Recommend a battery!

5737 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by gdanaher, Apr 7, 2009

haux

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 2009 (Edited)

Ok, my battery tested bad at O'Reilly, and they can't find the original purchase in their computers to do any sort of pro-rating for a new one.

So it looks like I will need to buy a new one straight up, and I don't want to buy it at O'Reilly.

What battery should I get? Or as long as it's strong enough, is there even any real difference?

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Tom 2000

· #2 · Mar 30, 2009

There's Delco, Interstate, Die Hard, Optima, etc....Costco sells batteries also.

Personally, I've used Die Hard Batteries from Sears and have had good results. The Die Hard Gold battery in my Maxima lasted 10 years. The original battery in my Camry went out after 8 years, so I installed a Die Hard Gold in that car as well.

However, most car batteries nowadays are very good quality. If you buy from a leading brand, you're probably fine.

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haux

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 30, 2009

10 years, but how many miles? I do about 3-4,000 a month. So I've had my current one for only two or three years.

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Mike Gerber

· #4 · Mar 30, 2009

Consumer Reports recently recommended the Maxx battery at Wal-mart a best buy. Some Wal-marts will even install it for you for free, just in case you don't want to get your hands dirty. Most Camrys take size 24F.

Mike

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Tom 2000

· #5 · Mar 31, 2009

haux said:
10 years, but how many miles? I do about 3-4,000 a month. So I've had my current one for only two or three years.

10 years and 115,000 miles.

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TexanF250

· #6 · Mar 31, 2009

Tom 2000 said:
10 years and 115,000 miles.

That is truely amazing. I've found that the battery manufacturers have the life cycle on these things down to a science. A four year battery lasts me about 50 months. A 72 month battert generally lasts me about 74 months. 10 years is truly amazing. In 30+ years of driving, I've never known a lead acid battery to last that long. You had a good one.

As far as what to buy, the Wal-Mart batteries do just fine.

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Tom 2000

· #7 · Mar 31, 2009 (Edited)

TexanF250 said:
That is truely amazing. I've found that the battery manufacturers have the life cycle on these things down to a science. A four year battery lasts me about 50 months. A 72 month battert generally lasts me about 74 months. 10 years is truly amazing. In 30+ years of driving, I've never known a lead acid battery to last that long. You had a good one.

As far as what to buy, the Wal-Mart batteries do just fine.

The Die Hard Gold that I installed in my Maxima back in 1998 was a 84 month (7 year) battery. The Die Hard Gold that I put in my Camry last year is a 100 month (8.3 year) battery

What helped in my case to make a battery last 10 years is that my car is never exposed to extreme heat or cold.

When I lived in Southern Cal, I never had a battery last that long, because of heat. Heat is hard on batteries. The A/C usage didn't help.

When I lived in Colorado, the battery didn't last that long either. Parking the car outside in the dead of winter with all the cold starts, defroster, heater on full blast doesn't help.

Climate in Western Washington is very mild. It doesn't really get that hot here. It doesn't get too cold either. My cars have been garaged every night since I moved to Washington and the temp in the garage never falls below about 50 F, even in the winter.

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DFBonnett

· #8 · Mar 31, 2009

FWIW, I've had good luck with Exide batteries.

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camrydud3

· #9 · Apr 2, 2009

I highly recommend Optima Red Top.

It's truly maintenance free -- it's a sealed battery with gel electrolyte. The warranty is good and their support personnel are very friendly.

Most batteries, even if they claim they are maintenance free, need distilled water or they dry out.

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islandboy57

· #10 · Apr 3, 2009

I buy my batteries from Costco, I think it ran something like $60 the last time the gen 3.5 needed one. It's date stamped 8/2005. There's a bit of corrosion - I assume from the hot Hawaii sun and uncovered parking on the weekends - but it still starts every single time and faster than my gen 5.5 to boot.

Anyway I'm still on my original Panasonic OEM with my gen 5.5 My aunt's gen 5 (bought 11/2001) is still on its original battery (same OEM as mine) after 7.5 years and 50K miles. The car turns over a little slower than mine but there's no problems.

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gdanaher

· #11 · Apr 7, 2009

OP, you are in OK with a Walmart on every corner. Buy one of their's or Pep Boys if you are in OKC or Tulsa. For general purposes, a battery is a battery, and will last about as long, on average, as the warranty. There is a mean error rate which means a few will die in 6 months and some will last twice as long as the warranty.

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