Duralast Gold Batteries

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Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
I see the Toyota "TrueStart" batteries have a $25 rewards card incentive if bought in the month of June.


I'd get that....maybe you can get 11 years out of that one to. Is this for your daily driver?
 
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
In my area the Adavance and Autozone batteries have been made by JCI. If that's the case in your area, you can maybe get it cheaper at Advance with a discount code.

The O'reiley batteries I've looked at seemed to be Deka batteries.


^^^This. Buy the battery with the longest free replacement for the best price. AAP usually has the best deal with online coupon codes. Nevermind the brand name. I sold hundreds of batteries when I worked at the Zone and one thing I concluded was here in TX, a battery lasts 3 yrs average. I compared the date codes on the core returns. There was always a universal average, even among OEMs. Local climate determines longevity, not brand name. The only exception were trunk mounted, OEM Mercedes Benz cores.

I wouldnt recommend AutoZone, unless you have a 20% off coupon. Their stuff is always marked up full retail and usually higher than the other chain parts houses.
 
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Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
The red top Duralast seem to be the best around here. I change out plenty of Duralast gold tops that are only two or three years old. Most of the red tops I change are more like five plus years old.

The Duralast red top in the old van was seven years old and still going when I changed it (proactive maintenance). Dad's still using it for a tractor battery.



That's good info because I've bought about 4 or 5 DL Gold's and they all needed replacing within 2 years.Under warranty for sure, but I may go Red top next time. The price is so close is why people go Gold I bet.
 
Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
I change out plenty of Duralast gold tops that are only two or three years old.


I hope you're changing these out via warranty exchange. DLGs come with 3 year free replacement. Also, all of the tops have been black for a couple years now, no more yellow and red.
 
I say go for it. I have gold top in my Equinox for the past 3 years and it starts every time regardless of temps and conditions.
 
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
lemme guess.
the oem is a panasonic?
i got like 200 of them dry charged about 10 years ago.
most are still in use on ups systems and solar amateur radio backups.too bad nothing you buy today will match it.
btw the dealer i got these from sold them to me cheap because the help they had could not activate(fill)one without making a mess.
are the techs that lousy in the dealerships?
if they cant fill a simple battery what else will they foul up?


I'm surprised that most techs today even know about having to add electrolyte fluid to batteries that are shipped dry. The last time I worked at a place that had knowledgeable techs on this subject was when I worked at a Mercedes dealership back in 1992! It was typical when a customer came in and wanted a OEM replacement Mercedes battery that they were shipped dry, and filled, and charged just before being placed in a customers car. I believe they were Varta, and possibly Beru or Bosch Germany.
 
I had a Duralast gold in the Trans Am. It was the best battery I have ever had. Lasted 9 years and I killed it at least 4 times.
 
Just an update on my battery project. Decided to go get the Toyota 'TrueStart' battery in larger group size 27F (same as the OEM in the truck which came with the 'Towing Package' option).

I just swapped the batteries out in the parking lot so I could give the core back worth $18. The guys in the parts department said it's the longest lasting OEM battery they had ever seen ... over 11 years old. The date code on the OEM battery was 5-2-2005.

The new Toyota 'TrueStart' battery is supposedly made by Interstate, but I didn't see any indication on the labels that showed who makes it. The cost was $121 plus another $18 if no core, so not too bad. Plus there is a $25 rewards Visa card back from Toyota, so it was under $100 before tax considering the kick-back.

OEM battery ... can see made by Johnson Controls and date code of 5-2-2005.


Swap out in the Toyota dealer's parking lot. New battery looks identical in design as the OEM, except no hydrometer indicator ('green eye').


New Toyota 'TrueStart' installed. Maybe good for another 10+ years ... ?
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix


The new Toyota 'TrueStart' battery is supposedly made by Interstate, but I didn't see any indication on the labels that showed who makes it. The cost was $121 plus another $18 if no core, so not too bad. Plus there is a $25 rewards Visa card back from Toyota, so it was under $100 before tax considering the kick-back.

Swap out in the Toyota dealer's parking lot. New battery looks identical in design as the OEM, except no hydrometer indicator ('green eye').


I think I see the OEM battery somewhat larger than the new battery, at the minimum it is wider.

 
^^^ It's an optical illusion due to the angle of the photo. They were exactly the same size. The tie-down trap is a fixed size and it fit across the battery exactly the same, and the base of the battery filled the bottom tray exactly the same in both width and length. They are goth Group 27F size batteries.
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
^^^ It's an optical illusion due to the angle of the photo. They were exactly the same size. The tie-down trap is a fixed size and it fit across the battery exactly the same, and the base of the battery filled the bottom tray exactly the same in both width and length. They are both Group 27F size batteries.

It's must be, because you say so.

But, I think my brain is playing trick with me. It is telling me that the new one is larger than the OEM.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Instead of guessing, why not just get the battery load tested? Take it to an auto parts place and have them test it, see how much CCA it still has relative to new. Most places like Autozone do it for free.


Thats not a load test. A load test tells you voltage after a load has been attached for xx seconds.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
The hydrometer is only on one cell. Marginal value at best.


It also indicated if distilled water needed to be added. I did add distilled water to the OEM battery a couple of times, and maybe that helped it last as long as it did.
 
Originally Posted By: maximus
Nevermind the brand name. I sold hundreds of batteries when I worked at the Zone and one thing I concluded was here in TX, a battery lasts 3 yrs average. I compared the date codes on the core returns. There was always a universal average, even among OEMs. Local climate determines longevity, not brand name. The only exception were trunk mounted, OEM Mercedes Benz cores.


Yep, I also live in Texas, and the longest battery I think I've ever had is a Duralast Gold that lasted me from the summer of 2011 until a few weeks ago. Otherwise, their lifetimes are usually 3-4 years at most, regardless of how fastidious you are about keeping it watered up, etc...

Heat kills batteries, and we have plenty.
 
I miss the old semi-translucent Panasonic batteries the Japanese imported Toyota's use to come with. Each cell had it's own cap and you could check the level by looking at the side of the battery case. I had 89 Toyota PU that I got close to 10 years on the original battery before I sold truck with it still going strong.
 
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
So far best price I have found is Costco Interstate batteries.


+1
 
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