Glad I found this thread.
My battery is showing signs of weakening......think I'll try the mentioned Odyssey, thanks.
My battery is showing signs of weakening......think I'll try the mentioned Odyssey, thanks.
From my wholesale battery distributor my company was buying batteries from at the time. He shared that his warehouse was full of Optima returns from Costco. Costco made the switch from Optima to Interstate.
MallCrawlOnTons said:How did you get this insider info on Costco dropping optima due to quality?
[emphasis added]Jerry Bransford said:From my wholesale battery distributor my company was buying batteries from at the time. . . .
From a guy who knows a guy. Got it.
The Odyssey battery is at the top of the list if you need or want an AGM battery.
For conventional lead acid batteries it is hard to beat the 800 CCA Interstate Group 34 battery from Costco (Item # 850241). It is exactly the same as the Interstate MTP-34 but costs substantially less.
Costco's "no questions asked" warranty on batteries has changed. It is still better than everyone else's warranty, full replacement within 42 months rather than the past warranty of full replacement until 36 months with pro-rata replacement on a sliding scale after that. This new policy prevents exchanging batteries every 35 months + 364 days for life as was theoretically possible in the past.
https://www.costco.com/wcsstore/Cos...e/Attachment/Costco+Battery-Warranty+2018.pdf
Ok good to know, thanks! I try to swap out my battery (moving it to a road vehicle) about every 36 months or so as a precaution, but I dont want to use the warranty unless the battery is truly fried.The Costo warranty that applies is the warranty in existence at the time of purchase.
The Costco warranty was recently changed from full replacement up to 36 months with pro rata replacement on a sliding scale after that, to a full replacement warranty until 42 months at which time the warranty expires.
In my experience it is a "no questions asked" replacement warranty and the only refund is the difference in price if the price of the battery has decreased between the date of original purchase and the date of the warranty claim. (I actually received a $1.78 refund.) You do not have the option of requesting a full refund in lieu of replacement.
ALL batteries die. This is a fact of life. Now limiting the number of times it dies is a good point. But in the past 25+ years that i have been driving all i ever needed was a jump start to get my vehicle the local automotive store and grab a new one.
Buying a battery with winch load as a factor is another good reason to go with a top of the line battery.
Slightly off topic but I am amazed that so many people don't have jumper cables in the vehicle.
On the eastcoast Deka is a very good battery as well as Interstate. I heard Optimas are very good, now personal experience
2x this. Same manufacturer as Deka. I purchased my Duracell from Sam’s Club a year ago with zero issues so far. Never has died or needed jumped. Has jumped a lot of other vehicles though I think I paid $120 for mine.I bought an AGM battery from Sam's Club recently it's made by Duracell (East Penn). There is actually a sale on it right now for $114. 3 year warranty on it, or you could go the Costco route
Thanks for saving me $200+ back to $ 80.00 FLA BattOptima's batteries were well made then and had earned a great reputation. Then they were purchased by Johnson Controls who moved Optima's entire manufacturing line to Mexico which pretty well killed their quality, they no longer hold up like they did. I bought two of Optima's newer Yellow Tops and one Optima Blue Top and all three died prematurely. That's why Costco no longer carries Optima batteries, they started having too many returns after the manufacturing move to Mexico.