Ok!

I searched and read a lot but still couldn't decide...

What I need is,

1. Long lasting
2. No acidic greenish powdery thing
3. Promising start-up in cold Michigan winter
4. no additional electric gadget in my car. Pretty much stock with some small gadget like GPS....

Can anyone recommend a battery for my criteria? basically, all season everyday driving purpose.....
I miss my original Panasonic battery which lasted for 110k miles without any single leak in the battery post. There was no corrosion, no powdery stuff until it gave up a few years ago.... The Autozone battery currently stuck in my car has so much powdery stuff and already forming rust.....

By the way, when I searched it looks like the popular battery brand seems changing as time goes by....
I used to hear that Optima battery is the best. So, I was going to replace with optima when time comes... Then, now, it looks like there are quite number of battery brand, and people have mixed reviews on the same ones...
So I found that,

RedTop Optima about $150
YellowTop Optima about $150
Interstate Workholic about $150
Interstate PowerFast about $150
Kmart brand about $70
Walmart EverStart about $50
Costco Kirkland... about $50
and so on and on...

Some says, Optima is the best, others had rather early failure with Optima.. some other says, Walmart brand is good enough... and some other says, Costco Kirland is best bang-for-the-buck.... Why are there so many batter brand? Isn't it like all those different brands are actually manufactured by only a few companies?

 

Go Interstate and you'll never think about it again

 

Optima would be my first choice, but I've had great experience with DieHard as well. I think they're both made by Johnson Controls?

 

I got seven years on my Panasonic--a lifetime record for me, and now have three years on my 34R Red Top Optima. So far, so good, and really cranks in the cold. I have not had great luck with Interstate in other cars, but those were not the PowerFast or Workholic. Just basic model.

 

i killed 3 red tops before getting fed up with optimas..... i have a diehard platinum and its been great.

 

This is from Consumer Reports Web page.

Their top rated batteries

Group 65
DieHard Platinum 50065

Group 34/78 & 78
DieHard Platinum 50090

Group 24 /24F
Interstate Mega-Tron Plus MTP-24

Group 35
Duralast Gold 35-DLG

Group 75
Duralast Gold 75-DLG

Recomendation:
For cold weather climates:
The EverStart models are particularly good values.

EverStart Maxx-24N (North)
Group 24 /24F
Price as tested: $75
Overall score: 82

EverStart Maxx-35N (North)
Group 35
Price as tested: $75
Overall score 79

Kirkland Signature 12866
Group 65
Price as tested: $75
Overall score 78

EverStart Maxx-65N (North)
Group 65
Price as tested: $75
Overall score 76

EverStart Maxx75-N (North)
Group 75
Price as tested: $75
Overall score 73

NAPA Select 84 8475
Group 75
Price as tested: $80
Overall score 68

 

x2 on the diehard platinum. great battery

 

i have two optimas a red top and a yellow top. both seem to be great batteries.

 

Wow! that is good list of info. Thanks!
But at this point, I would rather exclude "Duralast and Diehard". Both are fairly good batteries based on my experience with other cars, but all had developed significant amount of corrosion/powdery stuff etc, which I am tired of cleaning. (Again, I miss my panasonic battery whenever I deal with such messy thing...)

Well, I do not know how other perform, so I would rather go with other than those two brand.... but again, I tell you that those Duralast and Diehard are functioning fairly well with my other cars.

So, I shall search a little more which of those list are suitable for my interest (cold performance, and longivity... and cleaner without messy power/corrosion..)

