Priced a new battery for the old pickup.

[Missourian]

$54 for the Walmart Value line... 650 CCA - 1 year warranty

Robot or human?

$99 for the Plus line... 720 CCA - 2 year warranty.

Robot or human?

I usually just buy the cheapest EveryStart... but I was wondering if there was a real difference worth twice the price between the two.

Read this... have no idea who wrote it...but interesting if true...

Is WalMart's ValuePower Everstart Value car battery any good even if it's so cheap? - Alt Car news

If you're wondering if WalMart's cheapest car battery, the ValuePower EverStart Value battery, is any good despite its price, here's what you need to know.

tiremeetsroad.com

I've been using the El Cheapo for as long as I can remember.

The one I'm replacing says I installed it January of 2019... and it still starts the truck... but it's getting weak.

So that's three years and a couple of month... which doesn't seem too bad to me for 48 bucks at the time.

What's been your experience or opinion.

You get what you pay for?

Or sometimes less is more?

 

[Sunni Man]

I buy Interstate battery's for my cars.
More expensive but built to last.
Made in the USA
(all the other brands made in China)

 

[Gabe Lackmann]

$54 for the Walmart Value line... 650 CCA - 1 year warranty

Robot or human?

$99 for the Plus line... 720 CCA - 2 year warranty.

Robot or human?

I usually just buy the cheapest EveryStart... but I was wondering if there was a real difference worth twice the price between the two.

Read this... have no idea who wrote it...but interesting if true...

Is WalMart's ValuePower Everstart Value car battery any good even if it's so cheap? - Alt Car news

If you're wondering if WalMart's cheapest car battery, the ValuePower EverStart Value battery, is any good despite its price, here's what you need to know.

tiremeetsroad.com

I've been using the El Cheapo for as long as I can remember.

The one I'm replacing says I installed it January of 2019... and it still starts the truck... but it's getting weak.

So that's three years and a couple of month... which doesn't seem too bad to me for 48 bucks at the time.

What's been your experience or opinion.

You get what you pay for?

Or sometimes less is more?

I recommend better batteries for newer vehicles because of all the systems that still run on battery power while the car is 'turned off'.

It has been my experience that the newer vehicles tend to burn through them faster.

Especially if they are weekend 'fun cars'.

 

[toobfreak]

More expensive but built to last.

I too always buy the biggest best battery I can use then take good care of it and get a decade out of them.

 

[Grumblenuts]

“Least expensive battery out there — all the major auto parts places are way over $100 for a 3-year battery these days. This is a one-year battery, mine just died after 2 years of use, so I got my money’s worth, I just bought a new one.”

As you've observed:

The one I'm replacing says I installed it January of 2019... and it still starts the truck... but it's getting weak.

Normally their one year batteries last at least three years. So how long do the three year batteries last? Normally their three year batteries will last at least three years, perhaps even six or seven. What's the difference? First thing to appreciate is that, like Walmart, Johnson Controls is and always has been evil to the core. Neither one is interested in selling you a good battery. Like banks, they just want you to return and get ripped off as often as possible. So effective monopoly plus designed in obsolescence is the name of their game.

How long should a car battery normally last? When I was a kid they lasted much longer with even less care than most people give them today. Why? Because the lead plates were thicker and more solid. Batteries were beefier in general back then. Lasting ten years or more was common with decent care. Making the plates thinner has shortened their lives tremendously. They're so thin now they'll often corrode through or snap clean off while traversing bumpy terrain. Another thing they do is simply increase the free space below the plates for their longer "limited warranty" offerings. Corrosion, mainly due to incomplete charging, create flakes that drop off the plates and collect in the bottom. Eventually they pile up enough to short out the plates, so allowing the pile to grow higher before shorting extends a battery's life. More cranking amps are simply achieved by having more plate surface area, i.e. packing more thin plates into the same space. Not a winning strategy longevity-wise.

Also note that their Optima and Odyssey lines are far more expensive. No doubt they could sell the Optima ones {truly sealed, superior tech, zero maintenance} for much less, but why mess up their gravy train? I don't know anything about the Odyssey ones. I must presume from the ratings that they are like batteries used to be made. But if I really had no other option, I'd go elsewhere {like AC Delco or Bosch} long before trusting Johnson Controls or Walmart to ever sell me a genuinely good battery.

To summarize, all cheap, retail, conventional lead acid car batteries are junk these days. The difference between the 1, 2, 3, (4, 5 - remember them?) year versions is just the amount of space left in the bottom. Cold cranking amps is thoroughly ignorable unless needed to start something that really doesn't like to turn when cold -or- when what you really need is a new starter. Lead-acid battery technology is very old, simple, and reliable. They've worked long and hard to destroy what they once were.

 

[Dekster]

IDK. I drive my truck so little that the expensive battery seems to go dead about like the cheap batteries did. I had to get an $200 one because nobody had a cheaper one in stock the day I really needed one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Congratulations... Grumblenuts ...
I am quite sure you have forgot more about batteries than I ever knew...

I have lived in warm climates...
I have lived in cold climates...
Batteries like warm climates a whole shitload better than cold climates...

