Small car battery

[cranky]

I've been buying my batteries from the same outfit for over 25 years but recently his no name batteries aren't holding up and he's not really covering warrantee without hassles. My whole family deals there cause of my recommendations. Thats a lot of cars and I have several vehicle and all have his batteries. Last battery made it one year. The one before was two years in wife's car And all I got was 25 bucks off on replacement one. I dont like to say name of outfit cause they have in the past been good to me but I'm getting tired of wondering when winter hits is it going to start or leave my wife stranded somewhere. It's a small Toyota. It just eems like we aren't getting any kinda life out his batteries anymore its getting hit and miss to get a good one it seems.

So my long winded way of asking what are some of you using for say a mid range reliable battery? Not sure where to go. CanTire maybe.? Can I get a fairly decent one for around $ 200 or is that not enough for 3-4 years service life?

Several guys on here steered me in the right direction to do with remote door lock keys so I know me bers on here can be relied on to give decent advice.

[spurly]

Costco has great batteries, and warranty if needed.

[dfarms11]

Costco hands down

[Ebrand]

3 year no BS exchange ( or at least it was a few years ago ).

They even searched the purchase up and I did not have to produce a receipt.

I bet it has not changed but check with them.

[204ruger]

Your in Edmonton? Look up Canadian energy, great batteries and customer service.

[spurly]

Your in Edmonton? Look up Canadian energy, great batteries and customer service.

Dealt with these guys in Lethbridge. Very good batteries, and over the counter warranty.

[cranky]

So are we talking Kirkland brand or Interstate at Costco for battery choice? Please and thanks.

[spurly]

Kirkland is what I had.

[Ken07AOVette]

I buy batteries direct from ford. I do get a discount as they are a client of mine, but fomoco seem to be the best.

I tried battery world on some, one in my car is dead right now and going back after I get the car started and in the shop. Less than a year old.

[spoiledsaskhunter]

there's a place in lethbridge called 'altra battery'. we've bought quite a few batteries from them and had good luck......when i had a problem with a couple of battery maintainers, they replaced them and the batteries, no questions asked.

don't know if you have the same store.

[RandyBoBandy]

Guys, guys, guys....he lives in EDMONTON not somewhere else in Alberta :confused0024:

[amosfella]

How long do you intend to keep the car? If you're going to keep it for 8-10 years, get a battery that is really good such as a Odeysse, or optima.

I'm not a fan of the Canada Proof batteries. They only seem to last 2-3 years.

[Rdamours]

I’ve been using Costco batteries. No question on the exchange and I swap them out every 3-5 years or so and get a new battery for free. I try not to let let them ever go dead but had a viper alarm system that would kill them if I left them for a couple of weeks without starting.

[Cigarguy]

My brother works as mechanic at Honda. I got an older Toyota Corolla. He gets a pretty good discount on Toyota OEM parts including batteries. Even then most of the batteries for our vehicles are Costco Kirkland.

For work I have a F150 that is also my mobile office. I use and abused the battery. Last year I had to replace the F150 battery after serving me well for 3 years. Upon return of my old Kirkland battery (core charge), Costco refunded me $67.80 because the old battery had a 5 year warranty. Did not expect it, did not ask for it but was happy about it.

[CaberTosser]

I put an Optima red-top AGM battery in my wife's Corolla 13 years ago this winter, in weather just like we've had this week. Its still working fine.

[fishnguy]

The longest lasting regular battery I had ever had was one I bought at an Acura dealership, which lasted 9 or so years and only died because I stopped driving the car (it could die the same year if I didn’t, but who knows). The worst battery I had was a Panasonic (I think it was that) installed in my 4Runner by the dealership when I bought the vehicle. It would loose charge every time it got cold overnight (by cold I mean somewhere below 30), even when it was plugged in (I usually don’t plug in unless it hits close to -30 or so, sometimes warmer).

The last battery I bought before yesterday was a Kirkland one from Costco (24F) that came with a 3-year replacement warranty and 100 months percentage warranty, or whatever they call it. When the first cold of this winter came about a couple of weeks ago, I plugged in the vehicle in the middle of the night. In morning, I pressed the button on the remote start and heard “click, click, click…”. I charged it quickly and went on with my day. The next night was warmer but still below 20, I plugged it in thinking about the battery, yet had the same result the next morning. The same thing the morning after. It hasn’t happened since.

