Current Top Battery Pick?

I drive my car once a week and need a new battery. The NAPA replacement is $96. For that money I might as well start looking at better products. Wondering what the go to choice is now, Red Top, Yellow Top, Braille?

Shuriken lightweight stuff looks pretty interesting, particularly the SK-BT20.

I keep hearing power frame technology is the way to go for long life, but the reviews on batteries with it seem to be no better than those without.

Staying tuned, one more sub 0 morning and I fear the appliance will fail to start.

spiral cells on amazon have gotten very competitive in terms or pricing. I believe the fact that they can ship non-hazmat has something to do with it. (Though I always laugh at traditional batteries shipping hazmat when every vehicle transporting a delivery, regardless of hazmat status, is fitted with at least one.

We sold Optimas for a while. Massive failure rates. Some dead out of the box, some died very early. Almost all required warranty replacement. Then an Optima rep mocked me publicly for it in this forum instead of doing the adult thing and addressing the actual problem. So I cannot recommend that you get an Optima.

We've gone to Odysseys and they've been solid. If you're putting one in a car that's rarely driven, add a kill switch to isolate the battery. It'll happily sit for months and months. In theory an Optima will do the same, but in reality the Optima will just fail on you.

Keith Tanner wrote: We sold Optimas for a while. Massive failure rates. Some dead out of the box, some died very early. Almost all required warranty replacement. Then an Optima rep mocked me publicly for it in this forum instead of doing the adult thing and addressing the actual problem. So I cannot recommend that you get an Optima. We've gone to Odysseys and they've been solid. If you're putting one in a car that's rarely driven, add a kill switch to isolate the battery. It'll happily sit for months and months. In theory an Optima will do the same, but in reality the Optima will just fail on you.

I just put an Odyssey in my SHO. I went back and forth on Optimas, they apparently went through a period of quality issues when they moved their manufacturing to Mexico, but it's supposedly been fixed now. Most online reviews are still excellent. But, at the end of the day, they didn't make a battery in the size I needed, so I went with Odyssey.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Good to know. Even if their quality issues are fixed, I don't deal with unprofessional reps and their company. Odyssey will be getting my $$

I've heard the same thing, that the Optima QC problems are in the past. It's not something I've been willing to risk my own money on to verify when I could just use something else.

(edit - fixed per Basil's note)

Keith Tanner wrote: I've heard the same thing, that the Odyssey QC problems are in the past. It's not something I've been willing to risk my own money on to verify when I could just use something else.

+1, though you mean Optima.

I've got a couple Optimas that are 15+ years old and sit most of time. They're still fine. I bought one of the Mexico made ones a few years ago and it didn't last 3 years.

Lately I've been buying Duralast Gold for the DD's. They are AGM. They seem to last very well, though the jury is still out on a couple.

I have always had good experiences with Odyssey batteries and you get a lighter weight battery going with them (1/2 the weight sometimes). Just recently purchased the Odyssey PC680MJ for the FR-S to replace the nearly 5 year old factory one, since I wanted something designed for taking high temps and to reduce the weight.

Will be replacing the battery soon on the Nissan Frontier I just bought due to some terminal and pigtail connection corrosion, and it will be an Odyssey (even though that application will be pretty expensive). Should easily get 7+ years from them, though expecting about ~10 years. The extreme series can take deep cycling and holds up very well to extreme heat.

I had an itty-bitty Braille battery in my Sentra, and it worked pretty well. It was still in there and working fine when I sold the car.

Deka have been my go to when buying batteries for my cars and motorcycles. AGM and lightweight.

Has anyone seen the batteries advertising "virgin" lead? Why would this matter at all? As long as it's pure lead it's still going to move around electrons the same isn't it?

All of the DD's run Honda Replacement batteries (Interstate). They're big, heavy and hold up decently. Plus, the price at the time was worth it.

I can't believe how much plain-jane auto batteries cost these days. I'll have to save this thread for future reference.

My station wagon has an autozone "industrial" battery. Half the cost of the normal battery with the same exact specifications. Its lasted 5 years in a car that sits 6 months at a time.

I'm pretty sure there are only about three "normal" battery manufacturers in the US. Deka, Autozone, Interstate, NAPA, whatever - they're all coming from the same places.

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm
A list of all battery manufacturers. The biggies are Exide, Johnson Controls, East-Penn., and Enersys. House brands often switch manufacturers every few years, at which point we might experience a change in quality.

I've had good luck with the AGM powersport atv/motorcycle batteries for El Rabbito. Only issue I found was that they didn't like my HF cheapo trick charger, once I picked up a Battery Tender they seem to last well.

Keith Tanner wrote: I'm pretty sure there are only about three "normal" battery manufacturers in the US. Deka, Autozone, Interstate, NAPA, whatever - they're all coming from the same places.

Yup, just put a different sticker on it. There is a lot of automotive stuff like that.

I like Costco, mostly because they are comparatively cheaper than the parts stores and their core and prorates are like 5 years... Oh and like Keith said, isolator switch $3 from Walmart...

I tend to run Odyessys in my vehicles. The only reason the Disco has an AGM from Advanced was because it died before I could order a proper Odyessy

Toebra wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: I'm pretty sure there are only about three "normal" battery manufacturers in the US. Deka, Autozone, Interstate, NAPA, whatever - they're all coming from the same places.

Yup, just put a different sticker on it. There is a lot of automotive stuff like that.

Note though, that just because they were made by the same three manufacturers doesn't always mean they were made to the same spec. As with most consumer goods, batteries are built based upon an expected MSRP and a given amount of markup.

Which is why you can buy 3-4 different levels at NAPA. The "I'm gonna sell the car so I don't care" version right up to the "It can never ever fail me" version. I suspect the main difference is the amount of lead inside because I believe that's the most valuable part of a battery. The cost of batteries seems to be tied to the value of scrap metal to some extent. It would be interesting to weigh the different variants.

Daily drivers, the Wal Mart batteries are hard to beat. I"ve been using the most expensive end of the 2 or 3 price levels available. My wife left her lights on once for 8 hours and the car started. I also have one for my trailer winch that I took out of a car - it is now 10 years old.

I have an Optima in my daily truck, it's going on 4 years old and zero problems. It isn't at all fazed by colder weather.

I had an 8 year old Optima given to me free, that I put into a relatives car as "get her by" battery. It lasted 2 more years.

Advance Auto Part batteries, we've had 3 and the high end (costs 30-40 more than Walmart) and didn't last 2-3 years.

In my 78 Z28 bracket/street car - last year went with a small 15 lb XS Power battery. Has great cranking power.

When I lived in WI, I appreciated the Farm and Fleet batteries. They were reasonable and tough.

any car that sits for more than a few days, a trickle battery tender is worth the money. I bought several from Harbour Freight for about 6 bucks each