OT: Best value car battery?

[jbreebs]

My car battery is shot, and I need a new one as it's my daily driver. It's a 97 Toyota Camry with ~240k miles on it. I'd like to drive it til it dies, or repairs become prohibitively expensive. That said, I'm not sure how much longer that will be. Part of me says to get a high quality battery (Interstate?) and be done with it, another part of me says get something cheaper that will do the job but isn't necessarily the "best" battery out there. Any recommendations?

[weaponsgrade]

A mechanic friend told me to get Sears Diehard.

[Louis]

I put a Walmart battery in my Subie (daily driver) back in Dec (I think) of last year. So far so good. They get good reviews online.

[Cicli]

I am a big fan of Interstates.
Always used them, never have to think about it.

[alancw3]

most car batteries manufactured in the usa are made by just three companies, johnson controls, exide and delphi (formerly delco). the last battery i bought at walmart (johnson controls). free installation. still going strong three years later. also they put anticorrosive on the terminals at no extra charge. very satisfied.

[clyde the point]

Rural King sells Interstate
Autozone usually has good sales on their stuff; and will check your electrical system for free-might have another issue?
Wally world works

[tele]

Originally Posted by Louis

I put a Walmart battery in my Subie (daily driver) back in Dec (I think) of last year. So far so good. They get good reviews online.

+1

Walmart Maxx for one of our Outbacks couple months ago...$103 installed with a 3 year warranty.

Putting another in our other Outback when we have time...

[paredown]

Last time I picked up a Interstate from Costco--after less than stellar experience with Walmart. The Interstate also crapped out towards the end of its (3 year?) warranty--and I took it back to Costco, and got a new battery no questions asked.

They do the swap once only though--second time they will do the pro-rated value on the old one like everyone else that effectively gives you a small discount on the one you are buying, but I'm liking the brand new battery.

I think that all the American made batteries are pretty much crap--the OEM batteries from Europe/Japan seem much better, but as has been said, there are only a couple of US makers, and even premium brands like Interstate are not what they used to be.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by paredown

Last time I picked up a Interstate from Costco--after less than stellar experience with Walmart. The Interstate also crapped out towards the end of its (3 year?) warranty--and I took it back to Costco, and got a new battery no questions asked.

They do the swap once only though--

I didn't know that.
Not trying to game the system but I am on my third "new" battery - previous ones all died within warranty period and was swapped out at Costco, no question asked.

[Birddog]

Interstate or Auto Zone. Auto Zone can R&R pretty quickly too and they check things out. Our Interstate store charges extra to R&R.

[jemoryl]

Seconding what alancw3 writes: they are all made by a few companies. My battery recently crapped out and an online search showed that the Sears on my way to work had one in my size in stock plus they had a 20% coupon for ordering online (with store pickup). So I got a good deal on a Die Hard (who knows if the quality is what it used to be) and did the install in the Sears parking lot in 5 minutes. BTW, the Sears auto department was a sad sight, a shadow of what it used to be. One poor guy working the phones and serving all the customers.

[biker72]

Originally Posted by jemoryl

Seconding what alancw3 writes: they are all made by a few companies. My battery recently crapped out and an online search showed that the Sears on my way to work had one in my size in stock plus they had a 20% coupon for ordering online (with store pickup). So I got a good deal on a Die Hard (who knows if the quality is what it used to be) and did the install in the Sears parking lot in 5 minutes. BTW, the Sears auto department was a sad sight, a shadow of what it used to be. One poor guy working the phones and serving all the customers.

That is really sad. I used to get all my batteries from Sears. Both Auto Zone and Costco batteries are highly rated from Consumer Reports.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by jemoryl

Seconding what alancw3 writes: they are all made by a few companies. My battery recently crapped out and an online search showed that the Sears on my way to work had one in my size in stock plus they had a 20% coupon for ordering online (with store pickup). So I got a good deal on a Die Hard (who knows if the quality is what it used to be) and did the install in the Sears parking lot in 5 minutes. BTW, the Sears auto department was a sad sight, a shadow of what it used to be. One poor guy working the phones and serving all the customers.

My dad used to love all things Sears. boots, diehard batteries, snow blowers, craftsman tools, etc.

i agree that the stores now are a sad, sad state of affairs. the craftsman and diehard products are a shadow of their former quality, at best. the power equipment (snow blowers, lawn mowers) are all the same bulk discount quality machines you find on the floor at Lowes or HD, nothing special.

The beauty of Sears was being able to go in and order parts for our 20 year old snowblower, and the guy at the parts counter knew his poop.

those days are over.

for a 20 year old car with a quarter million miles on the clock - i'd just buy the cheapest battery that fits in the space and call it good. they're all about the same.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

My dad used to love all things Sears. boots, diehard batteries, snow blowers, craftsman tools, etc.

i agree that the stores now are a sad, sad state of affairs. the craftsman and diehard products are a shadow of their former quality, at best. the power equipment (snow blowers, lawn mowers) are all the same bulk discount quality machines you find on the floor at Lowes or HD, nothing special.

The beauty of Sears was being able to go in and order parts for our 20 year old snowblower, and the guy at the parts counter knew his poop.

those days are over.

for a 20 year old car with a quarter million miles on the clock - i'd just buy the cheapest battery that fits in the space and call it good. they're all about the same.

Remember these? Sears Allstate m/c. Some from 'Monkey ward' too

[DreaminJohn]

I personally like the Autozone offerings. I went in the middle of the week during the day and I'm pretty sure the entire transaction took less than 10 mins with installation.

They, like all of the 'free install' places offer the advantage of NOT having to drive home, install the new battery, and then return the old battery to get your deposit (or whatever they call it) back.

Good luck.