Well I was at a firework trailer, (we sell fireworks in trailers in Bristol), and my friend and I were in the trailer talking with some hillbilly owner about all his crap (fireworks). And when we went out to my 4Runner about 10 minutes later, it wouldnt even turn over! So we got his battery charger and we charged the POS for about 30 minutes, then it started stuttering like Boomhauer on crack. Do you know what it is like being stuck with some 350 pound hillbilly and his dog, with a dead battery sitting around waiting for it to charge; haha , I didnt think so. AWKWARD. Well, finally we just decided to jump it, we drove about 25 minutes to Autozone and turned er off. I tried to start it again, and nothing. Turns out my Excide battery was only putting out .3 volts. So I got a Duralast Gold Battery. 3-year replacment. Anyone running these?

 

I had the same problem once, went out and got a Bosch Battery after the cheap battery that was originally in the 4runner when i got it failed me, the Bosch was junk and died a year later, now i own a optima and the extra money is well worth it, Are the duralast maintenance free batteries?

 

Junk, but let it ride till it dies.

Jumping is what you do when the vehicle dont turn over, charging it is worthless, a sudden dead battery means you left something on or its shot.

 

Been running my Duralast for almost 5 years. No problems. Do some digging and you'll be surprised at how few companies actually make batteries. Of course there are different grades, but you'll find that brand X's 954-xp5 battery is the same as brand Y's XJ7/14 - just a different label.

 

For 80 bucks I hope it's decent.

 

A family member of mine has been in the auto battery biz for over 30 years now so I asked about Optima's, he told me save my money unless I like paying for marketing more than the product. As someone above eluded batteries are pretty much made in a few locations and just rebadged.

 

Any suggestion from them as to what's the best buy for the price then?

 

An optima or other spiral cell is sealed and a better overall design, me I like orbital batteries.