It seems clear that when it comes to car batteries, times have changed. Battery brands that just a few years ago had great reputations now seem to suck.

I would like to know if anybody has bought a car battery in the past few years that they are happy with. The problem though is, anybody that bought one in recent years by definition hasn't accumulated the time to know if the battery is going to last more than a few years, and anyone that bought a battery more than 5 or 6 years ago bought a battery that is probably not being made to the same level of quality today.

So, I have an idea. Instead of replying here with stories of good batteries, I'd love it if replies only came from people who have had BAD experiences in RECENT years with batteries FAILING PREMATURELY.

I'll start things off! Based on the good reviews in Consumer Reports, I made the MISTAKE of buying a Autozone Duralast battery for my 1998 Cherokee this past summer. It failed within a few months and was replaced under the one year full replacement warranty. The second one... failed within a few months and was also replaced by the warranty. The THIRD one is now less than two months old and is failing. Barely could start my Jeep this morning even though I just drove it more than 40 miles yesterday. Cranked SUPER slow. It's a testament to the wonders of the 4.0 Engine that it caught and came to life at all.

So, Duralast clearly sucks now. Please add to the list of Suckies based on your personal experience!

Best wishes,

John

 

I have Everstarts in both of my vehicles and have no complaints. Just put one in the zj yesterday. the duralast that was i it crapped out. It was only 2 years old. I had an everstart in my car for a few years until I sold it.

 

Slow cranking is also a sign of a bad starter. And yes the problem can come and go. The wife's '01 was cranking slow a month ago. Now it's fine. I think the oil that got in it dried out. Also on our wj we had I would spray the starter out with brake kleen when it acted up. BTW running a wal mart battery in the '01 for a couple years now with no prob.

I know the thread is not about good experiences but I had to throw that in. Is it possible you have an issue causing the batteries to fail?

 

a 2013 duralast battery was replaced under warranty in late 2013, no issues with it since then. however, i did preemptively replace it last week with a new interstate battery. the old one is still good. the first duralast showed no signs of failure until it bit the dust.

 

Tho I haven't put a battery in my XJ (yet), I've always had good luck with Interstate batteries.

 

Out of curiosity, have you done a load test to verify it's the battery that's the problem?

I've always ran exide batteries with good luck. I just went to a yellow top recently because the exide died on the roll-back ride home with the hazard lights flashing the entire 30 mile trip... bastard tow truck driver didn't shut them off as I requested. It sat with no charge for a few months. Safe to say it's done. The yellow top has been awesome though!

 

optima. i've had 5 go bad in the last 5 or so years. i had them in a few different vehicles at the same time.
4 red tops and a huge yellow top. before these ones, i had two other yellows go bad prematurely.

i now just use motomaster extreme ultra agm. cost about the same as a yellow top, but much better.

 

Not really any complaints here.


I have a circa 2012 Everstart (mfd. by Johnson Controls, though the new Everstarts appear to be made by someone else now from what I've seen in the local WalMarts) in the XJ, an O.E. circa 2012 Ford battery in my Mustang (also mfd. by Johnson Controls), a circa 2014 O.E. Mopar battery in the Patriot, and a circa 2011 Yuasu (AGM) in my Motorcycle, no issues with any of them. The one in the Patriot obviously isn't old enough to give any indication of durability, but all the rest are 4+ years old, so I wouldn't really be complaining if any of them failed now.

 

I went and got a battery from my local Chrysler dealer which is a re branded Interstate. 3 years no real issues, even over the past brutal cold days we just had here in the Chicago area

 

Opposite here, I've had 2 Optimas in my rig since I've bought it, the first was a red top, and it was used, lasted a few years, and been running a yellow top for the last couple of years. That said, I have heard some bad stuff about them, so thanks for the recommendation, as it seems I have just gotten lucky.

 

I have a Odyssey battery and have very happy with it although a Odyssey battery cost a little more then other battery's but I think the battery is worth it.

 

i gave up on die hard batts yrs ago dont know how they are now

 

It might be the starter, but I doubt it, as each time I've gotten a replacement battery the starter cranked at full speed again. And then over the couple of month each battery has lasted, the starter cranked progressively slower (until it didn't).

I do think a parasitic draw might be part of the problem. I'm going to check how many microamps of current is being drawn when the vehicle is off (should be 30 or less). I have an issue with the electronic door locks not quite having enough "ummph" to actually lock or unlock the locks. I can hear them trying when I hit the switch, and also they try to automatically lock when I start driving and automatically unlock when I turn off the Jeep. It's possible they are still drawing a little power all the time trying to cycle. Also, I have a similar issue with the rear wiper. Probably due to corrosion the motor doesn't have enough power to cycle the wiper, but it tries. I think my wife might try to use the rear wiper once in a while and it might be drawing power when it manages to partially cycle but not move all the way through it's arc.

Will keep you all updated. Meanwhile, thanks for all the replies! If I have to replace the battery (again), I'm going to try to get a full refund and then as of now, I'd go for the Sears DieHard 50734 (unless I hear bad things about it here). It's an AGM battery and it gets top ratings for the Group 34 size in Consumer Reports latest endurance tests. And it's on sale right now for $147.89.

Best wishes,

John

 

Bought a 1000cca peak, battery several years ago that failed prematurely. It was purchased at a chain auto parts store that I no longer remember the name. A highly trusted co-worker who previously worked at Exide battery schooled me on such devices. Lead acid battery technology is very simple using basically a case, plates, and acid. The only thing you can really change to make it different is the dimensions, internal and external. Simply put, he said, the higher cca (cold cranking amps) the thinner the plates are because they need to add more of them for the rating. Therefore the plates sit closer together. Thinner plates equals a more fragile battery. Hitting a big bump, a sudden stop, or even vibrations can weaken the plates. Only takes one plate to lean on another and the battery begins to die.

He told me to stick to 550cca or less for longevity and I would be all right. Well he was right as that was nearly 20 years ago and I have been trouble free sticking with cheap batteries in my rigs. However, I will throw this out there. I have noticed in the last few years, the battery cases are getting smaller. That means the plates are shrinking and prone to possible early failures.

 

I got the optima at cost through work which made it the same price as any other battery so I went that route.