Car battery... Which brand is better and where to buy?

[Im a Guy]

You can't go wrong with Duralast from autozone. Not a lot of choice when buying a battery around here so get what you can. One good about duralast is when my cousin replace his duralast when it went dead. AZ told him you know how old is your battery? They told him he had it in the car for 12 years... 

I always wanted the one type that has the screw on them when it goes dead, you can add more acid to give it life back. I heard they last very long time but over time you need to replace the acid inside the battery. If you know how to fix a battery by adding acid and level it by using d water on each hole's on the battery. If your battery core's are still good.

[Sifu]

I will buy and use Autozone Duralast Gold products for other peoples repairs.  Its not bad for the money.  Their batteries have been pretty positive from my experiences.  Not great but at least nothing negative.  BA dum tssssh...  I'll see myself out.

I also forgot that online coupons can save some money.  Order online, check for any promos and save an extra $10-20.  Drive to store and pickup order.  No shipping charges and a possible core charge added on top.  Battery sales are rare but they come up once in a while.. 

[SummerBerry]

I will buy and use Autozone Duralast Gold products for other peoples repairs.  Its not bad for the money.  Their batteries have been pretty positive from my experiences.  Not great but at least nothing negative.  BA dum tssssh...  I'll see myself out.

I also forgot that online coupons can save some money.  Order online, check for any promos and save an extra $10-20.  Drive to store and pickup order.  No shipping charges and a possible core charge added on top.  Battery sales are rare but they come up once in a while..

Kragen and AutoZone sell pretty much the same brand.  I know I have Duralast currently on my Corolla and even DieHard in the past. 

I went to Toyota dealership this morning to asked about their battery.  Its not OEM just replacement brand called True Start.  The OEM battery in the car I checked and it pretty much has no brand but just that it is branded as Toyota Motors........ . 

I stop next at Big O Tires but they have Interstate brand and about $140 total.  Most of our cars after warranty is over at 25k/2 year I start taking it to Big O Tires for oil change, tire rotation, etc.  Beside I've been buying tires from there for years too.   I guess I might just get the battery there. 

I will check out AutoZone when I picked up my husband from work at 5pm.  I like AutoZone and Kragen because with the battery trade in you get like $20-25 off the regular price or back while some place don't do that.  I like how they do free testing, installation, etc.  unlike the dealership in order for them to check it out there is a disgnosis charge.   

[Im a Guy]

Also check your alternator. You can buy a small device to check if your alternator is working or not... 

[SummerBerry]

Also check your alternator. You can buy a small device to check if your alternator is working or not... 

My car is 6 years old with 63k on it.  It still run pretty good and always get my maintenance every 5-7k.  My kids just drained the car battery for 24-35 hrs in the garage with the passenager door not closed tightly.  We didnt really go anywhere that weekend so no one went into the garage until i went to start the other car to go grocery shopping.  Got a nieghbor to jump it but lasted for 1 1/2 week.  The day it died I actually went shopping to 4 different stores and each time feel like starting the car i can tell it got weak.   I picked up my kids from school we got stranded but school was near our old nieghborhood so walked to a good friend for help. 

I got a new car battery yesterday at Big O Tires since it was time for maintenance for oil, tires, etc.  Big O battery are insterstate. 

Sometime we think about the brand but to me it has always been more about how well we take care of our cars and how we drive it.  We have not experiences big expenses when it come to any of our cars in 20 yrs.  I am picky and choose what i like while my husband doesn't care but just not going with some brand unheard. 

I would have love to see how long that oem panasonic car battery would last but oh well when you have kids thing happen......

[thePoster]

140 bucks?!?!?  I would not pay  that much!!


Just get a battery from walmart.  It'll be fine.

You live in cali so you don't need those more expensive batteries.

But the ones in Walmart is fine.  I spent two cold cold cold winters in northern chicago and my duralast started up just fine.  And I'm talking about cold mornings where I had to chip the ice off my car door o just get in!!

But if your getting new batteries spend a couple off dollars to get those little green and red circles to put on the terminals, it'll keep the terminals from carroding/looking white and chalky which will help with better starts.

[nightrider]

If it gets up to $200, just recycle the spend sulfuric acid and refill with a new batch. Just take proper safety precautions when doing so. Live here in brutal MN for most my life and only have to replace 1 battery once. Overall, generic lead acid batteries are good enough so shouldn't have to spend too much for better batteries.

[Im a Guy]

Ya MN should always buy snow tire's... I'm in CA and I have it on my truck... lol Took it to the mountain on 4 to 6 inches of snow it go through it easy. On the road kind of icy but managed to make it through. On the HWY, almost but it slide a bit when I step on the brake but second time it stop . Step it slow...     Got to like ABS sometime. First it won't let you step it hard but your brake pedals feel like it has no more juice in it but the ABS was helping you on the snow but 2nd press on it would engaged the brake fully. Slow though. =D

[Ron Burgundy]

interstate are solid but $140 seems like highway robbery. That's pushing into Optima territory.

[Sifu]

Optima's aren't 100% fool proof though.  They're good batteries but like I've said Diehards in my experience are more reliable.  I've seen less issues with Diehards than Optimas.  Use to see plenty of returned Optimas when I worked in home/car audio.

[yuknowthat]

from diehard, duralast, optima, truestart, interstate to the TOP LEADING BRAND everyone is trying to represent.. it's all the same to me. As long as I have to right cranking amp, positioned how it should be and it starts my car.

[Sifu]

Just buy the best battery with the best warranty for your spending range.

[Ron Burgundy]

Optima's aren't 100% fool proof though.  They're good batteries but like I've said Diehards in my experience are more reliable.  I've seen less issues with Diehards than Optimas.  Use to see plenty of returned Optimas when I worked in home/car audio.

Who here said Optimas were fool proof??

Just stated that what she paid for her interstate (which is a solid brand vs rebadged/renamed store brand) seemed kind of high. 

[Im a Guy]

I feel safe using DuraLast battery... 

[yuknowthat]

Also check your alternator. You can buy a small device to check if your alternator is working or not... 

you don't have too. you can just do a quick check by taking off one of the battery wires. I think the positive or negative to see if it charges or not