so, my battery took a crap today, and i need another one...my mechanic wants me to get an interstate, my parents want me to get a diehard(i work for sears holding corperation...DISCOUNT), and i have no idea what to get. stock car, but i need something that will turn over in very cold weather. i know plenty of you on here are running optimas, but i have no sound system other than what great gift gm gave us(rolls eyes). so, looking for a good battery that will start in temps rangine from 95- neg 30...big range. thanks guys.(i'm pretty much asking what do you run, what have you run, and which do you prefer)
If you work at sears just go for the die hard battery...If you are not getting anything fancy for a big stereo,there really is no bad lead acid battery..
awesome. all i needed to hear. thanks
WalMart energizer battery. The cheapest around here.
It can stand the winter we have here so it will take yours.
Gilles
2.3 Ho
Get an everstart. 3 year warranty, if it dies within the 3 years, you get a new battery and a new 3 year warranty.
Auto zone's duralast gold! Mine lastest 8yrs 5 months and it was a 72 month battery with not one problem.It comes with the 3yr free replacement as well.Really auto zone,advance auto, walmarts everlast are rated in the top choices for all categories.I have had several diehard batteries and they did just that DIED hard cracked plates inside and no start and under three or four yrs old on both in the same vehicle.
Hi,
Like so many other items available to us, oil filters spring to mind, there are only a few manufacturers that make the entire spectrum of the selection available. Several competing brands are made in the same factory on the same day with different color plastics and different labels applied.
Battery technology is fascinating and the changes made in the past few years are astounding but little of this has reached the everyday market just yet. (optima being an exception) We are still running the lead acid descendants that our grandfathers put into their classic cars. (depending upon your age..... great grandfathers).
The differences boil down to number of lead plates, how they are made and the quality of them. Making electricity requires the lead plate to sacrifice itself as it is eaten away by the acid. How long this process can go on depends upon not only the quality of the construction but also what YOU demand from it.
As a rule of thumb the more you pay, the better battery you will get from a construction point of view. Even at that any battery can have early failure either from a manufacturing defect or most likely from an overuse / over heating situation where the plates actually warp and short out. You can also boil out the fluids and once the plates are in the air real trouble begins! Even a "maintenance free" battery has this happen, they've just designed it so you can't remedy the situation easily (though if you peel off the label or lift the plastic plate on top you can service them).
The higher prices sometimes just cover the replacement that will be made, most of us don't keep a car long enough to kill a battery so the manufacturers are off the hook once a new owner takes over.
Maintenance Free is a sales gimmick, nothing meets this criteria, even a gel battery needs minor cleaning, careful charging procedures and general care.
Good Luck, choose wisely, nothing is worse than a dead battery. I've used Interstates for decades and am happy, just got a new one for my J last month. Except for the 6 in my GEM car I've had flawless service but I think I've got the wrong batteries in it for the draw demanded of them.
I purchase so many batteries for my fleet of various vehicles and specialty applications that I set myself up as a distributor and they bring them straight to me!
Dave
