Thanks. I was just curious if it was well known that one manufacturer was far better than the others. I just didn't know. Seems like Clarios does well!
I'm curious if they made my new Interstate battery from Costco now.
Car battery
- Thread starter newninja
- Start date
I'm curious if they made my new Interstate battery from Costco now.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
Yes, Clarios supplies to Interstate.
East Penn seems to make a good product, I think I may have been an outlier with my experience.
While Optima Red Top spiral wound AGMs seem to have had a bad reputation for years. Versus 20 years ago, when they were top notch.
Surprisingly the Optima yellow top "plate type" AGMs seem to be rated well.
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My issue here is paying made in USA prices for a Made in Korea battery that realistically should be way cheaper.
Depends, if every other place has the same battery for significantly more money. A cheaper battery with less warranty is a better deal. My vote is for the 1 year sub $100 Walmart battery. Take care of it you will probably get 2-4 years.
I work on 3000lb lead acid batteries for a living. I have worked at clarios their industrial batteries are not well maintained and gross. I have also spent a week at deka for training. Deka batteries are my favorite. I have used and worked on just about every brand over the last 17 years.
I have three East Penn batteries from Farm & Fleet. They have a plant in Iowa. Anyone know what they do there? Manufacturing, distribution?
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
The have two manufacturing plants in IA. One is also used for regional distribution
East Penn’s Facility in Oelwein, IA Celebrates Successful Start
East Penn Manufacturing Co. is pleased to announce the opening of its Oelwein Fill, Form, and Finish and Distribution facility beginning early in January of 2018.
The company held a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on February 9th attended by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg. The ceremony was an opportunity for the company to honor the hard work of the employees in Oelwein and all of the support from the State, City, Community, Contractors, and other valued partners.
“It has been a decade since we started our first distribution operations in Oelwein, and we are extremely pleased that we became a part of this community,” said Bob Flicker, COO of East Penn. “To see us progress through the construction to the operation of this remarkable new facility speaks to the amazing partnerships of all parties involved. We can’t thank our East Penn employees enough for their contributions that have gotten us to this point. This is a very proud moment for us all.”
East Penn Oelwein serves as a strategic location to enhance the product support of the company’s customers in the Midwestern United States and other key points across North America. East Penn also operates a manufacturing facility in
Corydon, IA.
Thanks for that information. I also have a Deka that I bought from a local shop. You might say that I drank the kool aid but I prefer to buy American made, not just American brands.
Is Deka a brand or do they make batteries for other brands?
Deka is East Penn's brand. They make batteries for Farm & Fleet, as I stated above. Also NAPA Legends were theirs, maybe still, and others. Look around this forum. Several retailers sell their product as house brands according to many posts here. I haven't seen many Deka batteries under the hoods. Other brands are more popular because of marketing. I just happened to find a local shop that sold them as I was having them work on my car.
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2025
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I find it funny that Costco's battery finder tool, does not list a FLA battery for my car (group size 24F). It does list an AGM.
That really confuses me, because my car came with a 24F FLA battery, and 24F FLA batteries are sitting right there on the shelf at Costco.
I came to the conclusion that it is because the Costco 24F FLA battery has raised vent caps, whereas the original factory spec battery has flush vent caps. The way my car is set up with the battery hold down clamps, the Costco 24F FLA will fit, but it is not ideal because of the battery hold down clamps, it clamps down on the raised vent caps, which is not ideal.
So in my opinion, since the original factory battery spec calls for a FLA battery with flush vent caps, Costco does not list a 24F FLA battery for it, since their battery has raised vent caps.
That really confuses me, because my car came with a 24F FLA battery, and 24F FLA batteries are sitting right there on the shelf at Costco.
I came to the conclusion that it is because the Costco 24F FLA battery has raised vent caps, whereas the original factory spec battery has flush vent caps. The way my car is set up with the battery hold down clamps, the Costco 24F FLA will fit, but it is not ideal because of the battery hold down clamps, it clamps down on the raised vent caps, which is not ideal.
So in my opinion, since the original factory battery spec calls for a FLA battery with flush vent caps, Costco does not list a 24F FLA battery for it, since their battery has raised vent caps.
Use A small piece of wood or plastic on the edge of battery to that hold down misses the vents.
Or bend the hold on bracket to miss the vents
East Penn makes batteries for LOTS of companies-O'Reilly (Super Start), Duracell Gold at Sam's Club & Batteries Plus, Federated AP DBA as Fisher Auto/KOI/Smyth here, even WM east of the Mississippi. I've had a couple Clarios built batteries leak, both at the posts & the case-so I can't recommend them (one AAP, one AZ, both overpriced too).
Anyone have a link to how to tell who made your Interstate battery? I didn't see a date code on mine but maybe I didn't pay close enough attention to the right place.
There should be a number physically stamped on top of the battery that indicates the manufacturer. East Penn ones start with EP, Clarios/Johnson Controls used to start with JC. There have been reports of "sticker battles" on some of the Costco Interstates, SK is a possibility.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
Unfortunately all battery makers will have occasional issues. I have had two East Penn group 49/H8 fail prematurely in less than two years, for each one. But I realize that can happen. I still believe they can make a quality product.
My recent (past 5-7 years) with 8 or 9 Clarios flooded and AGM batteries is they are pretty solid, as is their warranty (four years free replacement on the AGMs through WalMart). All are still in service and working fine. All were purchased at Costco or WalMart.
The problem with his testing is that all those WalMart Everstart batteries were purchased in his home state of Missouri.
WalMart uses at least 3 suppliers of their EverStart batteries depending on WestCoast, East Coast, or Midwest America. On the East Coast, the EverStart batteries are typically manufactured by East Penn/Deka which also manufactures the SuperStart batteries for O'Reilly. My testing and personal experience shows the East Penn made batteries are identical in performance and construction within each tier level, regardless of label. Also, note that the SuperStart batteries in the PF test were 30-50% higher in cost than the EverStart batteries.
The only legitimate takeaway is that those South Korean batteries were generally inferior to the East Penn made batteries.
Nice info! Just put everstarts in two of our vehicles so good info to know about regional manufacturers. Do you have any info on duralast from AutoZone? Somewhat recently put one of those in our other vehicle
Good info. I posted his video out of curiosity of what people would say. Locality and transience of manufacturer and transience of quality have affected batteries over the years (and many other products). Regarding a lot of products, if you watch a review of that product that is several years old there is often little guarantee that if you buy that product today, that it will be of the same quality, or even made in the same factory (this is especially true of Chinese-made things).
AutoZone has historically sourced their Duralast labeled batteries from Clarios (formerly Johnson Control Industries/Union Carbide). However, since Covid, the Duralast batteries are being supplied by multiple manufacturers depending on Group size and location. For example, the Group 24 battery shown below is a Clarios battery, while the 24F battery is a East Penn unit. Clarios batteries have the removable rectangular caps w/ patented clipped corners while East Penn batteries (mostly) have smooth maintenance free tops with vents on the left & right edges. At WalMart, the EverStart batteries made by Clarios will have a serial number starting with "JCI" under the barcode while the East Penn manufactured batteries will start with "EP".
The South Korean made EverStart serial numbers are all over the place, but they usually have integrated fold down handles..
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