New Battery - which brand??

DufDaddy

I work at East Penn Mfg, makers of the Deka brand lead acid batteries. I am a Quality Auditor and I will tell you that Optima batteries are certainly the prettiest battery on the market, but they are junk otherwise. When they first came out we ran some major engineering tests on them because our owner wanted to see if the "6pack" tech was worth looking into. The only test that those batteries beat our wet acid filled batteries in was "shake" testing. We still resell them to NAPA (we reboost them almost always once), but NAPA is slowly moving over into our AGM line. We have developed AGM batteries that cannot be beat in in anyway. AGM = absorbed glass mat - instead of acid sloshing around in the cell each plate is separated by a diaper like material that is saturated in the acid electrolyte. If you wanna put a great battery in your car look for a 9A35/85.

We also make batteries for Sears, Sams Club, Auto Zone, OReily's, NAPA, Carquest, and Advanced Auto after-market companies....arguing which of these guys makes a better battery is like comparing a Pepsi out of a bottle to Pepsi poured into a glass. The batteries are the same, only thing different is the label.

YGKZ34

Just read back in November that the Everstart battery is the Consumers Report recommended best buy

DufDaddy

Was this for the battery specifically or the entire purchase experience? Like others have said, buying from someplace that will standby the purchase with a warranty is clutch. A lot can go wrong in the production of these things, the tiniest hole (and I'm talking you would need to lay the separator on a light to see a pinhole) in the separator can cause a short in a cell.

Kenwoodturbo

I am 100% in belief. Actually quite a few years ago I went to one of the déka distribution centers to pick up an agm battery and when I got there the battery I needed had not yet been labeled. They had labels for each company selling the battery and asked which label I preferred.

Also agree 100% on optima. I used to run them in my race car because I was told they were the best, and also since my battery was in a sealed/ outside vented Moroso box in the trunk I felt it was double layer of protection. First one lasted a few years. Then it seemed like at some point they would only last 1 season. I had better longevity from the low grade wal mart especiale.