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I've had to replace three batteries over the last 4 years in my Tundra.
While I dont drive it often due to my hip surgery it's starting to get ridiculous.
You cant let the truck sit for more than a month or the battery dies. There has to be some parasitic draw from something.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

I've had to replace three batteries over the last 4 years in my Tundra.
While I dont drive it often due to my hip surgery it's starting to get ridiculous.
You cant let the truck sit for more than a month or the battery dies. There has to be some parasitic draw from something.

get a solar battery charger

 

[Grumblenuts]

Lots of good advice here, particularly about diagnosing parasitic current losses. The truth is, given a battery with beefy plates, there's no reason they can't last 20 years or more with good care. Problem is that while voltage regulators now (finally) allow batteries to charge more completely (Johnson Control's first evil success being getting everyone in America to believe that 13.6V was charged enough), alternators still produce too steady a current rather than pulsing. Batteries will definitely boil when charged steadily at voltages higher than 14.8V. But 14.8V still isn't quite enough electromotive force to convince all the corroded bits to dissolve into solution.

While batteries can't take unlimited currents, they really couldn't care less about pulsed charging voltage. The vehicle's electronics don't like it, the alternator diodes, but if the pulse times are kept short enough, the battery terminals left connected, no damage will occur at higher voltages. Otherwise the electronics would fail every time lightning struck within five miles. So it is actually possible to rejuvenate and maintain old batteries so long as their plates aren't shorted, missing, or vanishingly thin. Just don't blame me when you destroy all of your electronics trying

 

[Blues Man]

$54 for the Walmart Value line... 650 CCA - 1 year warranty

Robot or human?

$99 for the Plus line... 720 CCA - 2 year warranty.

Robot or human?

I usually just buy the cheapest EveryStart... but I was wondering if there was a real difference worth twice the price between the two.

Read this... have no idea who wrote it...but interesting if true...

Is WalMart's ValuePower Everstart Value car battery any good even if it's so cheap? - Alt Car news

If you're wondering if WalMart's cheapest car battery, the ValuePower EverStart Value battery, is any good despite its price, here's what you need to know.

tiremeetsroad.com

I've been using the El Cheapo for as long as I can remember.

The one I'm replacing says I installed it January of 2019... and it still starts the truck... but it's getting weak.

So that's three years and a couple of month... which doesn't seem too bad to me for 48 bucks at the time.

What's been your experience or opinion.

You get what you pay for?

Or sometimes less is more?

The battery that came with my F 150 lasted 8 years

I'm 3 years into a 5 year battery now but in all honesty it will last longer I'll probably get 7 years or more out of it

The guarantee is only the amount of time the battery will be replaced for free so you can expect any battery to outperform its warranty

 

[Likkmee]

I just park on a hill. Fuck batteries

 

[petro]

I buy Interstate battery's for my cars.
More expensive but built to last.
Made in the USA
(all the other brands made in China)

Had to get the AGM battery for my Grand Cherokee. The newer vehicles require them for the electronics.
Original lasted eight years, the new Interstate AGM will last probably as long as I drive the vehicle.
Pricey at 289 bucks, but worth it.

What Is an AGM Battery? AGM vs Standard Batteries | Interstate Batteries

Lots of new cars sport AGM batteries. But what are they? Here’s the big deal.

www.interstatebatteries.com

 

[Blues Man]

I just park on a hill. Fuck batteries

Only works on standard transmissions .

I parked my first car on a hill for 3 years

 

[petro]

I've had to replace three batteries over the last 4 years in my Tundra.
While I dont drive it often due to my hip surgery it's starting to get ridiculous.
You cant let the truck sit for more than a month or the battery dies. There has to be some parasitic draw from something.

My vehicle runs tests of the actuators that run the duel climate control while the vehicle is off.
Many new vehicles run functions while the ignition is off.

 

[Sunni Man]

Also note that their Optima and Odyssey lines are far more expensive. No doubt they could sell the Optima ones {truly sealed, superior tech, zero maintenance}

Years ago Optima batteries were the battery of choice if you wanted the best reliability and longest lasting maintenance free battery on the market.
But the company started cutting corners and outsourcing its manufacturing to the cheapest Chinese bidders. So that today, Optima batteries are junk and internet reviews of them are brutal.

 

[Sunni Man]

I've had to replace three batteries over the last 4 years in my Tundra.
While I dont drive it often due to my hip surgery it's starting to get ridiculous.
You cant let the truck sit for more than a month or the battery dies. There has to be some parasitic draw from something.

Modern cars and trucks have a lot of electronics that are active even when the vehicle is parked. Many people complain about a dead battery when not driven for a couple of weeks or more.
My suggestion is to buy a trickle charger and use it whenever your vehicle is going to be parked for an extended amount of time..

 

[Sunni Man]

Had to get the AGM battery for my Grand Cherokee. The newer vehicles require them for the electronics. Original lasted eight years, the new Interstate AGM will last probably as long as I drive the vehicle. Pricey at 289 bucks, but worth it.

What Is an AGM Battery? AGM vs Standard Batteries | Interstate Batteries

Lots of new cars sport AGM batteries. But what are they? Here’s the big deal.

www.interstatebatteries.com

Thanks for the article about AGM batteries. ....

 

[petro]

Thanks for the article about AGM batteries. ....

It was an education for me two years ago when I needed a new battery and had no idea mine required an AGM.
A bit of sticker shock, but I will probably never need to buy another before the vehicle is junk.

 

[Shawnee_b]

I just buy Interstate. Cept the Vette has a surefire. My lobsterboat had 2 large interstates. I trust them, they last.