Are you going to actually use Costco enough to justify the membership fee . Joining just for a battery seems silly when there are places that sell them without a membership fee.
I was wandering around the brand new Bradenton, FL Costco killing time waiting for the wife and stopped by the battery rack. Prices and warranty were good… Just for fun I looked up a battery for my car and they don’t carry it (no location for it on shelf). Filled up with gas for $2.18/gallon, though!
Besides, it’s under 9 miles to Costco in my southern outpost, but 100+ at northern outpost.
Forget about it! Most batteries, I’ve noticed, are doing away with the pro-rated part of the warranty after the free replacement runs out. It’s not worth much, anyhow. Say they give you an allowance of 15% to 20% on a battery that died a premature death (which I’ve never had happen)… That allowance is figured on your original receipt and price paid. The new one will cost more and in the rare occasion you’ll ever need it, it just isn’t worth much. I now look for the longest free-replacement and I have heard that Costco doesn’t balk on returns and good to know on warranty exchange, too.
CSA
forget about cranking amps . . .
focus only on CCA
I’m glad you appreciate my advice 
But I would think you need to shop there quite often to make it worth your while
I buy groceries there every weekend, and fill up the cars there, as well.
Here’s an idea . . . make a free trial run
I believe non-members are allowed to buy alcohol in Costco . . . you might tell the guy at the entrance that you’re not a member, and you’ll only be buying some wine, whiskey, etc. And while you’re in the store, check out the offerings. The price of gasoline is posted at the entrance to the store, see if it’s cheap enough to justify filling up there, but you have to be a member to do that. I think the only things a non-member can do is buy booze and shop at the food court
How did this become on how to buy a battery? To getting deals at Costco?
I thought the site was called,
Tester
@It_s_Me I didn’t see East Penn on the list. The last battery I bought at NAPA they said was made by East Penn and their troubles were over, There seems to be a lot of buying and selling brands though and consolidation, so who knows? The last Walmart battery I had lasted a year. True the car sat most of the time but so did the car with the Delco in it that lasted four years.
But asking what is the best battery seems like asking what is the best coffee. I always buy my coffee at Costco though but never bought a battery there.
When I need a battery, I drive to costo with the tools needed to replace it
In the parking lot, I remove the old battery, throw it in a shopping cart and head over to the Tire/Battery facility
Then I tell them what battery I need, and give them the core, so that I won’t be making another trip
Then I load the new battery in that shopping cart and head back to my car . . .
almost no batteries last a long time here, due to the relatively high temperatures. So if someone in the northeast has batteries that last 7 years or more . . . that exact same battery might last 4 or 5 years here, tops
1 Like
Interstate offers several different batteries, different levels of quality and warranty for each size battery, the MT would be the Megatron, one of the better batteries.
That would be the group size, for example 24F.
In NJ, anyone can use their pharmacy, and they are massively cheaper than anyone else. When I needed an Rx for my dog last year, I got it from them for just a fraction of what CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid wanted to charge me.
1 Like
Battery brand has never mattered to me. They’re pretty much out of the same kettle of fish.
I just look for the highest CCA I can get that will physically fit into the battery compartment.
In a shop setting I have seen a couple of Die Hards that suffered internal shorts; which is an odd way of giving up its life.
Years ago when Sears was open here I bought a new Die Hard for my BMW motorcycle. The next evening when I got off work the battery was stone dead. After charging and some testing I found it to be nothing but junk. I’ve never seen one go completely south in 24 hours.
I think the CR recommendation would be a good choice. Theirs go by the battery type number, so they might recommend one brand for a certain car, and another brand for a different car. I’ve always had good luck w/Costco batteries, better luck w/those than Sears. Last battery I purchased was the Walmart $50 version, and it has been working fine for 3 1/2 years now with no noticeable degradation. I’m in a mild climate, maybe that’s part of the explanation why it is lasting.
I will back up the Sears battery scandal. Managers of Sears auto service departments were cleaning up returned defective batteries, putting them back in stick and pocketing the money when they sold. They were even shrink wrapping them onto pallets so the customers could see the"new" batteries being taken off the pallets.
I had a diehard many years ago that wouldn’t hold a charge but was still under warranty. They would not adjust it for me and told me they would have to charge it overnight and test it to make sure that there was something wrong with it. When I went back the next day, they had lost my battery and offered to adjust it then. I said, no, when I asked you to adjust it yesterday you told me it may be perfectly good. Why should I have to pay to replace a perfectly good battery.
I told them to call me when they found my battery and I drove out of there with the loaner they had given me, a very nice Delco. They never called/
3 Likes
I like your style 
Just because Johnson Controls makes several brands of batteries doesn’t mean they are all the same quality. Remember Chevrolet made both the Corvette and Citation.
As for batteries I sell Delco. They come with a 5, 6, or 7 year warranty. And that is a free replacement warranty if the battery fails at any time during the 5, 6, or 7 years (good at this location only).
2 Likes
I usually select Interstate or Odyssey when it comes to battery.
We can mark this question as “solved,” at this time.
db4690 responded with a logical answer, that solidified my choice of a new car battery.
I looked at Interstates, but the warranty was a bit unclear. Although I have my doubts on the Consumer Reports, reviews, they did like the Interstate in northern climates, and they liked my car. The only issues I had with the vibe, was needing a new battery when the original battery discovered a new, colder, climate.
I’ll join Costco, and get an Interstate battery from them, installing it myself will be fun.
1 Like
I thank all of you who offered opinions on this topic.
1 Like
You may want to get a memory minder, saves radio stations etc. If you get the type that plugs into a wpower point make sure the point is active when the ignition is off.
2 Likes
Just be careful. It’s easy to spend a lot of money there. I joined for the batteries and tires. Then I discovered the food section. If you have the freezer space you can save a boatload on meat, but you’re still spending a lot of money up front. Under 4 bucks a pound for ribs is great, but you have to buy 10 pounds of them. And then you probably don’t have the freezer space so you buy a chest freezer from, of course, Costco. And then over in the car section, they have really great prices on washer fluid and motor oil, but you have to buy a case of each and then find a place to put them, so you buy New Age garage cabinets (from Costco) and then because your house is now full of crap from Costco you decide to go on vacation so you buy that through Costco. 
We upgraded to the executive membership because we spend enough money there that the cash-back program on that tier pays for our membership each year.
Pennsylvania too. I think that actually is the case nationwide. I interviewed there years ago to work in the pharmacy, and I think they mentioned that.
We pass by our local Costco on the way to and from church on Sunday so it’s convenient for us to fill up there.
I joined Costco for the coffee and that’s about all I buy there. I don’t know why but going into stores like that or department stores is like a deer in the headlights to me. I just can’t get out of there fast enough.
To close this whole discussion out though, I’ll just add that I can’t remember the last battery I bought that was not needed in a hurry. Usually you don’t have the luxury of shopping around when your battery goes south. So it’s either take what you can find at 11:00 at night or do preemptive replacements.