Week before last I removed a 9 year 3 month old AutoCraft Silver (Advance Auto Parts) group 65 from my '92 T-bird, it was still cranking but was getting weak in sitting two weeks and a test showed it was marginal and so I figured time was right. This is Adbvance's "good" battery, above "economy" but below the Gold "best" battery and the "premium" Optimas.
9 years on a Silver is good .... but I swapped in a "Gold" with higher ratings and better warranty.

My '77 F-150 has a March built of 2003 Legend 75 still in it, it has spent some long periods in cold winter unused in the driveway, it is 10 years old come March 2013 if it isn't replaced earlier. About 25 years ago I swapped in a new style electronic voltage regulator on my '77, it had the old style mechanical VR with springs, levers, coils, etc .... it has always been easy on batteries.

Consumer Reports gave the Costco Kirkland a "best buy" rating back last winter in several group sizes and so when the OEM gp 59 in my '07 died .... I dropped a Group 65 Kirkland in her just before "the great battery price explosion" of April 2012 happened (Thanks again to Obama's EPA). Glad I beat that deal to the table.

The best is the one that doesn't cause you grief. One way to help it is to not kill it dead ever.

Food for thought:

Advance Economy batteries have a straight 1 year free repacement warranty (I swapped out a 6 year old economy this week for a customer, batteries don't read warranties).

Recently Advance Auto (Auto Craft) removed the 6 years prorated portion of the Silver battery's warranty and it's now a straight 2 year free replacement (though if you bought one before that removal, you still have the warranty as it was when purchased).

Advance Auto Craft Gold has a 3 year free replacement and a 7 year (84 months) prorated warranty.

If Auto Zone / Oreilley's, etc have "gold" or "silver" in name, likely same battery.

 

I just lucked out and found a massive NAPA 75 800 CCA dated 1/11 at the local Pick and Pull. It had a puny 525 CCA in it that was still good but it turns out the battery in my matchbox was going bad so swapped that out and took that back to them for a core. Cost overall was like $22.

The only problem I now have is finding a tie down wide enough to hold it and not be a cheap piece of plastic.

I've had pretty good luck with the Autozone Duralast Gold which are supposed to be the same as Diehards.

I put a 750 CCA in my wife's Cherokee about 4 years ago for about $85 and it started to go bad about a year ago and I only had to pay like $65 on the prorated warranty. Current price on the same battery is like $135 now.

 

I've ran the Walmart MAXX in several of my trucks and has proved to be a great battery, as stated before the are made by the same company as interstates. I also have a optima red top in my samurai and love it. The best thing about the optima is no more corroded battery terminals or battery tray because it is truly a sealed battery, you can even mount them sideways or upside down!

 

We've always used Costco batteries, and they work beautifully. We had a 750 CCA in our 78 that lasted for years... Longer than we had the truck. I have a 850 in my truck now, and it hasn't let me down yet.

Now if you really want some nice, never ending battery power, check out one of these bad boys. 7 of these are used to start each engine on the ferries around here (that's my size 12 boot)
'

One of these is going in my truck later on


Jameson

 

If you want a battery to stay away from its OEM; thats right, Motorcraft... The shít Ford puts under the hoods. They last three years before dying. Had this happen in my freestar and fusion like clockwork; and a buddies car.

 

Consider new cables with the battery. I recently had a bad cable but the truck acted like the battery was dead. I changed the cable and problem solved.

 

I've got a 2001 Motorcraft Group 65 that came in my '01 Mercury Grand Marquis that's still a great battery. I took it out before a cross country trip in 2008 and put it in a cart. It's been used several times as a back up in a car (police CVPI a couple times as they are hard on batteries, my '07 FX4 when the smallish 4-1/2 YO group 59 died unexpectedly and in one of my T-Birds for a week once). I likewise pull 7-8-9 year old MCs out at work often to replace.
Just sayin' that "Yeah, some die early, and then some go on and on and on ....."

 

Heck yeah! Slam a big 4D in there and never have to worry about anything again.

Josh

 

I like the Optima Batteries, Optima 6V 800 CCA's are $132 and their 12V 800 CCA's are $169.

 

There are only three battery makers on the world if I remember right. So, its all about price and what you are using them for.

 

So pretty much once again, your buying the name?

 

LOL there are hundreds of battery manufacturers.

Battery Manufacturers and Brand Names List

Josh

 

Manufacturers there are a lot of, however the meat and potatoes of a car battery are all the same pretty much and that is what I'm talking about. I saw this on How it's Made haha! The three main makers make the insides and send them out to hundreds of Manufacturers. This is why the core charge is so damn expensive.

 

Yea but kinda like there is a head Company that owns like 20 of those but they have different names. Kinda like Ford with Mercury and Lincoln.

 

How much should someone expect to pay for a red, blue, or yellow Optima battery; I'm sure the prices vary between types?