[poncho-mike]

I have a 2007 Saturn Sky Redline with a dead battery. The current battery is about 5 years old, so it's not a big surprise. I was thinking about buying an Optima Red Top battery, so I was looking at prices at Advance Auto and Amazon. I was curious about what the warranty was, so I looked at Amazon reviews. There were quite a few people who had issues with Amazon not honoring the 3-year warranty for personal use batteries. Some of the comments mentioned that the Optimas currently being sold are manufactured in China and the quality has gone down hill.

My Sky isn't a daily driver. What batteries have you found are reliable on cars that might not get driven but every few weeks? BTW, the local Advance Auto recommended DieHard Gold. Any thoughts on these?

[The Champ]

An ACDelco Gold has a 42 month full replacement warranty. The warranty can be honored at any GM dealership or independent repair shop that handles ACDelco batteries.

[KS circutguy]

Believe it or not,
Walmart, better warranty.
They are all made at 1 of 2 or 3 places now.
Move to 4:00 min mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7tShkDoaqY
"If You Buy a Car Battery from This Place You’re Stupid"

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by KS circutguy

Believe it or not,
Walmart, better warranty.
They are all made at 1 of 2 or 3 places now.
Move to 4:00 min mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7tShkDoaqY
"If You Buy a Car Battery from This Place You’re Stupid"

36 months is better than 42 months?

There are three main car battery manufacturers with operations in the US alone. Clarios (formerly Johnson Controls) is the largest, Exide and East Penn.

Clarios makes many of the Interstate brand in Mexico. Clarios ACDelcos are made in St. Joseph, MO (Gold and Silver). ACDelco Advantage are made in South Korea. Clarios also produces batteries in China, Germany, and Brazil.

Yuasa is number 2, but has no US plants for car batteries, but their powersports batteries are made in PA.

Exide batteries are made in the US and Europe.

East Penn batteries are made in PA and IA.

And I haven't delved in to batteries made in China yet...

And having been through the plant in St. Joseph, MO, I can tell you that batteries made there for the different brands (Motorcraft, ACDelco, Interstate (at the time) and many others are all built to different specs, per the brands request.

Walmart has things built to their own specs to save money by having lower specs so they can offer low prices. You get what you pay for.

[KS circutguy]

Originally Posted by The Champ

36 months is better than 42 months?

There are three main car battery manufacturers with operations in the US alone. Clarios (formerly Johnson Controls) is the largest, Exide and East Penn.

Clarios makes many of the Interstate brand in Mexico. Clarios ACDelcos are made in St. Joseph, MO (Gold and Silver). ACDelco Advantage are made in South Korea. Clarios also produces batteries in China, Germany, and Brazil.

Yuasa is number 2, but has no US plants for car batteries, but their powersports batteries are made in PA.

Exide batteries are made in the US and Europe.

East Penn batteries are made in PA and IA.

And I haven't delved in to batteries made in China yet...

And having been through the plant in St. Joseph, MO, I can tell you that batteries made there for the different brands (Motorcraft, ACDelco, Interstate (at the time) and many others are all built to different specs, per the brands request.

Walmart has things built to their own specs to save money by having lower specs so they can offer low prices. You get what you pay for.

You are full of yourself at times.
I'm using FVP battery in my BMW 328I been in the vehicle for 3 years.
I was a part time driver for them 5yrs. they are made in china and are of excellent quality.
My "cost" was 65 dollars.
They are now a NHRA sponsor. FWIW
Good company.
https://www.fvpparts.com/
https://www.fvpparts.com/products/ba...otive-platinum

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by KS circutguy

You are full of yourself at times.
I'm using FVP battery in my BMW 328I been in the vehicle for 3 years.
I was a part time driver for them 5yrs. they are made in china and are of excellent quality.
My "cost" was 65 dollars.
They are now a NHRA sponsor. FWIW
Good company.
https://www.fvpparts.com/
https://www.fvpparts.com/products/ba...otive-platinum

Why am I full of myself?

I didn't say anything bad about Chinese batteries.

You're the one that claimed "They are all made at 1 of 2 or 3 places now."

I merely pointed out that Clarios (the number 1 battery manufacturer in the world) batteries are made in the US, Germany, South Korea,, Mexico, China and Brazil.

If FVP batteries are made in China, they could be made by Clarios. FVP parts are a branch of Factory Motor Parts and they are an ACDelco warehouse distributor.

My comment about "haven't delved in to batteries made in China yet..." was referring to batteries not produced by other manufacturers in China - BESIDES Clarios.

While I know Clarios is a quality manufacturer, I know NOTHING about any Chinese owned companies that manufacture batteries.

Maybe you are guilty of making false accusations., but I think you just failed to read everything I posted.

[KS circutguy]

Originally Posted by The Champ

36 months is better than 42 months?

There are three main car battery manufacturers with operations in the US alone. Clarios (formerly Johnson Controls) is the largest, Exide and East Penn.

Clarios makes many of the Interstate brand in Mexico. Clarios ACDelcos are made in St. Joseph, MO (Gold and Silver). ACDelco Advantage are made in South Korea. Clarios also produces batteries in China, Germany, and Brazil.

Yuasa is number 2, but has no US plants for car batteries, but their powersports batteries are made in PA.

Exide batteries are made in the US and Europe.

