JFYI, Portland, OR area. Had to return one 65 (Jan 23) and one 27F (Feb 23). They do not hold the charge. Both vehicles now have 7 y.o. batteries that still work very well, but I am in search of a decent battery supplier. Will try Duralast Gold next, just need a location with fresh batteries. Looks like JC is cutting corners nowadays. There is always a reason why the price is so low compared to the rest of the market players.
Poor Quality Batteries from COSTCO
- Thread starter Y_K
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Can you look at the date code before you buy it?
Been having short-lived batteries from Costco for the last few years. Never seen one last more than 4 years, usually 2.5-3.5 years.
Better yet, bring a multimeter and check the voltage before buying. Anything under say 12.5V is suspect.
What Costco has now is sold to them by Interstate. Interstate is not tied to a single supplier, and Exide is one of their suppliers.
I do remember back when they had Kirkland Signature batteries, Costco clearly had them labelled as made by Johnson Controls.
Costco's contract with Interstate Battery System could specify that they get Clarios batteries. I have never seen anything else at Costco.
Many battery suppliers are regional. but only costco knows for sure?
I agree with quality of Costco battery less than good. I am getting low battery charge warning for past 3-4 months in my TL after having the battery replaced 14 months ago with Costco Clarios brand. I might return it and try AGM battery and see if it holds the charge better. I regularly used battery charger/maintainer at least once to twice a month as I was getting these battery warnings. It didn't help much, IMO.
Costco/interstate is not what it was but warranty swap is too easy. Just swap it at first sign of trouble. My wife's Nissan wouldn't start after about 10 days of sitting with a 2 year old interstate from Costco. First time I have never had a warning, dang technology
Clarios is owned by Brookfield Business Partners which is a private equity type firm that buys distressed companies.
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The current Interstate AGMs at Costco are still Interstate brand, but you will find most of them are now made in Germany. Probably Varta.
I have visited a couple Costcos and most, but not all the AGMs have the white oddly shaped "Made in Germany" stickers...same as the AGMs sold by AC Delco and WalMart.
I have an AC Delco H8 AGM also with this same "Made in Germany" sticker for over 4 years in my 2001 BMW 540. It load tested recently at over 900 CCA which exceeds its rating. Up until last fall, it was testing at over 1000CCA.
Made it through the pandemic when I was rarely driving...I bought it in 2019 because it was the #1 rated H8 by consumer reports.
I have visited a couple Costcos and most, but not all the AGMs have the white oddly shaped "Made in Germany" stickers...same as the AGMs sold by AC Delco and WalMart.
I have an AC Delco H8 AGM also with this same "Made in Germany" sticker for over 4 years in my 2001 BMW 540. It load tested recently at over 900 CCA which exceeds its rating. Up until last fall, it was testing at over 1000CCA.
Made it through the pandemic when I was rarely driving...I bought it in 2019 because it was the #1 rated H8 by consumer reports.
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I have a 9/20 or 9/21 Costco in a van. Seems to be working fine. I’ll go out of my way to get a Deka.
Costco had an exclusive supply contact with JCI before, for its house-brand Kirkland batteries. It was even noted on the promo materials.
I suspect they're not doing anything more than licensing the current brand name from IBS.
Costco Interstate batteries can only be handled and warrantied through Costco, not IBS or its dealers, and with its own considerable buying power, has no reason to employ another middleman/reseller to procure its supply of product.
And to me, it doesn't make a lot of sense to even do that type of branding.
Sure, the Interstate brand has some equity, but I'd argue it's no stronger than DieHard, or what the others possess, to warrant such a deal, not to mention Costco's own strong brand equity.
Or that brand supercedes things like price, warranty, and convenience, for most shoppers, for what are commodities produced only by a small handful of companies. You see it here, even among those who have more than a superficial knowledge about the product and market. Price, fit, and need, at the top of the priority list, not brand.
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They both were cranking fine.. Granted, not everybody is obsessed with Metrology as I am. I put both on chargers before installing, Tecmate and CTEK. Sitting dry they were fine. But when connected both were always at 12.60 or lower. Checked for the parasitic drains, etc.
Put 7 y.o Duracell Gold 27F (flat top, recessed handles, 'Made in Spain' sticker) back into its Cruiser, everything is fine. It still tests pretty darn well, just wanted to be proactive. Both batteries were 3-4 weeks old when I purchased them.
Tonight I got a new 65 Duracell Gold, Jan 23, it had 12.7 V on the shelf. Regular flooded, not an EFB. Another retail store had the same one at around 12.5 V, that one looked differently, had a flat top, made in Korea. Anyway, watch it! That was JFYI.
Put 7 y.o Duracell Gold 27F (flat top, recessed handles, 'Made in Spain' sticker) back into its Cruiser, everything is fine. It still tests pretty darn well, just wanted to be proactive. Both batteries were 3-4 weeks old when I purchased them.
Tonight I got a new 65 Duracell Gold, Jan 23, it had 12.7 V on the shelf. Regular flooded, not an EFB. Another retail store had the same one at around 12.5 V, that one looked differently, had a flat top, made in Korea. Anyway, watch it! That was JFYI.
^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^
Better yet, I would not pick any battery under 12.6-V. This number is generally considered the "good health" line.
Another good practice is to avoid any battery with a black terminal. This indicates a leak between the case and the terminal that oxides the lead during initial charging.
I once got a battery from Costco that was COMPLETELY dead. 0V at the terminals.
No idea what happened to it or how it ended up on the shelf. Returned it for another one.
I had measured it before buying. As was said above, they are reading fine when dry. None of them could get above 12.56 after being connected.
Are you saying that the voltage drops to 12.56 or lower soon after the battery is taken off charge? A battery that was just on charge (engine running or on a battery charger) should be above 13V for a while (how long I don't know, never sat and watched it) but will drop to 12.6V some time later.
EDIT: This is assuming it isn't one of those vehicles that has modules which take an hour to go to sleep after the engine is shut off--the 13V is read when there's no real load on the battery.