Which Battery

Assuming you are describing a ACDelco Professional Gold, it appears to be a wet "Maintenance Free" battery with non-removal filler caps. If this is the case, it will work great in cold climates, but in hot climates, historically wet "Maintenance Free" batteries do not last as long because distilled water can not be added when required. If the battery has removable filler caps, then it will work equally as well in hot climates, if distilled water is added when required.

A second challenge is replacing a wet low maintenance battery with a wet "Maintenance Free" battery in a vehicle with a OEM charging system designed for a wet low maintenance battery. The battery could prematurely fail due to undercharging from a gradual accumulation of lead sulfate. This is because a higher absorption voltage is required to fully recharge a wet "Maintenance Free" battery. A workaround is to periodically fully recharge the wet "Low Maintenance" battery with an external battery charger designed to recharge wet "Maintenance Free" batteries. The frequency is dependent upon your driving habits.

Periodic recharging or "topping off" is a good practice for any lead-acid battery that is consistently undercharged.

 

2008 ,75000 miles ,still original battery !! Guess I should start looking for a new one huh ?

 

What about the duralast Platinum ? $169

 

AMEN

 

Yup lifetime warranty. I only purchased a battery once for both my cars. Always failed after 3 years inside the free replacement.

 

Wow, I must have a freak factory battery in my 2006 Tacoma. I bought the vehicle in January, 2006 making my ownership just under 9 years! It started showing some fatigue last winter but kept on trucking. Now this season with the first real cold spell (mid teens), it was a bit sluggish. Maybe time for a Duralast Gold...or a Delco?...

Tom.

 

Tom, time to replace your battery. Nine years is an exceptional service life. Depending on your climate, about four years for OEM batteries in Virginia is average.

 

I'm at 8 years and 115000 miles on the original toyota battery. Still cranks the same as when I bought the truck. I was told this battery was made by panasonic but I don't know if that's true. I was also told that the "toyota truestart" was not made by panasonic again I can't confirm this. I'd like to buy the same battery that came in the truck as it has outlasted any battery I've had in the past 40+ years. Anybody know who makes that battery?

 

Duralast gold in both of my vehicles.

 

Hopefully those buying the dealer TrueStart will have better luck than I have.

Wifes '06 Avalon original OEM Panasonic lasted a little over 4 yrs. Replaced with a True Start - died in less than a yr. Dealer gave me a new one. 2nd TrueStart died in 17 mos. approx. The 3rd one is still going, but for how long.

Laugh all you want, but the batteries made by Johnson Controls for Walmart have been receiving good reviews the past 4-5 yrs.

Another battery I like are the ones made by Deka. Have had good luck with them.

 

Currently TrueStart is being made by Johnson Controls. If you buy any battery from a dealer, I would recommend that you check the freshness. Any lead-acid batteries in storage have a natural self-discharge and lead sulfate starts coating the plates. If the crystals are allowed to harden, it will prematurely destroy a battery, especially wet batteries stored in temperatures over 80 degrees F. The higher the temperature, the faster lead sulfate forms and the more difficult it is to convert back to lead. Keep the battery fully charged will prevent lead sulfate from forming and the battery from freezing in temperatures above -40 degrees F.

 

any opinions on the AutoCraft batteries from Advance? My OEM is also getting up there in age, but getting a little sluggish on cold mornings...almost 6 years old and 75k miles

 

Go with COSTCO... They sell Interstate Batterys cheap i got mine for $82 otd killer deal and bad ass warranty

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/deals-coupons/345542-costco-batteries-interstate-batteries.html

 

Not sure where Toyota sourced the battery that came in my 02 Tundra, but it lasted a bit over 10 years with pretty much everyday use as it is my work truck. Had 3 different Optimas (2 red one yellow) in my FJ 40 and only got about 2 years out of any of them. Currently have the "Gold" battery from AutoZone in both the Tundra and the 40 they seem to be holding up OK . The new Tacoma will get an Oddessy (like an optima) as I won it and it is sitting on the shelf...not sure it is worth the $300 price tag if you had to buy it, but I'll see how it does. Was planning on getting the Taco so ordered the biggest, baddest, highest rated one they had that would fit in the Tacoma.

 

Ostrichsak is right imop. My 01 that I bought new had a delco battery from the factory. I replaced it in 2012! 140,000 miles! By far the best battery I've ever owned!

 

Whenever I need to replace a battery in any of my vehicles over the years, I replaced it with a Duralast. It is the last battery replacement for that vehicle.