East Penn batteries are made in PA and IA.

And I haven't delved in to batteries made in China yet...

And having been through the plant in St. Joseph, MO, I can tell you that batteries made there for the different brands (Motorcraft, ACDelco, Interstate (at the time) and many others are all built to different specs, per the brands request.

Walmart has things built to their own specs to save money by having lower specs so they can offer low prices. You get what you pay for.

That's who I worked for FMP.
We also sold motorcraft, and hundreds of other popular manufactures products.
My apologizes are in order.
Lets not all forget most importantly battery made date codes,don't accept anything more than a few months old.
I've seen them as old as 1yr. in some inventories.

[59safaricat]

Got 13 years out of Walmart battery for my mid 80's Toyota pickup. I hate going there and giving them my money but I needed a battery late at night so I gave in. This was for a truck I put less than 500 miles a year so it spent months between uses. I fully expected that battery to last no more than 5 years under those conditions.

Got 10 years out a Kirkland (Costco) battery in my 1999 Honda Accord. This was before Costco switched to Interstate. The factory battery lasted 7 years (Panasonic). The Interstate battery replacement is 8 years old now.

Really, I never had a problem with a battery but I'm paranoid about running them down and never killed one yet. Not running them down and keeping it topped off with distilled water goes a long ways. Now that I have a 40x60 shop, I rotate a battery tender on them. I really should get rid of some vehicles now that I rarely drive much anymore.

[jhein]

Here's a video with some comparative testing.

https://youtu.be/h7rTcBanpMk?si=7Kb9AN5Xlw_3vDIu

Personally, I like the customer service at my local Napa store. I once left my cabin lights on accidentally. It killed the battery. I took it to Napa and told them what happened, that it was my fault and they gave me a new battery under warranty anyway.

[KS circutguy]

Oh and don't forget Costco.
https://www.costco.com/automotive-batteries.html

[hojs69]

Costco 'gel' (AGM) has worked well for me.

[JSchmitz]

Originally Posted by KS circutguy

Oh and don't forget Costco.
https://www.costco.com/automotive-batteries.html

X2

Interstate batteries at a good price. Plus they have a black top. Hate putting a bright yellow top battery in a classic.

[Rachelsdad]

When I got my 2006 STS-V ar the beginning of 2021, the battery died within a month or so. I installed an AC Delco Professional 42-month battery and it ran just about 42 months. No complaints. I put another one in it last month. I probably could have taken advantage of the warranty as it was actually just under the wire, but I bought the new one outright.

No complaints here about Delco batteries either for price or performance, and if service *is* required, no matter where I am, there's always *some* GM dealership close by.

[rwfisher]

I had issues with 2 different Optima Red tops in my Solstice and then after some Google searches found it was not unusual for them to have some quality issues. Went with an Odyssey and have had no issues 4yrs in…

[tom s]

I have had great results with Autozone batteries.In all 3 of my Pontiacs.Tom

[Goatracer1]

Like was said earlier "all batteries are made by 3-4 companies". I either buy Walmart or Auto Zone because if you have a problem on the road there is one on every corner.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Goatracer1

Like was said earlier "all batteries are made by 3-4 companies". I either buy Walmart or Auto Zone because if you have a problem on the road there is one on every corner.

There are a lot of towns without an Auto Zone or a Walmart.

But most of those towns have a GM dealer or an independent repair shop that sells ACDelco batteries.

I live in a town of over 100,000 people. We have 2 Walmarts, a Sam's Club and 2 Auto Zones in a 25 mile radius of the city limits.

We have 6 GM dealerships in that same area and probably 30 - 40 independent repair shops that can sell and warranty an ACDelco battery.

If you are on the road and have a problem, you are more likely to find a GM dealer than a Walmart or Auto Zone, not to mention an independent repair shop that sells and installs ACDelco batteries.

I had independent repair shops in towns of less than 500 people that stocked ACDelco batteries in southern MN and northern IA. No Walmarts within 25 miles for most of those shops.

[gtohunter]

I have Duracell batteries in all my vehicles, and they have been very dependable, including these stop/start batteries. You can go online and go to batteries plus to purchase them if you have a store around you, and you get 10% or better if you buy online and go to the store and pick it up. And they're American made!

Q: Where are Duracell car batteries manufactured?

There is a massive battery 520-acre single-site manufacturing owned by east Penn, where the Duracell batteries and some other products are “produced.” This manufacturing unit is located in the United States (Berks County, Pennsylvania).

Nevertheless, East Penn is also famous for having another manufacturing facility located in Corydon, Iowa. These units work effectively in meeting the needs of consumers out there and accommodate the widespread growth of the firm.

[TAKerry]

Guess Im a chump. I buy a very good battery from autozone, when it dies, I go get another. Never had to turn one in on a warranty charge. Also for a car that is not a daily driver I keep a battery tender plugged in. Never had a problem with a dead battery from sitting on my cars or motorcycles. If I was travelling and had a dead battery that my jumpers and a kind stranger could not fix I would call in my AAA service. Nothing against the optima's but they seem to me to be the 'hey look at my overpriced battery' scenario.

[400 4spd.]

I've had pretty good luck with the Diehard Gold series so I use them in my vehicles. Absolutely no luck with AC Delco batteries. Three different times I put them into restorations, and all three failed to hold a charge within a few months.