Cage type batteries

[old2soon]

     And I already KNOW Very Subjective like oil and tires. Were you to purchase a car battery before winter what would be your choice and what ones to stay away from. Prices on new batteries depending on What how the are manufactured range Wildly from about $100.00 to north of $400.00. Just pinging the collective here as we are Blessed with lotsa gear head types!  And as Always-TIA! RIDE SAFE.

[Chrisj CMA]

     And I already KNOW Very Subjective like oil and tires. Were you to purchase a car battery before winter what would be your choice and what ones to stay away from. Prices on new batteries depending on What how the are manufactured range Wildly from about $100.00 to north of $400.00. Just pinging the collective here as we are Blessed with lotsa gear head types!  And as Always-TIA! RIDE SAFE.

I used to only get car/truck batteries at Sears. Now I like the mid grade Auto Zone battery. They have a good warranty replacement policy comparable to Sears

[sandy]

Costco sells Interstate batteries. I just replaced mine but it was more than 3 years old and that's good in our heat here in AZ. BTW: It was 117 this past Sat. Twenty degrees above normal.

[scooperhsd]

Look for
1. Proper size / form factor / group type
2. Does your vehicle use AGM type batteries or conventional Lead acid ? This DOES make a difference - your conventional lead acid alternator is not set to produce the higher voltage / amps that an AGM battery needs.
3 Price /  warranty.  Any more, you're doing good to get a battery that lasts 4 years (3 in extremely hot climates like the desert southwest).
4. Price.

[cookiedough]

believe it or not,  my 2014 hyundai vehicles one last 9 years (was AGM) and the other one is still in the SUV being 10 years old now, both OEM from Hyundai was in car when bought both new.

I get my batteries 1 of 2 places,  Costco sells Interstate batteries (heard Interstate batteries are NOT as good as once was years ago) being the cheapest,  2nd choice is at Farm and Fleet being not much higher in cost the gold series having 6 years while silver I think is 7 years warranty.

Is true from what I hear,  batteries made nowadays will not last over 5-6 years as compared to years past lasing a few years longer than that.  Made cheaper inside I hear yet the price keeps going up and up.

[Pluggy]

Johnson Controls (currently called Clarios) makes the most retail batteries.  East Penn provides store brand batteries, too.  That's about it.  Retailers can change suppliers.  The brand you bought 3 years ago could now be made by a different company.  

One consideration is the distance to a new one.  Here NAPA is a mile away.  All else 12 miles.  NAPA batteries are serving us well right now.

[John Schmidt]

My 2018 Buick SUV has that maddening stop/start feature which I understand takes a more robust battery. Although I've bypassed the useless stop/start with a $30 kit, I do like the apparent strength of the "special" battery. It really kicks over on those really cold days which Wisconsin is prone to have six months out of the year. In looking at the undisturbed battery installation location, I'm inclined to believe it's original from the factory which would make it 7 years old. I have a feeling a replacement isn't going to be cheap...or easy.

[Pluggy]

John, consider getting a Walmart battery.  If a Pep Boys,  Farm & Fleet, etc. battery fails while traveling, you may be far from one of those stores.  Anywhere you go, there's probably going to be a Walmart.

In Lake Wales, FL at 7 pm on a Christmas Eve, our Toyota battery failed, Florida style.  Walmart had one when everyone else was closed.  That's how me made it home.

[SCain]

Check out "Project Farm" on Youtube, search for his battery comparison video. It surprised me how well the Wal-Mart battery did.

[h13man]

I use Walmart Everstart for the autos and Sam's Duracell for the lawnmower. There's always a Walmart somewhere if needed. Haven't had a battery breakdown on the road since 1983. The longest battery lasted 11 yrs. which was OEM AC Delco . I use Yuasa exclusively on the bikes. As for AGM vs lead acid sealed units, the only difference is the charging setting on the charger as mine being a newer charger than my old 100 amp. start from 1990 Sams variant otherwise no issues w/o using a AGM specific mode but I always use the 2 amp. setting on powersport/lawn batteries.

[Challenger]

I also did a lot of research after the second expensive battery in pickup failed in less than three years. I now have Everstarts in the Ram, 4Runner and Challenger. Pickup & Ram are both over 5 years now. Valks both get Yuasa which incidently were purchased online from Walmart (best price found) and shipped from Cycle Warehouse.

[HayHauler]

Batteries are not made like they used to be.  My 3 year old Ram Dually ate one of the batteries last year in Colorado Springs. It was so hot you couldn't touch it.  I figure that a dead short was the culprit, but it take the other battery with it.  I was stranded, so I bought 2 Autozone batteries (over $400 for both) and was back on the road.

Hay
Jimmyt

[OnaWingandaPrayer]

I've been using OPTIMA red tops for 6 or 7 years . I have them in 5 vehicles now . They are a bit pricy though.

[GiG]

As for AGM vs lead acid sealed units,...



VS?
AGM stands for Absorbed Glass Mat,  a type of lead-acid battery that uses fiberglass mats to absorb the battery acid.