 

just so you kno. diehard platinums are rebadged odyssey's. the only bad thing was i had to extend my positive cable.. also why would you exclude diehard? i used to work at a sears auto. i saw alot of dead batterys come in. imo good battery. there is a product you spray on and it keeps the corrosion away. or jsut clean the terminals every few months

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!OK the trick here is Di-Electric!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you dont want corrosion then what you need is a corrosion inhibitor!!!!!!!
AKA Di-Electric grease!!!!!!!!!! Take the cables off clean well apply Di-Electric grease lightly to the battery posts, then apply to the cables, reconnect the cables Finally apply a liberal amount "not so much that it makes a mess" to the top of the terminals and cables. As long as the air and water can not get to the terminals they will not oxidize"corrode" corrosion is another word for oxidization. if the oxygen does not get to the metal it does not corrode.
it does not matter what battery you decide to go with it will corrode unless it is inhibited!!!
the acid does induce the oxidization but without oxygen it will not corrode.
any how you have a taco you should have some Di-electric for your tune ups any how.

 

I killed one so far and its only been 2 months! I intially had a Optima Red 35..the one that died. Then when I went to return it they didnt have anymore group 35's in stock, so they gave me a 34R at no extra charge. So we will see if this one last. One good thing about Optima is that they have a non prorated warranty for 3 years, so if it dies you get a new at no cost. Just make sure whatever you get doesn't have a prorated warranty.

 

Odyssey's (and Diehard's which as already mentioned are rebadged Odyssey's)
are, by far, in a class by themselves. They are the best that you can get for a vehicle.
They have a super long "shelf life". They don't outgas (Optima's can and do) in conditions that you are ever likely to encounter. They do not suffer evaporative loss (Optima's do).
Regarding the post about extending the battery cable, I don't know if the Diehards are available with the post either way, but the Odyssey's are. You can get them with the positive post on either side. So, akaphilly, you simply got the wrong one.
Since there is absolute no leakage and no out gassing and no evaporative loss, there is no corrosion assuming the cables are clean.
Optimas, under conditions a little worse than normal, like out here in S. AZ, basically bite. Some people seem to be ok with them, but most can't get any life out of them at all. It's due to the evaporative loss they suffer because of the heat out here, and when they die, they die suddenly.
Odyssey's don't do that.




Fred

 

I've had my Optima Yellow top for 5 years now. It has never given me any trouble.

 

Eddie, Thanks for all your suggestion of mainitaining and cleaning the battery post. I fully understand the procedure and do such maintenance for all of my cars now with aftermarket battery.

However, what I really wonder is, "why the original battery such as panasonic one was able to perform such nicely and cleanly without any maintenance" for 100k+ miles?" I did not need to deal with any powderly stuff or corrosion thing with that pana battery. or Was it just pure-luck?

Even more interesting is, my other car which had delphi battery from the factory was also performing pretty good without any greenish powder stuff at all until that battery died after 50k miles of running. No maintenance was needed, no cleaning job, no jelly was applied at all. Practically, maintenance free until the day it was done. Although it did not run till 100k miles like panasonic one, it was also truely maintenance free battery for 50k miles.

So, at this point, should I conclude that, "if I want such clean and reliable battery, the only option is to go to dealer to find the factory battery"??????

Anyone can explain, why oem battery is such better than almost all of aftermarket battery? Or is there equally good aftermarket battery????

 

even though you do not see it at the manufacturer they use an anti-corrosive product that you can get at any auto store. I saw it the Kragen the last time I went in. It was sold with terminal cleaner and another product for corrosion removal. it is a spray "I believe Di-electric" but spray. it goes on thin and they wipe off the excess on the battery.

 

Not that it necessarily means anything...but I live in Montana (gets very cold), and I've always just gone with a fairly cheap battery from NAPA (not even sure off the top of my head what brand it is) and never had issues...

 

After running Optima and Exide Orbital - I didn't see any benefits to justify the higher price.

Last time my battery needed to be replaced, I was looking for an Odyssey, and just couldn't find one quick enough. Now that Sears has the Diehard Platinum, that problem is eliminated and will be what I buy next time.

 

good thread guys. This is a ongoing issue with one or the other of us- sooner or later. My last Sears battery is dying out in this recent blizzard here.

Looks like a DieHard platinum or full out Odyssey for me.