Current "good" battery?

My daughter is heading off to school in a couple of weeks and the battery in her Fit is past it's expiration date. Trying to be a good dad and get the car in order before she leaves. What's the current good parts store battery brand? It's been hard to sort out who is who over the last couple of years. 

I've been impressed with Walmart, actually. A car I bought had issues (almost certainly user error) with one of their batteries (Everstart?) and they replaced it for free-fifty-free even though it was toward the end of its warranty period and I had no receipt. I don't know where your daughter is going, but I would guess there's a Walmart nearby.

All I know is that the guy at O'Reilly's said that WalMart has the best prices on batteries.  I no longer hold one brand above another, although I have had very good luck with AGM-type batteries in cars that are driven infrequently.

Edit:  Argh!  Beaten to it!

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

rural king has the best battery prices by far, if you have one around.  They warranty replaced an 8 year old mower battery last time i was there and I just brought it in as the core.  

They're all made by three or four parent companies, so I've stopped worrying about the actual brand and started to go with the warranty.  I've put three batteries in the truck, the past two I've paid half price on them because they were pro-rated

Every vehicle I own either has an expensive AGM battery from a brand like Optima or Odyssey (what can I say, we get a deal) or a no-name cheapo from my local commercial battery distributor (Royal Battery, their logo has a battery wearing a crown, it's great...).

Either way, test them every year and you'll never be stranded. The fancy AGM stuff seems to last an extra couple of years. But frequent testing seems to be the magic bullet to happy batteries/not getting stranded.

Wally World batteries are made by JCI like most of them these days. There's not much reason to go with anything else, honestly.

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

i would go to honda and pay their premium for their battery.

Honda offers a fantastic warranty on their Batteries.

100 month warranty

first 36 months are straight up free replacement, after that it's pro-rated replacement cost.

i also question if the parts stores are readily going to have the Fit battery size on hand if she needs a replacement.

Thats my 2 cents.

I always go to Advanced Auto parts online store, use a 30% off coupon for pickup in store and buy an AGM battery with the full 3 year warranty.

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

Wally World always seems to have the right battery for whatever obscure-ass 1980's-1990's European money pit I'm driving at any given time, so I'd bet Fit batteries would be commonly available.

I don't like going to Wally World for much but I've also had great luck with their Everstart batteries, and the replacement policy is very liberal.

-My DD Fit has been rocking an "AutoCraft Gold" from Advance Auto since December 2015. Haven't had any issues with it. When I bought it, I did what m4ff3w suggested above and ordered it online with one of the big coupons they always seem to have active for online orders.

-Probably the best battery I've dealt with recently was a Duralast Gold that was in my beater Dodge Dakota when I bought it in 2014. This is a vehicle that only putzes around here and there from maybe late April to October sometimes going many months without a start. It finally died last summer when I tried starting it forgetting I had a wrench going from the header collector to the starter while doing some exhaust work. FWIW, the date sticker on it was 5/10. That said, I think they're something like almost $200 from Autozone, so I probably wouldn't buy one if I had to choose, but that's just me being a cheapskate.

-I'll also jump on the Walmart battery train. I've been using one for around a year and haven't had any problems, and it's the $49.99 variant.

This may be due to the vehicles I'm trying to outfit and/or the stores in my area, but the only issue I've had with Walmart batteries is actually finding the one I need. For the one that I'm actually using, I had to visit at least two Walmart's in my area to find one on the shelf. Then when that Duralast died in my Dakota, I was in a pickle where I needed a battery for it ASAP, none of the 3 or 4 closest Walmarts had the correct one in stock. I ended up getting a "Duracel" from Sams Club, which at the time was on sale for something like 20% off only if you bought it online for store pickup. Haven't had any issues with that one either.

I have a rural king agm in my Avalanche and a retread auto agm in my suburban. So far so good. Even knowing that rural king is exide.

I've had some batteries go for 10+ years and some crap out in 2.  If her battery isn't showing signs of concern, I'd spend the money on AAA, or buy her a good jump box + inflator to keep in the car.  With the latter, she can help all of her friends with less responsible parents.  ;)

Costco interstate..  The warranty is worth it...  

+1 for Costco Interstate, we'll be replacing a battery with the standard lead acid battery.  Good warranty and you can return to any store in the country. 

They are just now listing the AGM Interstate batteries on their site as special-order, but when I called our local store to order they stated they can't order that battery and don't show it in stock anywhere yet.  It may be too new to order yet.

pointofdeparture said:

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

Wally World always seems to have the right battery for whatever obscure-ass 1980's-1990's European money pit I'm driving at any given time, so I'd bet Fit batteries would be commonly available.

I don't like going to Wally World for much but I've also had great luck with their Everstart batteries, and the replacement policy is very liberal.

It looks like that is the case, The Fit uses a 151R size battery.

Make sure you check the battery ground cable if/when you go to swap the battery. My Fit (a 2008 FWIW) was recently having some starting issues and it ended up being a battery ground that was badly corroded at both ends.

If they are over the age of 18, I make them take care of their own car. 

Suggest that they get it checked. Suggest what kind of battery to buy. Let them take care of it or not. 

It's part of being an adult. 

Last Saturday my daughter asked to borrow my shop. She thought her brakes were worn out. She showed up at 9 am. Jacked the car up and put it on jack stands, checked the brakes, asked me what she should buy, bought them and changed them herself. I never lifted a tool. Independent children are a wonderful thing.

I don't want to be their built in mechanic, though I will help if asked. 

Edit to add. The last couple of batteries have come from the local auto parts store. Reasonably priced and they have been holding up fine. 

I've had really good luck with the Duralast Gold, and the warranty. 

I exploded it at an AutoX after I broke the factory plastic battery tray in my Mustang, and it slung the battery into the steel power steering line and burnt thru the line, and exploded the battery. 

They warrantied it, no questions asked.  Never had a failure with either (the original or the replacement)

But this is on an 85 Mustang, not a Fit, so fitment was easy.

Have it tested for cranking amp capacity, it might be OK.

spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

i would go to honda and pay their premium for their battery.

Honda offers a fantastic warranty on their Batteries.

100 month warranty

first 36 months are straight up free replacement, after that it's pro-rated replacement cost.

i also question if the parts stores are readily going to have the Fit battery size on hand if she needs a replacement.

Thats my 2 cents.

their batteries are sourced through Interstate. 

Rural king batteries are my go to, never had any issues out of one, seem to last me forever. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

My daughter is heading off to school in a couple of weeks and the battery in her Fit is past it's expiration date. Trying to be a good dad and get the car in order before she leaves. What's the current good parts store battery brand? It's been hard to sort out who is who over the last couple of years. 

Seriously, just how old is it?  I haven't found age to be all that reliable an indicator of when a battery is in need of replacement.  Some barely last three years, others are going strong after seven years.

I have Rural King batteries in the FD, 900SE, and Mini. They've been fine so far and the price was right.

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like a Wally World battery is the way to go. 

This battery has been a little moody when the car sat for 3+ weeks at the beginning of the Covid stuff. She's moving from the very hot south to the rather chilly mid west and it's honestly the combination of cold and potential sitting that I'm worried about. I'll clean up the ground at both ends when I get this done. She'll be off with a jump pack and code reader and inflator and AAA. Turned 18 this spring and she's getting properly responsible with this sort of stuff.