i have two interstates in my truck only been a couple months though, these batteries replaced two blems from interstate that i paid $60 for and lasted 2+yrs

most costco batteries are now being deliveried by interstate as of last week and they are made in mexico

JCI (Johnson Controls) makes most of the batteries mentioned in previous posts including interstate, costco, wal-mart (nation wide and canada), autozone ect

Wal mart changed to one supplier for batteries because of problems with excide in regional areas and this is the first time wal mart has gone to one supplier for anything they sell

 

+1!

It's good to see Interstate has enough presence of mind to monitor the Internet to find stuff like this thread, offering customer service even though it's after the fact.

Good job!

Stewart

 

Gives credence to the old addage, "Squeaky wheel gets the grease". Hope you get it solved to your satisfaction.

Kudos to Interstate batteries!

 

The power of the internet at work, the informational highway, gotta love it. Hard working honest consumer. This still could be (resolved) Glad to see Interstate James post up....

 

Been out of the loop for a while and just saw James' reply. I will follow up and let you all know what was the resolution.

 

I hear alot of BAD about Interstate batteries here and had problems with them at a shop I worked at last year. We told interstate to take their batteries out. But I myself have a Interstate battery that is 10 yrs old in my motorhome. And today I went and started it after not being started in about 2 mths. and it was 20 degrees today and I had to crank the crap out of it to get it to start. I also ran Interstate batteries for many years in my boat without a problem. But in the past few years the quality of their product has SUCKED !!
One as thing you sould NEVER just replace one battery in something that has more one battery in series. Or being used as 1 bank. I have learned that along time ago with boats. Many reasons. Just don't do unless you have them switched between the 2. Would you replace one battery in a flashlight?? NO Same idea. And I can't believe the guy who sold you one battery didn't know this.

 

The batteries in our trucks are not wired in series.

They are wired in parallel.

Pop

 

When I made an inquiry about replacement warranties at Advance auto, it was made quite clear that batteries would not be replaced in pairs just because one was bad.

It wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't pretty much the standard.

 

The cold last week finally killed both my batteries completely, granted they were both borderline and needed to be replaced but I procrastinated and the cold finished them off. I went WFO and bought Diehard Platinum's 930cca, vs the Interstate 850cca. The platinums were pricey but they have 48mos full replacement and another 50mos prorated. I dont know who makes them probably Johnson controls, but I hope they make diffrent levels of batteries for each "client".
The diehard platinums boasted 99.99% pure virgin lead plates and they weighed in at 15lbs each heavier than the same size Interstates. There has to be some type of difference for two batteries exactly the same size but one being 15 lbs heavier-right?

 

Yup. More weight is more lead.

More lead is more plates (or thickness), and more capacity.

Don't forget, however, you can still sulfate them by allowing them to be under-charged for long.

Pop

 

Well here is the update. Because of Jame's earlier post, I just got off the phone with a Mr. Dan Lane and he assures me that Interstate WILL honor the 36 month free replacement warranty in diesel passenger vehicles. He said that he knew personally the distributor that I had dealt with and that he was wrong to do what he did. He mentioned that it HAD been the policy up until 5 or 6 years ago, but they had made the change to include vehicles that were passenger vehicles with diesel engines, including Ford Super Duty's used primarily as passenger vehicles, to be included in the 36month free replacement. So he had me fax over the receipt and told me that a check would be cut for the total amount of $100.17 and I should have it in less than 2 weeks.

So allow me to apologize for what I have said regarding Interstate Batteries company at the beginning of this thread. It was the mistake of the distributor and their customer service representative has done right by me in issuing a full refund. I am very grateful for James taking the time to reply to this thread and get me to the correct person to remedy the situation. I feel that it shows a commitment to customer service that they would monitor the internet like that and that they have chosen to refund my money and apologize to me for the inconvenience. THAT is how a company is supposed to treat it's customers and I WILL be dealing with Interstate in the future because of how they treated me today, despite my assertions earlier in this thread to the contrary. They have won back my loyalty with their actions.

Kudo's to Interstate!!

 

So let me get this straight, your maybe gonna get a check in 2 weeks & you've already had a sh-t batt for at least 2 weeks. The guy had time to smuse you on the phone for however long it took to satisfy you but could not talk to his dist & have a batt waiting for you at your convience. I seriously doubt I'll be buying any batts from this outfit, & I do understand there is a chance of getting a bad anything but after all this BS I can see why Interstate is getting the reputation they are getting & it ain't a good one. IF you get a check take it & get you a Motorcraft batt

 

On my 23' travel trailer I have gone through 2 Interstate deep cycle/marine batteries and each one only lasted 1 season! Interstate replaced the first one without question. When that one went bad a year later I was fed up with them and decided to not run them anymore even though I could have gotten a 3rd one. I put in a Costco deep cycle RV battery and no issues. I then installed 2 more Costco batteries when both my truck Motorcraft reached end of life a couple months ago. I now have 3 Costco batteries in my trailer and truck. No issues and great exchange/return policy at %100 replacement up to 36 months.

 

What do you hope to accomplish by the cynicism? Maybe we should cut the MANUFACTURER some slack here, and place the blame for this fiasco where it belongs, on the DISTRIBUTOR. They're the ones that deserve your wrath.

I'm not saying that the battery company shouldn't have educated their distributors on their policies, but maybe, just maybe, they DID, and the distributor just didn't want to fool with this particular case. It was out of their district, and there wasn't anything in it for them. Though really bad customer service, that's not really the battery manufacturer's fault.

I believe the manufacturer's representative, who came here to rectify the situation, did what he should have done, and that's a credit to them. What would you have them do, cancel the distributorship? Of course, given enough incidents like this, and they might. But so far, we know of one time this has happened, and the top people have done the right thing. What do you want him to do, personally deliver and install the replacement? Hand-deliver the check? What?

I believe I'd cut them a lot of slack in this case. More, it seems, than you wish to.

Supposedly, Johnson Controls builds Costco's, Motorcraft's, and at least some of Interstate's batteries.

Pop
(the guy who wrote the recent glowing review of Costco's batteries)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...batteries.html

 

I agree with Marv. Give credit where it's due and that's the end of it. Let's not beat this one to death.

My $.02.