Currently, I have a 3+ year old Ever Start Maxx battery, made by Exide.
It has yet to fail, but it was tested when my oil was changed 3 days
ago; the battery measured 565 cca, while it is rated at 750 cca.
Just plain 'ole lead acid, no AGM, or Deep Cycle.
The 5-year warranty is pro-rated after 3 years, but I’m not focusing
too much on cost, I want a reliable battery, for under $200.
My question is which brands are as good this one. I want to replace it before
winter arrives later this year.
There are only 3 companies that make batteries so if it is listed for your vehicle on the seller web site and you think the price is acceptable then that is all you need to do.
There are only a handful of battery manufacturers.
I wouldn’t worry about it til it fails. Batteries live longer in cold climate. Heat is the big killer of batteries. I usually get 7+ years on a battery.
Hmm, my neighbor says that he replaces them every 5 years. 7+? Are you re-building them?
The Exide battery has been good, but do I try a Johnson Controls, or Delphi- made
battery next? I’ve had great luck with Die Hard batteries in the past, but I lived in a
warm climate (Mexico) at the time. Maybe I should ask my Mexican friends which car
batter they have.
We have a lot of discussions about battery replacement.
There are two camps:
The keep it until it fails camp.
The replace it proactively camp.
I live in central Florida, I proactively replace at 4-5 years. That way I can shop for sales and/or rebates and do it at my convenience rather than wait for road service at 2AM.
All I buy anymore are Delco batteries. The last one for my Pontiac cost about $135 from Car-Quest. Others will disagree but I have had good luck with them. The last Walmart battery I had was dead in a year. I also under stress bought a NAPA battery but never kept the car long enough to see how that one was. I believe they changed vendors and the ones now are from Penn-state or something and better quality. The only thing good about Walmart batteries is that they were open 24 hours and could get one at 2:00 am if you needed one. Also no questions asked on the exchange but that has all changed now and you’ll argue for an hour with their mechanics on a dead battery.
My 2012 Camry battery is a little over 7 1/.2 years old. The inspection station that I go to said it was bad 3 1/2 years ago. They only sell batteries, bulbs wipers and miracles in a can besides oil changes. I have had ny battery tested by an auto parts store twice since then and it passes just fine. I have had batteries last 10 years here in Western NY. I have only had two batteries fail earlt in more than65 years of driving and both were from Sears. Sears managers were caught in a nationwide scheme of re-selling returned batteries as new back then.
Myself, I shop for price. Look up which class battery your Vibe takes, then use that to compare various vendors. I’d use your factory battery’s 750 cca as a minimum.
Actually, it is the only real use I found for Walmart. The dealer wanted nearly $200, local vendors between $100 and $170… Wally World had a similar batt for $50. I got an average of 4 years service. I think Amazon might have been cheaper, but I sometimes get the wrong part, and they don’t install. The last batt, Excide drove to my door, tested and installed, for $75. Worth it when your car is dead.
I’m sure your dealer is considering the hard winter coming. Turning a cold engine is harder and the battery has less cranking power when cold. Quoted from online: " A battery that provides 100 percent capacity at 27°C (80°F) will typically deliver only 50 percent at –18°C (0°F)." This is why battery sales usually spike right after the first cold spell.
You might want to have the batt checked by your tire shop or a battery vendor to verify the cca. Oil change places (and even dealers) sometimes exaggerate problems. I had them tell me my wipers were shot, 3 weeks after replacement, for instance. That’s what I call preventative maintenance… warned 30 months before they failed.
Every vehicle we’ve owned in the past 40 years -I’ve only replaced the battery at most once throughout the live of the vehicle. Everyone the replacement battery was a Diehard - because Sears would always have one on sale. We no longer have a Sears store near us (but do have a KMart that sells Diehard batteries).
That’s a bit of a miracle… a guardian angle looking after you.
All this talk about batteries and I’m headed to Firestone for the annual oil change. I’m going to have the batt checked. It’s been 6 years since I bought the truck, not sure how old the batt might be, but it still starts even if it sat a month.