New Battery for the Tacoma

Good point, alot of places will try to sell you an old battery to get rid of old inventory. I needed 3 blue top optimas recently and carquest gave me 2 from early '22 and 1 from '21. Staff was understanding and ordered 3 more from HQ which showed up the next day...which were also 1-2 years old. Ended up just going to oreillys and got some good ones

 

The 27F is the size battery I would opt for if going with a high-end battery like the Odyssey/NorthStar or X2 Power. I took a different approach following the "2 is 1, 1 is none" philosophy & carry one of my old Optima yellow top batteries as a spare on my extended hunting/shooting trips or when driving over to TX to help a friend with MTX on her Hacienda. My spare batteries sit on the bench with a NOCO Genius 1 to keep them topped-off, which appears to greatly extend their useful life. My oldest Optima yellow top is a 2013 and is still serviceable as is the 2016.

 

The factory installed battery that came in my '02 lasted about 9 years. I could be mistaken but I think it was Delphi branded battery?

 

Personally the Costco Interstate batteries have been pretty good to me, but Tucson is brutal on batteries. We are lucky to get four years of service.

Per Google-
What companies actually make car batteries?

Car Battery Brands

Most aftermarket car batteries sold in the U.S. are made by three companies that build them for retailers: Johnson Controls, which supplies more than half of the market; Stryten; and East Penn. They are sold under various names and built to the specifications of retailers, so performance can vary.

 

I recently put one of the Costco Interstate batteries in the wife's Honda, while I was making the purchase I asked the guy how these Interstate batteries have been doing. He said not that good. According to him, for reasons he had no clue of, they were seeing more problems with them than they used to. One good thing is that Costco has basically a no questions asked battery return policy within warranty period, from what I've been told they don't even test to verify.

 

Same reason I keep my odyssey hooked up when I am not driving. Being retired I can sometime not drive for 2-3 weeks at a time. Although I haven't been able to locate any definitive articles that can confirm it extends the life I figure it cant hurt since its an automatic charger that wont overcharge.

I always thought it was cold weather that is hard on batteries life when its actually hot weather.

 

Last time I checked at the local San Diego Walmarts there seemed to be a low stock of batteries?

 

I run NorthStar AGM 27f batteries in both my 2017 taco and 2014 4runner. Never had any issues. The 4 runner has been going for 8 years now without an issue. My taco has only had it in for 3 years, I did have to have the alternator amp/voltage adjusted when i got the kdmax tune up done though so i wouldn't have to add a maintainer to my setup.

 

I've seen a replacement battery advertised at the dealership for a comparable price to Costco or Walmart. Why not?

 

You know we thought china stuff was a low bar...
but now alot of the heavier toyota oem stuff....is now manufactured in mexico...
check those part labels....

 

The NOCO chargers can restore an AGM battery that has been chronically undercharged thru desulfation. I credit the NOCO Genius 1 charger with restoring both of the old Optima yellow top batteries I now use as serviceable spares. It did such a stellar job that I bought a NOCO Genius 10 for the farm equipment & bass boat batteries.

From NOCO website:

• Restore your battery - Detects sulfation and acid stratification and restores lost performance for stronger engine starts and extended battery life.

 

Damn! Taco truck for the win, here man.

 

Any one know what it is that makes the design of a deep cycle battery different than a regular battery. I know my odyssey extreme is listed as a deep cycle but how is it different design wise.

 

That's odd. I've been replacing my 34F battery that it came with when I bought the truck new with 34F batteries. Never had a problem.

 

Just FYI: An OEM 27F size battery tray (below) was an option on the later Taco. The OEM tiedown on my '97 V6 Taco 4WD fits the 24F EverStart Platinum AGM battery but would not work with the 27F NorthStar battery I was considering.

 

My vote goes to the optima redtop. If you do some digging a lot of batteries are made by the same company and rebranded at different prices. There are only 3 or 4? different battery manufacturers.

 

Costco. $90.

 

If I had a dollar for every Optima that crapped out on me I would have like $8. They are not as good as they were 10-15 years ago. I no longer trust them especially when you can buy four Costco batteries for the same price.

 

What do they charge for it? If it's over $100 it's too much. You can get a USA made Interstate battery for about $100 for these from Costco. Last one I had was good after 5 years and I only replaced it to use it on another car that we don't drive much. I am not a fan of 'fancy' batteries unless you require a deep cycle battery.

 

Phrased that way its impossible to answer. What criteria are important to you?? Whats does best mean to you???

Picture walking into a restaurant and asking for the "best" wine...