to go over and take a look tomorrow at it and see if it is dead or just needs to be charged.

Yeah the only discount I can find on an H8 battery is just 15% off at Pepboys at $195, the ones at Advance Auto and Autozone don't work on batteries anymore so they're $200-$215. They were down to the $140 range at one point with 30-35% off and $40 rebates. Guess those days are gone. At least for the next few months.

 

[LDM]

Can't recommend buying a battery from Walmart after the experience I've had with their EverStart batteries. Needed a new Group 78 for an old GM minivan that I'm going to end up selling. First one I buy ends up totally dead after 2 weeks (had 2.4 volts reading when testing it with my multimeter so I'm assuming major failure) so I take it back. They need to spend 2 hours "testing" it on their special testing machine, so I leave and come back when I get the time. Battery failure, like I already knew and didn't need to spend 2 hours to figure out. So I get another battery and instead of properly doing the warranty exchange, they try to tell me that I have to pay $30. Had to get a CSM to come and override the whole thing because apparently no one in the auto area knows how do a proper battery warranty exchange.

So yesterday I go to start the van again and its totally dead again. Check it with the multimeter and same thing again, 2.4 volts. So another battery failure. I pull it out yet again and take it back to Walmart. After telling the idiot shop manager that it doesn't take 2 hours to test a battery and I'm not waiting around I get a store manager and tell him to give me my money back because I'm not spending the time to do this yet again 2-3 weeks later. Fortunately he didn't argue and gave me the money back along with the $12 for the core charge.

Not sure why Walmart needs 2 hours to test a battery when any auto parts store can do the same thing in a matter of minutes.

 

[Wolf359]

Can't recommend buying a battery from Walmart after the experience I've had with their EverStart batteries. Needed a new Group 78 for an old GM minivan that I'm going to end up selling. First one I buy ends up totally dead after 2 weeks (had 2.4 volts reading when testing it with my multimeter so I'm assuming major failure) so I take it back. They need to spend 2 hours "testing" it on their special testing machine, so I leave and come back when I get the time. Battery failure, like I already knew and didn't need to spend 2 hours to figure out. So I get another battery and instead of properly doing the warranty exchange, they try to tell me that I have to pay $30. Had to get a CSM to come and override the whole thing because apparently no one in the auto area knows how do a proper battery warranty exchange.

So yesterday I go to start the van again and its totally dead again. Check it with the multimeter and same thing again, 2.4 volts. So another battery failure. I pull it out yet again and take it back to Walmart. After telling the idiot shop manager that it doesn't take 2 hours to test a battery and I'm not waiting around I get a store manager and tell him to give me my money back because I'm not spending the time to do this yet again 2-3 weeks later. Fortunately he didn't argue and gave me the money back along with the $12 for the core charge.

Not sure why Walmart needs 2 hours to test a battery when any auto parts store can do the same thing in a matter of minutes.

Maybe they try to charge it. One that is discharged is going to fail a load test.

 

[LDM]

Maybe they try to charge it. One that is discharged is going to fail a load test.

I'm sure they do but I think its more that they are just trying to get people to leave so they don't have to swap out the battery under warranty. I've had batteries fail before and I can't think of any of the auto stores (AAP, Autozone, NAPA, or OReilly) that require a 2 hour charge/test to determine if a battery has failed or not. They put it on the tester, if it doesn't pass they swap it out. 2 hours of charging isn't going to do anything to a fully discharged battery anyway, so to me it just another reason why not to buy stuff like this at Walmart. They obviously aren't training their staff on how to do the warranty exchange either since they tried to charge me $30 for a $50 battery that failed.

 

[sohccammer427]

While we're on the subject. I'm thinking of replacing the battery in my Colorado this summer proactively. It's right at four years old. Will be hauling an RV from NC to FL in the dead of summer and the last thing I want is to be stranded with a dead battery.
Walmart has the AGMH8 for $170 witch is about $30 less that others.

 

[Wolf359]

While we're on the subject. I'm thinking of replacing the battery in my Colorado this summer proactively. It's right at four years old. Will be hauling an RV from NC to FL in the dead of summer and the last thing I want is to be stranded with a dead battery.
Walmart has the AGMH8 for $170 witch is about $30 less that others.

Must be a local thing. No AGM H8 batteries at my local Walmart. I guess they carry them in one region and not in others.

 

[sohccammer427]

Must be a local thing. No AGM H8 batteries at my local Walmart. I guess they carry them in one region and not in others.

You may be right. I looked at walmart .com and they show them for the price mentioned, but they're saying out of stock. They had the feature where you could could leave your email to be notified when back in stock. Won't want to replace until June of this year. Just liked WM because of their many stores and warranty should it fail.

I guess there's always AZ or AAP if they never materialize.

EverStart Platinum AGM Battery, Group Size H8 (12 Volt/900 CCA)