Being in Calgary for a couple of weeks, I thought it would be convenient to bring it back to Costco and see what happens (Costco is a two-hour drive from me otherwise). So I left the vehicle unplugged the evening I got here and it was below 32 overnight. The next evening, about 18 hours after I parked, I pressed the remote control button and… I heard the engine running a moment later, lol.

I still took it back to Costco. They told me I bought in October of 2017, so 4 years and 2-3 months ago. They refunded me 50% of the purchase price plus the 10-dollar core fee. I bought an Energizer AGM from them right after. We will see how that pans out.

To note here, the exact same battery that I had returned now comes with a 4-year replacement warranty instead of 3. The AGM comes with 5. I paid $110 for the regular battery in 2017; today it costs $130 (plus an extra year of straight up refund). I paid for AGM $200 yesterday.

Lastly, my dad bought a Kirkland battery for a Mazda 3 some years ago. It was dead one winter day after the car was left sitting for a couple of weeks. It turned out it was still within the replacement warranty period and they refunded him 100% of the battery price on the day of the refund (not what he bought it for), so he could simply grab another one.

P. S. Sounds like a Vortex scope commercial, lol.

P. P. S. I wonder how many people return their battery to Costco while it is still fully operational for a full refund before the replacement warranty expires, then grab a new one and rinse and repeat.

[waldedw]

P. P. S. I wonder how many people return their battery to Costco while it is still fully operational for a full refund before the replacement warranty expires, then grab a new one and rinse and repeat.

Funny you should say this as I was talking to a guy the other day, and he told me he does this very thing, he had a battery fail after the warranty period ran out so now he returns them about 3 months before it runs out and gets a new one.:thinking-006:

[204ruger]

Funny you should say this as I was talking to a guy the other day, and he told me he does this very thing, he had a battery fail after the warranty period ran out so now he returns them about 3 months before it runs out and gets a new one.:thinking-006:

A buddy does this same thing with his boat batteries.

[CaberTosser]

Funny you should say this as I was talking to a guy the other day, and he told me he does this very thing, he had a battery fail after the warranty period ran out so now he returns them about 3 months before it runs out and gets a new one.:thinking-006:

A buddy does this same thing with his boat batteries.

And you’re both still friends with those types of people? :thinking-006: Casually committing fraud that involves an intentional trip with the disconnected batteries to commit. The manufacturer met their end of the deal by providing a product that lasted at least the specified time period, and yet they still want free new ones? What jerks.

[elkhunter11]

And you’re both still friends with those types of people? :thinking-006: Casually committing fraud that involves an intentional trip with the disconnected batteries to commit. The manufacturer met their end of the deal by providing a product that lasted at least the specified time period, and yet they still want free new ones? What jerks.

That is what drives the prices up, the manufacturers need to make up the extra cost, for replacing those batteries, so we end up paying more.

[6.5swedeforelk]

...


I wonder how many people return their battery to Costco while it is still fully operational for a full refund before the replacement warranty expires, then grab a new one and rinse and repeat.

As mentioned in posts 13, 18, 19...

No doubt those using this scheme curse the shoplifters that add to the rising cost of consumer products.

[waterman73]

Interstate all battery centre

[vinny]

Your in Edmonton? Look up Canadian energy, great batteries and customer service.

Yup. We use them for all our batteries at work, great service.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Most batteries today are 'Recycle' thats why you get $10 for your old battery. I mentioned before that I just replaced my two batteries in my 2001 Ram Diesel. They do not make 20 year batteries anymore!

[cranky]

I went to Costco today and got the last one on the shelf for the wife's car rather than have to order it off the website. Can't pass up the warrantee for the $120 the battery cost me. Got lucky i guess, that model usually flies off the shelf they say.

Thanks a bunch for all the comments and advice folks.

[ganderblaster]

My family has used Napa batteries for years everything from lawnmower to Duramaxes . About 5 years ago noticed once it hits minus 5 the new ones don’t start anything. Brought it in and he said it tested great. I said really? Because it doesn’t start my truck without boosting. Then he admitted it didn’t. Been to Costco ever since. Pretty annoying Costco took the battery book away due to Covid and their website sucks but once the right battery is selected have not had one fail yet

[amosfella]

Most batteries today are 'Recycle' thats why you get $10 for your old battery. I mentioned before that I just replaced my two batteries in my 2001 Ram Diesel. They do not make 20 year batteries anymore!

