OT: replacement battery recommendation??

[Ray Newman]

Colleagues: the battery in my 2010 GMC Savana passenger van -- 5.3L Vortec engine -- is in need of replacement.

Who offers a good battery these days?

[Blaine]

I'd drive up to the express service entrance of your favorite GM Dealer, and let them mess with it.

[Ray Newman]

Blaine: GMC quoted US$ 181.77 (inc. tax) for a 42 month warrantee non pro-rated replacement battery. Was not sure if that was a good price or not.

[Blaine]

Blaine: GMC quoted US$ 181.77 (inc. tax) for a 42 month warrantee non pro-rated replacement battery. Was not sure if that was a good price or not.

WOW Clearly, I have not bought a battery lately....

Les Schwab, maybe?

[AJMD429]

Batteries Plus advertises some sort of premium car/truck battery that my mechanic said was actually good and a decent price. It wasn't available at that time (a year ago) for my particular vehicle (John Deere tractor )...

[Rusty]

You seldom get the best prices from the car dealers in my experience. Here we have Auto Zone, O'Reily's and a few other parts houses. Most offer free installation on batteries on the spot.

[M. M. Wright]

The closing of the last lead smelter in the US didn't just raise the price of ammunition.

I buy batteries from my local Carquest.

[mikld]

Auto batteries are one thing where "you get what you pay for". Cheap batteries have thinner plates (or less glass matting) and have a minimal life. Get a name brand and expect to pay a lot for it. You'll prolly be glad when you are 19.4 miles outta town, and cell service, and it's 3 degrees above zero, and your truck starts right up...

[Sixgun]

Auto batteries are one thing where "you get what you pay for". Cheap batteries have thinner plates (or less glass matting) and have a minimal life. Get a name brand and expect to pay a lot for it. You'll prolly be glad when you are 19.4 miles outta town, and cell service, and it's 3 degrees above zero, and your truck starts right up...

Exactly my opinion also. I usually buy the best battery that Sears has when in need of replacement.

Funny thing...my one Jeep Rubicon which I bought new in 2005 still has the SAME BATTERY that it came with. Granted, the Jeep does not get driven much...3K a year tops and is garage kept with a cover on it.

I tell ya...nothing burns my azz more than battery costs digging into my gun money.-----6

[Blaine]

Computers are saving batteries with perfectly regulating the charging voltage. Under, or overcharging will ruin a battery in a very short time. The new vehicles also have about 10,000 miles between oil changes, and MPGs that would have been impossible before. One Horse per cubic inch used to be The Holy Grail, now it's double or triple that on street cars that get fantastic mileage.....
I have to say, my Ram EcoDiesel 1500 with a 3 liter turbo diesel runs, and hauls nearly as good as a Hemi, and gets up to about 30mpg out on the road.....What comes out of the tailpipe is almost clean enough to breath.

[vancelw]

Auto batteries are one thing where "you get what you pay for". Cheap batteries have thinner plates (or less glass matting) and have a minimal life. Get a name brand and expect to pay a lot for it. You'll prolly be glad when you are 19.4 miles outta town, and cell service, and it's 3 degrees above zero, and your truck starts right up...

I think all batteries are made by GNB to the seller's specs. I buy the highest CCA battery I can, because they usually have thicker plates that are less prone to break. You're looking at $110 or so at a Walmart. Autozone tends to be pricey around here for a lesser battery. I have bought OEM batteries before, but only when the dealer sold them to me for 50% MSRP, putting them more in line with Walmart prices. When you need a warranty adjustment on a battery, it's great to be near someone who will honor it. Walmart and dealerships are everywhere. Sears not as much as it used to be. And part stores (Autozone, Napa, O Reilly, Tractor Supply, Oerschelens, Atwood's. etc) tend to be more regional.

I usually get 6 to 7 years out of OEM batteries and Walmart's highest quality batteries. I never by the 24 month ones.

[rossim92]

Interstate is what i always buy, Got one marine battery in my boat that has been in for 13 years, I pull it out in the winter and put it on floating trickle charge. I hear coppertop makes car batteries now and are suppose to be good. No walmart recycled batteries, pure junk!

[marlinman93]

I go to my local BiMart and buy the Exide batteries. $79 for an 84 month battery. All four of our vehicles have them in them.

[OldWin]

I've had a Optima in my jeep for the last 12 years. It's done winching duty, sitting for long periods, and a lot of off-roading. I boosted a diesel pickup with it two weeks ago.
That said, it IS old, and I am in the woods alone a lot so it was time for a new one. Rumor is, the Optima's are made in Mexico now and are stuff.
All my research said that Odyssey is the hands down best battery you can get so that's what I dumped in my old Rubicon. It's sealed, has 1050CCA, and a 135min reserve. Not cheap (220 bucks), but I'd rather buy once, cry once than be left afoot.

