Nearing 5 years of service - Duracell Ultra - +1 for East Penn but minus infinity for Batteries+Bulbs

V

VersatileGuy

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Sep 2, 2015
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212
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MD
Batteries+Bulbs is a garbage company, and I feel regrets giving them business and having people buy from them, but the Duracell Ultra Gold group 35 is nearing its 5th year of service, and it's still starting the car and not leaking around the terminal posts. It's been subject to a little abuse, as the serpentine belt has gotten too much slack, causing constant undercharging and sulfation. Belt has been changed now, and at least 12.6 volts can be maintained, but it will need a batteryMinder intervention, if not a welder, to get the full sparky current back.

Reason why the vendor is garbage is because I originally ordered a battery in 2017, but the filth never returned the money back, and I suspect someone swiped the inventory at my expense. Then when trying to make a claim three years later, they pulled off the spiel of processing a warranty claim to have the system return the money, but instead, I paid again, so that essentially doubles the price of the battery and I'll be ****ed if I don't get 10 years out of this battery.
 
VersatileGuy said:
Batteries+Bulbs is a garbage company, and I feel regrets giving them business and having people buy from them, but the Duracell Ultra Gold group 35 is nearing its 5th year of service, and it's still starting the car and not leaking around the terminal posts. It's been subject to a little abuse, as the serpentine belt has gotten too much slack, causing constant undercharging and sulfation. Belt has been changed now, and at least 12.6 volts can be maintained, but it will need a batteryMinder intervention, if not a welder, to get the full sparky current back.

Reason why the vendor is garbage is because I originally ordered a battery in 2017, but the filth never returned the money back, and I suspect someone swiped the inventory at my expense. Then when trying to make a claim three years later, they pulled off the spiel of processing a warranty claim to have the system return the money, but instead, I paid again, so that essentially doubles the price of the battery and I'll be ****ed if I don't get 10 years out of this battery.
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Their rechargeable aa batteries and repair have been great for me. I had a dust buster my grandparents got me. The batteries went bad and they cracked open the internal case and rewired a new battery for it, top notch. Their car batteries seem to be on the expensive side.
 
depending on your location east penn stocks Wallys batteries + i recently bought for my car + truck + if you drive a lot or charge them on a charger you may see 10 years!! my napa- east penn went only 8 years in my car because of a faulty alternator!! car sets in winters + gets driven little but my C Tek charger keeps them topped up!!
 
97prizm said:
Their rechargeable aa batteries and repair have been great for me. I had a dust buster my grandparents got me. The batteries went bad and they cracked open the internal case and rewired a new battery for it, top notch. Their car batteries seem to be on the expensive side.
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They used to run promos back then. The fraudulent replacement cost me about 100 dollars for the Ultra Gold back in 2017 and 2020. It was the 640 CCA(higher level) rather than the 550 CCA. I now see their current prices are 218 or so dollars for the same battery. I'll be glad when if they can't move units.
 
Now that I’m a little more mindful of using a charger I’m going to see if I can get 5 yrs out of my deka gold east penns I just bought. Even without hardly ever using a charger, I get 4 yrs out of a Walmart EP.
 
D1dad said:
Now that I’m a little more mindful of using a charger I’m going to see if I can get 5 yrs out of my deka gold east penns I just bought. Even without hardly ever using a charger, I get 4 yrs out of a Walmart EP.
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I thought I was in need of battery replacement recently, with instrument cluster "flicker".

In actuality, the serpentine belt was too old and associated components needed some TLC. Swapped in some Amosil for the power steering and I notice a subtle increase in smoothness on acceleration. 17 years of mostly original ATF, and it smelled nasty. First batch of fluid was black and stank.

The last thing is an alternator swap or rebuild, as the bearing is showing signs of future failure; there is sound on startup but not when the engine is hot.
 
VersatileGuy said:
Reason why the vendor is garbage is because I originally ordered a battery in 2017, but the filth never returned the money back, and I suspect someone swiped the inventory at my expense. Then when trying to make a claim three years later, they pulled off the spiel of processing a warranty claim to have the system return the money, but instead, I paid again, so that essentially doubles the price of the battery and I'll be ****ed if I don't get 10 years out of this battery.
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I had two flooded H8 Group 49 batteries fail prematurely from Batteries Plus...these are the East Penn manufactured ones. In both cases I got the run around...Each time I took the battery out of my car (a pain in my BMW) and they would see the failure, charge it for a few hours (so I have to leave for a few hours and come back), make me put it back in service for a few days and check again...where it would again show failure, then they would replace it. On the second go around (about a year later) the manager confided they make customers go through this as the franchise owner is required to eat the cost of battery replacements under warranty. The reason is they get an automatic "off invoice" discount on each East Penn battery they purchase, that is supposed to cover for the rare failure. (a not uncommon industry practice) So every warranty replacement eats into their profitability.

I quit buying from Batteries Plus after that ordeal. I realize that is a franchise decision, and not all Batteries Plus stores do that, but it turned me off enough to write them off.
 
I haven't had any bad experiences at Batteries+ but I do not think they offer anything special in terms of price or service. My last set of batteries, two G65 for a diesel truck, were the fancy NorthstarX2 AGMs and they did last beyond the warranty period by about 1 year, ~5yrs total, but each battery cost about $330 so $660+tax for 5 years is $144/year. Two G65 Interstates from Costco $283 out the door with 3 year warranty, so 3 years service life equals about $94/year. I know a couple people who always run the Costco Interstates and they find they fail almost always right at the 3 year mark, but just outside the warranty period.
 
TazzySpazzy said:
I haven't had any bad experiences at Batteries+ but I do not think they offer anything special in terms of price or service. My last set of batteries, two G65 for a diesel truck, were the fancy NorthstarX2 AGMs and they did last beyond the warranty period by about 1 year, ~5yrs total, but each battery cost about $330 so $660+tax for 5 years is $144/year. Two G65 Interstates from Costco $283 out the door with 3 year warranty, so 3 years service life equals about $94/year. I know a couple people who always run the Costco Interstates and they find they fail almost always right at the 3 year mark, but just outside the warranty period.
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Interesting that at Consumer Reports they tested the X2Power AGMs and in every size except the Group 65 they were in the #1 to #3 position. But in Group 65 it was absolute last. It tested well in all categories but one...expected life. There it was dead last, and pulled its score to the bottom. They clearly have a problem with that size.
 
f355spider said:
Interesting that at Consumer Reports they tested the X2Power AGMs and in every size except the Group 65 they were in the #1 to #3 position. But in Group 65 it was absolute last. It tested well in all categories but one...expected life. There it was dead last, and pulled its score to the bottom. They clearly have a problem with that size.
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Well, I have never once found Consumer Reports to be accurate in any of the products I've used. I'm not sure how they conduct their tests but my own real-world experience has always been vastly different. Just my .02
Edit: Even Odyssey, which are made by the same company, Enersys, only list 3-10 year life span in their literature.
 
TazzySpazzy said:
Well, I have never once found Consumer Reports to be accurate in any of the products I've used. I'm not sure how they conduct their tests but my own real-world experience has always been vastly different. Just my .02
Edit: Even Odyssey, which are made by the same company, Enersys, only list 3-10 year life span in their literature.
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They were accurate this single time. You purchased an X2Power battery with a very short life, and their testing predicted the same...
 
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