New battery- A-Zone or W-M?

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UncleS2

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May 27, 2002
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I'm in the middle of replacing my radiator & hoses, with some other incidental chores. Among other things, broke a small piece off one of the *plastic*(
mad.gif
)heater core inlet/outlet spouts
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, & am praying the JB Weld repair will work.

The Neon's battery(Group 58) was installed in Jan '01 by the dealership, still works well, but while I'm doing all this it's the perfect time to replace it, since I had to remove it & the battery tray "system" for access to other stuff. Plus this battery has corroded battery bolts since new, gotta hunt up some new clamp bolts today while I'm at it.

I want easy access to replacement, at least from Austin TX to Little Rock AR. O'Reilly's SuperStart(6-yr, 2-yr free, $46) has side handles that may not fit my batt box. That pretty well narrows it down to the Auto Zone Duralast(7-yr, 2-yr, $56 in grp 58), or the middle-of-the-road model battery at Walmart(dunno, 2-yr, $? ~45-50). As far as I can tell Wal Mart doesn't carry the Group 58 size in the yellow EverStart model- none of the stores in my area have it.

Searching here at BITOG has put the AZ batt on my "short list", which as you can see is pretty doggone short. There are lots of O'Reilly's around now but those side-handles may be troublesome.

So waht do you think, the AZ or the WM battery?If the AZ is really a better battery then the $10 extra is money well spent. Or if you know of any other good contenders let me know. Thanks for any recommendations.
 
I'd stick to Wallyworld and put the receipt on the battery so you'll always have it with you should something happen. They are everywhere.
 
I am not sure. I bought a battery at Wal-Mart a few years ago. I forget the brand, but it was black and yellow in color. It came with 3 years warranty. After having it for one year, the battery wouldn't start the car. I took it back to get a replacement. A girl working the automotive counter tested it and found it had 4 volts in it and wouldn't let me exchange it. She said it had to be at 0. I told her to call a manager since she didn't know anything about batteries and the required voltage needed to start a car. After explaining to the manager, another woman but this one having some automotive sense, she allowed me to exchange it.

It is probably OK to get a battery from Wal-Mart, but, if you have problems, leave your dome light or head lights on and run the battery dead, lol.
 
I used several WM batteries and they are totally fine. Advance Auto Batteries are supposed to be some of the best.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Schmoe:
I'd stick to Wallyworld and put the receipt on the battery so you'll always have it with you should something happen. They are everywhere.
Click to expand...
Schmoe,

I like your idea about pasting the receipt to the battery so you don't lose it, but I would be afraid that the thermal paper that the receipt was printed on would turn black (and therefore unreadable) after a hot summer. Just a thought.

I've got a Walmart in my Tundra and I think it was $38. I have 100 degree summers out here and it's on its 3rd summer. Works like a champ so far.

If you want to really lighten your wallet, buy an Odyssey battery. They are dry cells and are practically bulletproof (they might literally take a bullet based on how they are constructed) They are crazy expensive though.

Odyssey Batteries
 
Stuart, in the Fort Worth area WalMart and
Auto Zone are about equally popular for
batteries for my friends.

WalMart seems to appeal to some because
there are more WalMart stores.

Auto Zone may have the best reputation for
quality.

It's kinda close to decide.
 
Go to AutoZone. AutoZone gives you much more battery then anyone else for the money. Their best battery is their Duralast Gold Line and they are worth every penny. They are about twice as good as most store brands top of the line battery. Their Duralast "Red" batterys are their middle of the road battery and they are excellent as well just not as good as their gold line. The Duralast "Red" line is about as good as most other parts stores or retail stores top of the line batterys.

AutoZones are preety available and you do not need to keep the reciept. They have you listed in their data base.
The Gold line has an 8 yr prorated warranty and 3 yrs. free replacement. They also come with a crd for three free jump starts if you ever need them.


Advanced's Auto Parts SIlver and Platnium batterys are a joke here in Michigan and Walmart and Meijers brands are not much better. The better battery's are AutoZone Duralast and Duralast Gold,Champion,AC-Delco,Panasonic,Interstate(Excellent in Hot Climates). The worst brand I have encountered is Dekka brand.

P.S. The only Walmart batterys that seems to hold up well here in Michigan is their Top of the line EverStart Maxx series.
 
Thanks for all the advice, folks! I've run several WalMart batteries in the past, & they've ranged from A-OK to so-so at best. The one time I used the warranty & got the replacement at a discount there were no problems.

I just wondered about the AZ batts, until searching here at BITOG on the mech maint section I'd never really thought about them much.

Thought I was going shopping for everything this evening, but it's gonna be Sat morning instead. I suspect it may boil down to price- if there's ~$10 or less difference I'll go with the AZ. If it's ~$20 differnce, WM.

Now if my JB Weld repair will just hold- keepin' my fingers crossed!
cheers.gif
 
Of the two you mention, I think the AutoZone Duralast Gold is an exceptional battery. I have three in service right now. The regular Duralast is a good battery, but if they make the gold in your size, IMO it is worth the price premium.

I put a Wal Mart Everstart MAXX (the yellow one) in our Expedition about four years ago. The kids have the Expy now, but when I service it, I see it still has that same battery in it. The other Wal Mart Everstarts I have had mixed results with. They seem to go a little past the free replacement date for me, and then start failing. I no longer have any of these in service.
 
If you have a costco nearby and a friend with a membership in case you don't have one, their batteries have 3/8 yr warranties and start at $39. IIRC
 
Johnson controls makes the best batteries under many store names .Try to find a battery made by Johnson controls and go with it.
 
Id go with Delco or autozone batteries...

Actually, id buy panasonic batteires if I could, but I cant... so I wont... but the panasonic in our 94 previa was perfect when we swapped it at 10 years and 175k miles... We just got afraid of what might happen...

That said, the AZ battery that got put in was fine too.

JMH
 
quote:
Originally posted by Steve S:
Johnson controls makes the best batteries under many store names .Try to find a battery made by Johnson controls and go with it.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I believe they make Interstate, and I have one in my '00 cavalier.
 
I hate AZ, but their batteries are excellent IMO. I've got one that's going on 6 years old! I was going to pay out the butt for Delco, but I decided to check at AZ first. Glad I did!

I was forced to buy a Wal-Mart battery after the battery in my wife's car took a dive. It was late on Sunday night so WM was the only thing openand my wife needed the car the next day too. I got the top of the line MAXX version, and it's worked fine so far. One thing for Wally World: They are pretty much everywhere
 
Yup, there's a lot to be said for easy availability. If WM had the EverStart MAXX(that's the bright yellow one, right?) in Group 58, I'd have probably never posted this at all & just bought one of those. The prospect of being to replace a battery at 2 AM on a weekend night hundreds of miles from home- well, let's just say that IMO that's one heckuva good selling point.
wink.gif


On the other hand, a better battery from AZ might cancel that out. I'll see tomorrow, gonna buy *something* for sure. Even though the old 60-month Mopar battery is still working OK in its 64th month, the starter *has* sounded kinda slow the past week or three.

All this & radiator/hoses, then soon timing belt, drive belts & water pump. Gettin' ready for the next 100,000 miles!
grin.gif
 
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