jon0108

buy a battery with a true warranty/replacement, none of this pro-rated nonsense. Costco has a true 3 year full replacement warranty. Their batteries,(Kirkland), are made by Johnson Control. Interstate, also made by Johnson Control, only has a 18 month replacement. Costco battery cost me $58. That replaced the $100 Interstate that lasted only 20 months.

xlr8nflorida

Johnson controls makes duralast and offers 3 year exchange.

Mine died at 4 and I got a new battery for 20 bucks.

Johnson controls makes several of the top batteries.

Jim Nichols

My only advise, never, ever buy Interstate. My tale of woe is below.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-g...ry-update.html

Illini Al

Thanks for the advice! I just bought and put in a Duralast Gold. I'm sure it will outlast my expected ownership as I can't see me having my CE more than 2 more years. Need to experience a C5 and C6 before they stop renewing my DL.
Now, to get that side panel back on.....

lushdrunk

From my experience the duralast battery's are top notch.
I had one in a blazer that I left the interior lights on. I replaced the battery with a fresh charged one and put the duralast on the charger while I went to working.. Well, I forgot that you can't charge battery's on concrete....... It overflowed acid for about 5 hours until I noticed. I figured the battery was junk after that and put in my recycle pile to be forgotten. About 9 months later, I put a new front clip on a Pontiac and needed a battery to check out the headlights. The duralast was the only side post battery I had in the shop so I hooked it up and to my surprise it had enough juice to start the car even after boiling out acid and left in the weather to rot for 9 months..

I don't know how old it was, but it was out of warranty when I got it or I would have swapped it out.
My next battery purchase will be a duralast.


BTW: Beware of the Wal-mart batteries. They are OK batteries, but wal-mart now requires a receipt to warranty them. Most autoparts stores keep a record of warranty purchases for you. Wal-mart does not (here anyway)

lq9sutox

Almost all wet cell batteries are built by JCI enterprises while there are some differences between brands duralast, autocraft, exide, and most auto parts stores batteries are pretty much the same, they almost always come in 3 year "gold" 2 year "silver" 1 year "economy" or the equivalent stages they should all come with prorated warranty as well. I am a mangier at advance auto parts and while id like to tell you our batteries are better then anyone else’s....there pretty much the same. The best investment you will ever make is a Optima battery make sure and read the directions(there absorbed glass mat spiral cell batteries) following a couple rules I have seen these batteries last over 10 years.
Either way do your research and ALWASE ASK FOR A HARD COPY OF THE RECIETE AND A PACKING SLIP. Attach it too the battery separate stores won’t have your information stored unless you’re a commercial account.

samsonb

That is one advantage of Autozone. Every store can look up your warrantied items in their computer and they don't erase it. Makes it much easier if you lose the receipt. I've been told Advance doesn't share with other stores, and they wipe their computers every year or so. So, you have to hold on to your receipt when you buy from Advance.

RedLS1GTO

... and that goes to show that what works for some does not always work for others.

I will NEVER buy an Optima bettery again. Hell, I wouldn't put one in a car of mine if it was given to me for free. I "took care" of them just like I should have and 2 died in a 3 year span in my Z06. After the second was replaced I put an Interstate in the Z and used my brand new under warranty replaced Optima in the track car. 2 of them died in less than a year. For those keeping track, that is 4 dead in just over 3 years, all replaced under warranty. I didn't even bother turning the 4th one in. Not bad for a battery that costs twice as much.

The Interstate in the Z06 and the Napa special in the track car have each lasted multiple years with zero problems.

Sweet 90

Maybe in your opinion
Sorry

BlackbirdZ07

Optimas used to be good before they changed manufacturers a few years ago. Now they're junk.

trhao

I've had their base batteries last 5-6 years on average in my cars. Maybe one only made it to 4 years? I currently have a 'Gold' battery from them going on 6+ years in a car. I really can't complain about that kind of battery life. And they have stores everywhere it seems and computerized purchase records for warranty.

On the other hand I did opt for a premium Delco in my C4.

Nick DL

I can't tell you how good they are but I just put a Duralast Gold in my vette & my wife's impala, so time will tell. Now as far as it goes with Optimas, I have one in my truck that is I don't know how old and running fine. Now I put one in my wife's car a couple of years ago and it died this year, before winter rolled in. When it was time to replace the batteries, after what I have read and experienced with our cars I went for something else. Plus, I couldn't justify the price difference, there is a huge price difference between the Duralast & the Optima. Hopefully the Duralast will hold up well.

mikeb

The Duralast Gold I bought for my FILs '96 Caddy 2 years ago just ain't holding up to the cold weather. After two weeks of sitting unstarted, the thing's darn near dead. The 8 y/o Duralast I have in the vette (pre-Gold battery) still cranks good.


So, there's a complaint for ya.
And a compliment too.