Car battery at Walmart?

[MillCreek]

My 3.25 year old stock battery in the 2016 Toyota Tacoma is becoming 'questionable' according to the dealer at my 30K mile check last weekend.  So I have been looking around, and interestingly enough, for about the same price as Costco or the local O'Reilly auto parts, I can get a 24F battery at Walmart and they will install it for free. This appeals to me since they can take the old battery back right there, and I don't have to make two trips to return the old battery to Costco or O'Reilly to get the $ 15 core fee back.

The Walmart batteries are made by Johnson Controls which is a pretty good brand.  Any reason why I should not go this route?

[brimic]

Ive only bought a lawn tractor battery from Walmart and it’s worked out fine...
A battery is a battery, unless they drop several times in transit.

[Nick1911]

I've had good luck with walmart batteries.  Got 7 years out of one once.

You'd be hard pressed to find a car battery sold in the US that isn't made by Johnson Controls.

[Brad Johnson]

Our O'reilly's offers battery replacement service in the parking lot. Autozone, too. Different in your area?

If memory serves relacing a Tacoma battery is the bracket bolt and two terminals. Take the appropriate size wrench(es) and do the replacement in the store parking lot. Pop out the old battery and take it in with you to avoid the trip for core return.

Brad

[bedlamite]

There are two big names in batteries, Johnson Controls and East Penn. I'm a bg fan of the Deka intimidator from East Penn. Eeither way, definitely get an AGM type. They are a lot more durable than the old style plate batteries.

[Calumus]

That seems like a really short life for a battery. My cars are 10 and 11 years old, and both are on their originals. Both still work perfectly, though the 11 year old one was a little slow cranking the other day when it was -4. Maybe Toyota picked an undersized battery for that truck and it's had a stressful life, or your service manager is trying meet his quota for the month.

[Ben]

That seems like a really short life for a battery. My cars are 10 and 11 years old, and both are on their originals. Both still work perfectly, though the 11 year old one was a little slow cranking the other day when it was -4. Maybe Toyota picked an undersized battery for that truck and it's had a stressful life, or your service manager is trying meet his quota for the month.

I was wondering about that as well. The OEM battery on my '14 4Runner is still going strong. I'd wanna see their battery test that shows "questionable".

[MillCreek]

I posted about this on Tacoma World, and a lot of comments about how the stock batteries are middling quality at best, and replacing at three years is not at all unusual.

[RocketMan]

I've been running my Dakota on a WallyWorld battery for a couple of years now with no problem.  The price wasn't bad when I bought it.

edited to fix spelling

[K Frame]

I've purchased several batteries from Walmart over the years and have never had anything but excellent services from them.

I'm actually thinking about replacing the battery in the Forester. It is, I think, original (2012) and it was cranking a bit more slowly than I thought it should during the recent cold snap.

[K Frame]

Batteries Plus has 20% off right now if you order on the website and pick up at one of their stores.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/

I'm thinking seriously about doing this as that would drop the price of one of the AGM battery types to a much more reasonable level.



Edit in: Well damn, they just changed it to 10%. WTF...

[Kingcreek]

I just replaced an oreillys store label battery that lasted 10 years and the price was good. I’ve used the interstate brand from Costco also. I always have an old dead battery around here somewhere to trade for core so I don’t have to swap the actual one.

[K Frame]

Holy crap, Costco has the Interstate 640 CCA for my Forester for less than $75.

I think that may well be the option I need to go. Costco is literally right next to my office.

[Jamisjockey]

I've put walmart batteries in several vehicles and my boat.  No different than anywhere else.

[Perd Hapley]

Firestone told me my wife's car battery failed on their tester. The next three places I asked said it was fine.

I hope you can trust your mechanic.

[lupinus]

Walmart batteries IME are fine. As to the tester, the ones at the dealership are often much better than what places like the auto parts store use.

And on the life, some OEM batteries these days flat SUCK. My Ford has been very reliable, except for the battery died a year in. And the replacement another year in. Replaced it with a non oem battery and have been fine since.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[AZRedhawk44]

That seems like a really short life for a battery. My cars are 10 and 11 years old, and both are on their originals. Both still work perfectly, though the 11 year old one was a little slow cranking the other day when it was -4. Maybe Toyota picked an undersized battery for that truck and it's had a stressful life, or your service manager is trying meet his quota for the month.

Try living in a desert.  I get 2 summers out of a battery.  That can either be 26 months if I buy it in May, or 33 months if I buy it in September.  Been that way for almost 20 years I've lived in AZ, with four different vehicles.  I've bought from AutoZone, Walmart, and Costco.  Doesn't matter.  Two summers is the limit.

[Brad Johnson]

Try living in a desert.  I get 2 summers out of a battery.  That can either be 26 months if I buy it in May, or 33 months if I buy it in September.  Been that way for almost 20 years I've lived in AZ, with four different vehicles.  I've bought from AutoZone, Walmart, and Costco.  Doesn't matter.  Two summers is the limit.

About the same here in hot west Texas. Batteries no simpatico with the heats. 3-4 years is about average for anything but a primo AGM battery (maybe 5-7 years).

Brad

[MillCreek]

I paid $ 103 last night at the local WalMart for a 24F Maxx battery with a five year warranty.  I sorted through the stack and got one with a manufacture date sticker of 1/2019.  The auto tech confirmed that his testing showed the battery was having problems holding a charge, and if this is occurring in a daily driver car, the battery is on the way out.

[Firethorn]

Try living in a desert.  I get 2 summers out of a battery.  That can either be 26 months if I buy it in May, or 33 months if I buy it in September.  Been that way for almost 20 years I've lived in AZ, with four different vehicles.  I've bought from AutoZone, Walmart, and Costco.  Doesn't matter.  Two summers is the limit.

Meanwhile up in cold country my first battery lasted a decade.  Yes, heat kills batteries.  There are chemistries that handle the heat better, but good luck getting them economically.

[Boomhauer]

Fistful it’s not about trusting battery testing can be very hit or miss. With the old style carbon pile testers you are supposed to disconnect battery, check electrolyte level, charge for so many hours, remove surface charge then check it. The newer digital testers don’t require that but can give a false reading from time to time. I test the batteries then I check voltage while cranking to give the best results possible

[Brad Johnson]

Easiest field test is to do it under load. If you have incandescent headlights it can be done by simply turning on the high beams. Another option is an inexpensive hot coil tester.

Voltage at the battery with key off and nothing active should be around 12.0 - 12.2 volts. Hit it with a load (turn on the lights or activate the tester) and It will probably drop to 10.5 - 11.5. If it holds steady or starts to drop very, very slowly (less than a tenth of a volt per minute) the batter is probably okay and just needs a good charge. If voltage begins to drop quickly (a tenth of a volt every few seconds) then it's likely the battery has shorted internally and is a goner.

Brad