Interstate Car Batteries At Costco..Good Deal ?

[crazyoildude]

I usually get my Batteries from auto zone i use the auto zone Gold for $100.00 (Commercial Shop Price) The guy that rebuilds our alternators mentioned he buys Interstate batteries at Costco cheaper and they have more CCA's and have a better warranty anyone know what they have at costco and is their warranty really better?
I know interstate Batteries used to be a good battery but i don't know how they are now anyone use them?

 

[Kool1]

I bought a 51r Duralast Gold at Autozone and it was made in Mexico. I also recently bought a 51r Interstate battery at Costco also made in Mexico. If I were a betting man, I would say they came from the exact same factory with different stickers and plastic tops. I bet internally they are the same battery as the specs are the same, dimensions are the same, and caps look alike. The Autozone top is yellow and the Costco Interstate top is green.

The Autozone battery is now about 4 years old and the Costco one is about 6 months old. No problems with either battery yet.

 

[bbhero]

East Penn. Enough said in my opinion. US made that supports OUR country and provides jobs here for our people. Great quality as well. So I would look at Batteries Plus Bulbs for a "Duracell" which is manufactured by East Penn or Federated Auto parts or O Reilly's which I believe are East Penn too.

Johnson Control makes some very good quality batteries as well. But I'm seeing a lot of their products being produced outside of here which is not a good thing in my opinion. Even one of the Valuestart batteries at Walmart are made in Saudi Arabia... Let's just say I didn't have a good experience with that championship level of battery.

 

[Lubener]

Freshness probably has the greatest impact on battery life. Look for ones that are around a month old. There is a decal on the battery which is easily decoded. I just bought a battery this week and for me, I got it from Walmart. It was cheapest, good specs, had the best warranty and was less than a month old.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
East Penn. Enough said in my opinion. US made that supports OUR country and provides jobs here for our people. Great quality as well. So I would look at Batteries Plus Bulbs for a "Duracell" which is manufactured by East Penn or Federated Auto parts or O Reilly's which I believe are East Penn too.

Johnson Control makes some very good quality batteries as well. But I'm seeing a lot of their products being produced outside of here which is not a good thing in my opinion. Even one of the Valuestart batteries at Walmart are made in Saudi Arabia... Let's just say I didn't have a good experience with that championship level of battery.

Right on point. You save few bucks by buying cheap battery, and 70% of that goes out of country. Duracell would be my option too.
We raised taxes last year on ballot t fix roads, and I always buy local for my cars, since tax will end up here to support me. Online, oh well, sometimes they tax you sometimes they do not. Same is with manufacturing.

 

[mclasser]

As mentioned above, both Duralast and Interstate batteries are made by JC. I recently installed an Autocraft battery (also made by JC) because I've had good luck with the brand in the past.

If I knew about Batteries Plus, I would've gone there to try out the Duracell.

 

[Wasatch1]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
East Penn. Enough said in my opinion. US made that supports OUR country and provides jobs here for our people. Great quality as well. So I would look at Batteries Plus Bulbs for a "Duracell" which is manufactured by East Penn or Federated Auto parts or O Reilly's which I believe are East Penn too.

Johnson Control makes some very good quality batteries as well. But I'm seeing a lot of their products being produced outside of here which is not a good thing in my opinion. Even one of the Valuestart batteries at Walmart are made in Saudi Arabia... Let's just say I didn't have a good experience with that championship level of battery.


Hear, hear!

 

[bbhero]

Just to clarify I did purchase a Valuestart battery that day for my lady's Camry. It has been very good to this point. My "championship" level experience was almost getting hit in the face with battery acid that flew out of the top of the Saudi Arabia made battery. The acid landed on my right arm which I wiped off immediately off on my jeans. Didn't hurt too too bad because I got it off in a half of a second but didnt feel wonderful either. I have only one good eye which is my right eye. If that would've landed there it could've been quite a bad circumstance. Two things should not have happened the way it did that day... 1) battery acid getting out of the top of the battery. The fella working back there at their auto section was very surprised by that happening. The caps on top of the battery were most likely on there properly to begin with. It was not like I had it at such a severe angle to have caused that I believe and 2) how about not having batteries so high up on a platform that even for me who is 6 foot 1 inches tall has to lift the battery that high to begin with??? Here's a novel concept... keep the car batteries at a height of no more than 4 feet to help eliminate that from even having the chance of taking place to begin with. At a lower height at minimum if something like this were to happen it would have to fight against gravity going up towards someone's face. Just like when a local Walmart had TVs (old school heavier TVs in early 2000s) up off the floor 8 feet high and one of them feel from that height and landed on a 2 year old child killing the child. Common sense is needed at times when it comes to displaying items and the proper placement of them for display. I have worked in retail as well. Heavy items at the bottom and least heavy towards the top. Even in the canned good section of the store where do you find the 5 pound or ten pound big whomping cans of vegetables? At the bottom shelf. The 8 oz cans are near or at the top of the shelf. There's a reason for that.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

EPA has no jurisdiction in Mexico....

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
East Penn. Enough said in my opinion. US made that supports OUR country and provides jobs here for our people. Great quality as well. So I would look at Batteries Plus Bulbs for a "Duracell" which is manufactured by East Penn or Federated Auto parts or O Reilly's which I believe are East Penn too.

Johnson Control makes some very good quality batteries as well. But I'm seeing a lot of their products being produced outside of here which is not a good thing in my opinion. Even one of the Valuestart batteries at Walmart are made in Saudi Arabia... Let's just say I didn't have a good experience with that championship level of battery.


If many JCI batteries are now made in other countries, sadly I too will have to boycott. Deka makes a good battery, locally, so all the more reason to support.

 

[bbhero]

Yeah that's the way it is looking. If East Penn didn't produce a very good battery then I would purchase whatever brand that does just that. But since East Penn does such a very good job manufacturing a very good car battery here then I will gladly buy their batteries. The next battery in the Camry will be a Deka from Federated Auto parts.

 

[oilmutt]

Check out the Durcell batteries at Sams Club!

 

[crazyoildude]

What are the duracell at sams club warranties like and who makes them? They are more expensive than some of the others at costco it seems..
I usually get the autozone gold for between $90.00-$100.00 at commercial but i can see their quality slipping over the last few years

 

[zzyzzx]

Just bought a group 35 battery at Costco. There is NO country of origin on it. Has 42 month free replacement warranty and no warranty after that.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
Freshness probably has the greatest impact on battery life. Look for ones that are around a month old. There is a decal on the battery which is easily decoded. I just bought a battery this week and for me, I got it from Walmart. It was cheapest, good specs, had the best warranty and was less than a month old.


+1 my local AAP sells a ton of batteries. They are always never more than a month old.