best budget battery, advice?
 

Autozone won't exchange my duralast gold, batt is almost three years old. Eight year warranty is bs. They actually want me to put the difference for another bs batt.
But, I digress any suggestions on a batt at/or under $100 please, no sears diehard gold had that in my malibu
Anyone using interstate in their square? Thanks.
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Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

I have an Interstate Megatron II in my square n it's a pretty good battery.
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Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

Consumer Reports has a battery review. For group 75 (side terminals) they recommend in order:

Bosch (Pep Boys) $80 - A Best Buy
Duralast Gold (Autozone) $85
Interstate MegaTronPlus MTP 75 $115
Autocraft Gold 75-3 (Advance Auto Parts) $85

They also list EverStartMaxx-75S (Walmart) for the South, but it is not recommended by CR. $75 But CR does recommend this Walmart battery for the South in other sizes(?)

I had good luck with AutoZone exchanging my 2 Duralast Gold (dual start battery setup) twice, but both times I was just within the 2 year window. I drive my truck maybe once a week for only a few miles, so it is hard to keep the batteries charged and the batteries die prematurely. I have had all types of batteries in my old vehicles in the AZ desert and they all lasted several years as long as they were driven daily. But I have heard several mechanics out here recommend replacing the battery every two years. Hot weather is worse on a battery than cold weather. I think finding a seller with a good exchange policy would be best for you.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

I bought a couple batteries at Costco...I lived through two Detroit winters, and humid ass summers with them, before I moved to L.A. they've been ok...They were 80-85 bucks 3 years ago..i doubt they've gone up much in price.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

i've had good luck with cheap batteries from walmart over the years i've put them in a few of my secondary beater cars and they lasted quite a few years most i've sold with those batteries still qworking

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

I vote for the interstate. I just had to replace my 7 year old Interstate battery on my '02 silverado. This 110 degree weather here in west Texas had it cranking pretty slow! I got an Interstate Megatron Plus w/ 800cca for $74 at the local Sam's Club.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

AC Delco has a program where you can pay a small fee($5 IIRC) and convert the pro-rate warranty to a full term.
at work we replace a LOT of other brands with them

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

Wal Mart ;)

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

When you buy a new battery check the date code. Usually its a green or black dot. ie H9 = August 2009. Count the alphabet code and convert to a month. You may be surprised how old some of them are. Nothing should be more than six months old. As far as brand name forget about it. There are just several manufacturers but hundreds of brandings.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

I use a locally manufactured battery.
The one in my burb is 5 years old, and still just as strong as the day I bought it.

Check your area for a shop that builds their own batteries.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

all I buy is interstate batteries

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

Bosch then you know its quality

or i dont know how commen they are over there but Varta make awesome batteries

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

My suggestion as well. Anytime I have to replace a battery I go to Sams. If you ever have a battery failure you can go to any Sams in the country and they can pull it up in their system. There are a lot of things I won't buy from Sams, but batteries I still do.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

...if buying a quality used battery does not bother you there are a lot of places to look for those, ... salvage yards, mechanic shops. farm/implement places etc. ....some people change out 5yr batteries just because they are taking a trip and do not want to worry about it. ......... a farm/home store place I use to go to back in highschool days had quite a few good batteries, ...some older folks would switch out their 5 yr battery every fall because winter was coming.;)

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

Pro-rating and paying the difference has been standard operating proceedure for more years than I have been alive (I was alive before JFK was dead). Why would it suprise you?
I buy AZ Duralast Gold. Nation wide warranty, never had a hassle. One went bad beore 2 years and they swapped even just like the warrenty said it would. Two went bad after 5 or so years (Diesel with electrical issues), I paid the pro-rated price and got 2 new batteries for a low price. The warranty is clearly spelled out.

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

interestate has blems battery for sale that are good too ,just some might have cracked on the case when delivery . good prices too

Re: best budget battery, advice?
 

Last new battery I bought came from a local battery dealer. He had a truck load of seconds for $30 each. That was 3 years ago and I was selling the vehicle and didn't want to let an Optima go with the sell. But for $30 you couldn't go wrong if it lasted a couple of years.

I worked at a shop that sold Interstate batteries, some 40 years back. They were shipped to us dry and we filled them with acid and charged them the day of the sale. In the year I was there we never had a return. Good batteries, but they aren't low dollar.