Sure they do. They're just $400-2000 a piece. Cat makes them. Odyessy makes one. The Odyessy is the one they use in the emergency equipment. They have to start every time.

The best one I've found on the cheaper side is the Optima. Even then, you're usually looking at $300.

[waldedw]

And you’re both still friends with those types of people? :thinking-006: Casually committing fraud that involves an intentional trip with the disconnected batteries to commit. The manufacturer met their end of the deal by providing a product that lasted at least the specified time period, and yet they still want free new ones? What jerks.

You need to re read my post bud, " I said I was talking to a guy " never said he was a friend :thinking-006:

[Dean2]

Have tried CT, Walmart, Costco, UFA, dealer and a few others. For my quad and lawn tractor, the OEM Yuasa can't be beat. They last 12 years on average, none of the other quad or lawn tractor batteries do. Tired Optima, not that impressed if you run a winch off them. Have had multiple CT batteries kack in the first 24 months, they aren't that easy to get warranty out of, always seems a hassle. So far best luck is Costco Kirkland, most last 7-10 years.

[CaberTosser]

You need to re read my post bud, " I said I was talking to a guy " never said he was a friend :thinking-006:

Gotcha, it was just 204 Ruger then... my mistake

[antlercarver]

Maybe the vehicle is not generating enough electricity to keep the battery up
to the level needed to maintain battery life.

[kidd]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Rockys Battery in Edmonton just South of Argyll on on 86th Street IIRC. First class customer service and very good made in USA batteries. They will install and check the charging system too if that's your thing. Shop local.
kidd

[Dean2]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Rockys Battery in Edmonton just South of Argyll on on 86th Street IIRC. First class customer service and very good made in USA batteries. They will install and check the charging system too if that's your thing. Shop local.
kidd

Never heard of these guys but have only been back in Edmonton about 8 years. Do you know what make of battery. I like to shop local as much as possible but good independent battery shops seem to be few and far between. Used to shop at battery warehouse in the west end but their prices went nutz about 4 years ago and the guys that all really knew their stuff aren't there any more.

[204ruger]

And you’re both still friends with those types of people? :thinking-006: Casually committing fraud that involves an intentional trip with the disconnected batteries to commit. The manufacturer met their end of the deal by providing a product that lasted at least the specified time period, and yet they still want free new ones? What jerks.

Never said I do, not my worry what he does in his spare time. Or the morals he has. It’s not me doing it that’s all that matters to me.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Bought my last set of Cat batteries from Rocky. Very good service and good batteries along with fair price.

[ren008]

Just wire up a battery minder (and warmer if you want) in line with the block heater cord and any battery will last way longer and perform better. One time expense (minus the tiny bit of extra juice daily) and no clue why it isn't done more often.

Any modern vehicle is always sucking some juice just sitting there which just isn't compatible with our winters.

[cranky]

Just wire up a battery minder (and warmer if you want) in line with the block heater cord and any battery will last way longer and perform better. One time expense (minus the tiny bit of extra juice daily) and no clue why it isn't done more often.

Any modern vehicle is always sucking some juice just sitting there which just isn't compatible with our winters.

Yep just bought a few Battery Tenders a few days ago for our vehicles from Can Tire $50 each. There just under hood for now but I will wire them in permanently in the warmer weather. No more guessing if battery will start it. Funny always had one on my bike but never thought about one for our cars/ trucks.

[7magtime]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Rockys Battery in Edmonton just South of Argyll on on 86th Street IIRC. First class customer service and very good made in USA batteries. They will install and check the charging system too if that's your thing. Shop local.
kidd

X2 on Rocky’s even though I haven’t been there in a few years. Last time I was there, they let me bring my truck right into their large heated shop. They swapped out both batteries on the diesel I had at the time and did a quick test on the charging system. Great service and nice guys to deal with.
My dad has been dealing with them for 30 years I’m guessing….

[huntsfurfish]

And you’re both still friends with those types of people? :thinking-006: Casually committing fraud that involves an intentional trip with the disconnected batteries to commit. The manufacturer met their end of the deal by providing a product that lasted at least the specified time period, and yet they still want free new ones? What jerks.

Nailed it! And the rest of us pay for them!