With regular passenger vehicles I usually run the factory batteries. They don't cost much more, and I've never got less than ten years out of one.
The original Chrysler battery from my jeep was in my dad's old jeep and just died this spring. It was thirteen years old.

[pdentrem]

When I was the parts manager at our local GM dealer, we always sold AC Delco, same as factory and lasted twice the off brand stuff. I only had 2 batteries in my '88 Beretta in 19 years, the original and one replacement. My current '07 Cobalt still has the original battery. I have an Odyessy in the bike, expensive but half the weight and better than anything else out there.

[Thunder50]

I have been using Interstate batteries last few years. Been happy with them so far. In fact, bought two motorcycle batteries yesterday, from them.

[claybob86]

Last time I needed a battery, I discovered that O'Reilly's and some other chains no longer have the pro-rated replacement warranty for a certain number of months anymore, just something like a 1 year free replacement warranty. However, NAPA still had the pro-rated warranty like everyone has had for many years, so I went with NAPA. Price was about the same.

[Griff]

Last time I needed battries for my truck, I found NAPA had the best warrantee & price. Group 31s are mot cheap, but with a 1 year free replacement then 42 prorated warrantee, plus better pricing than others, it was no contest. When I replaced the 10 year OEM battery in my dually, they were the only ones that could match the CCAs of the original. All the other places said that their "book" said it used a 650CCA when the original battery was clearly marked 770CCA! And since it's 1 of a pair, their solution to keep them matched was to sell me a pair of the lessor batteries! Stupid parts geeks!

[mikld]

I've had a Optima in my jeep for the last 12 years. It's done winching duty, sitting for long periods, and a lot of off-roading. I boosted a diesel pickup with it two weeks ago.
That said, it IS old, and I am in the woods alone a lot so it was time for a new one. Rumor is, the Optima's are made in Mexico now and are stuff.
All my research said that Odyssey is the hands down best battery you can get so that's what I dumped in my old Rubicon. It's sealed, has 1050CCA, and a 135min reserve. Not cheap (220 bucks), but I'd rather buy once, cry once than be left afoot.

With regular passenger vehicles I usually run the factory batteries. They don't cost much more, and I've never got less than ten years out of one.
The original Chrysler battery from my jeep was in my dad's old jeep and just died this spring. It was thirteen years old.

The City of Los Angeles, Dept of Water and Power went to Optima batteries about 14 years ago. They were first touted as "deep cycle" but with a high CCR they went into every vehicle short of construction equipment (I had an emergency and I dropped 4 Optimas in a large hydro crane in place of 2 8Ds. Worked quite well). BTW, I occasionally found a dud from the factory with the other batteries (Interstate and Napa, etc.) but in 5 years using Optimas I found none...

[piller]

I need to check what is in my my Camry. It is a 7 year old battery and still going pretty well. I have had better luck with the better quality batteries when I replace them. The best I ever had was bought at an automotive store in Liberal, KS in 1982 and it still worked great when I sold the car 18 years later. It was the first Gel battery that I had ever heard of.

[jnyork]

My Dodge Ram 3500 with the Cummins has the original batteries still in it, vehicle made in October of 2003. From working in a large motor pool many years ago, I feel that one brand is as good as another, I've seen 'em last 3 weeks, six months, 2 years, 10 years, regardless of brand, dang things are just gonna do what they are gonna do, no amount of second-guessing will change it.

[Lefty Dude]

Here in Arizona, if you get four years out of a Battery you are doing good. My best have been AC Delco. Worst; anything Johnson Controls makes, Sears included.
Have not tried an Optima.

Our Summer time heat is a killer on batteries.

Weather Guessers are predicting 120 degrees next week here in the Phoenix area.

[hkfrost]

Costco carries Interstate batteries these days.

[BAGTIC]

The closing of the last lead smelter in the US didn't just raise the price of ammunition.

I buy batteries from my local Carquest.

US sourced lead never was any cheaper than imported lead which is abundant.

[BAGTIC]

"One Horse per cubic inch used to be The Holy Grail, now it's double or triple that on street cars that get fantastic mileage....."


Dream on! Street cars, economical or otherwise, are not getting 2-3 hp. per cubic inch.

[sore shoulder]

I have an Interstate dealer account for the solar batteries I use and sell, and I've used them in my trucks a couple times. My truck has two batteries and it gets down to -40 in winter so they get a workout running glow plugs and cranking over the diesel. I honestly can't tell the difference between the Interstate and WalMart, and Walmart is cheaper and easier to find when I need replacements.