I found this thread while Googling for information and others' experiences concerning ordering car batteries from RockAuto. I didn't find any firsthand accounts of buying batteries from them, but I went ahead and ordered one yesterday. I thought I would share my experience here, whether it turns out good or bad. I know this thread is a few years old, but it seems like as good of a place as any to share my RockAuto battery buying experience because it appears high in Google search results.
I need to replace an AutoCraft (Advance Auto's brand made by Johnson Controls Power Solutions, which is now Clarios) Gold group 85 battery that failed last week and was manufactured in October 2015. If not for the risk of potentially exposing myself to the coronavirus, I would have probably gone to Walmart and bought a
one-year-warranty group 24F battery for $54.88, since that's the closest one-year-warranty battery size to a group 85 they sell that will fit my application. I would rather not pay $100 more for a flooded battery at an auto parts store for an extra couple years of warranty. Since I couldn't find anyone who would ship me a conventional flooded battery for a resonable cost, and since I've never owned an AGM car battery, I decided to splurge and order one online.
I considered Northstar and Odyssey batteries, which seem to have among the best reputations, but decided they were too expensive. I also considered an Optima, but I found a disproportionate number of reviews and forum posts from people who were very dissatisfied with them. I ended up choosing between a
DieHard Platinum AGM group 35 (which I suspect is made by Clarios) from Advance Auto and a
Deka Intimidator AGM group 35/85 sold by RockAuto and made by East Penn. The two were priced very similarly after shipping, core charges, sales tax, and coupons were considered.
I read that DieHard Platinum AGM batteries sold by Sears were re-badged Odysseys, but that information was several years old, and the DieHard brand has since been sold to Advance Auto. Comparing pictures of DieHard AGM batteries sold at Advance Auto with AGM batteries made by Clarios, I believe Advance Auto's DieHard AGM batteries are made by Clarios. Because East Penn seems to have a better reputation than Clarios, I decided to go with a Deka from RockAuto. I chose RockAuto to order from because they had the best price I could find and I've been satisfied with previous RockAuto orders.
It was a hard choice because a warranty replacement would be cheaper and faster with Advance Auto. The DieHard also had a 3-year warranty compared to the Deka's 2.5-year warranty. I would have to pay to ship the battery back to RockAuto, which I believe would cost about $25 to $30.
The Deka Intimidator Battery was priced at $154.79 (before the 5% off coupon I used) from RockAuto, and shipping was $20.99. There was no core charge, and the only shipping option was FedEx Ground. I placed the order on Sunday, August 16, 2020, and they shipped it from San Bernardino, CA, on Monday. RockAuto said it should arrive by Friday when I submitted the order. They then said it should arrive by Thursday in their emailed shipping confirmation. FedEx tracking currently says it should arrive by Saturday.
I was leery about having a heavy item like a car battery shipped, especially since FedEx has damaged or lost several packages coming to me lately. However, I decided to roll the dice. I just hope it is well packaged.
I was also worried about getting an old battery since I won't be able to choose a battery with the freshest manufacturing date like I would at a store. I did notice RockAuto had 27 of these batteries in stock, split among five warehouses, on Saturday and had 25 in stock when I ordered mine. Hopefully that's an indication they go through their battery inventory fairly quickly. Since they had them at five warehouses, I was surprised mine is coming from as far away as California since I live in Tennessee. I wonder if they ship the oldest battery they have in stock instead of one from the nearest warehouse.
That's my experience so far. When the battery arrives, I'll update this thread with how it was packed, its physical condition, its age, and its state of charge.