Looking to buy a new truck battery

I was looking at the yellow top D27F but some concerns that it's now made in Mexico came up. What are you guys's thoughts?

 

Northstar AGM Group 27F

 

I like Toyota OEM myself. Seem to last a long time for me

 

endorsed by John McClain: http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-automotive-battery-group-size-35-price/p-02851035000P

 

Consumer Reports give Costco batteries high marks. I ran one in my Scion, it died after sitting for months (when I got my Taco) when it was 3 years old. Costco warranted it and gave me another. I've been very happy with them and would absolutely try one in the Taco.

 

In my area the Costco brand battery is no longer available. Replaced by Interstate. Possibly the same battery.

What I find interesting is Costco gives a 3 yr. free replacement for these Interstate batteries, but there is no mention about any proration beyond 3 yrs. Store mgr. read thru all the doc and nothing other than free replacement in the first 3 yrs. was found. Hopefully they'll amend this soon.

 

I actually just had to replace the battery in my Optima (car in my sig) last night and got some good info on the CostCo battery. In the past, I had heard really good things about them but we didn't have a Costco... until now. So I went in looking for the Kirkland battery I had heard so much about and was surprised to see nothing but Interstate batteries in a very small section. I asked the guy behind the counter and he was quite knowledgeable on the topic. He said that they went to Interstate exclusively as a company and that Johnson Control made both anyway. There really are only a handful (three or so) battery manufacturers who then slap a different label on them and ship them to other stores. The CostCo battery is a 3.5 year (42mo) 100% replacement warranty. He said they used to do a 3 year with another 2 year prorated but just scrapped that for a single 100% replacement battery. Conversely, Walmart had a MaxxStart that was within $2 of the price which was a 3 year (36 month) 100% replacement warranty and then another 12 month prorated warranty for a total of four years of warranty. To me, it's six in one hand and half dozen in the other for that application.

All that being said... find someone at a dealership or something that can get you cost on the upper-end Delco battery that fits are trucks. Cost is just a shade over $100 ($109 I believe... forget what retail was) and the warranty is MUCH better than either of those two. I think it was a 5 year warranty or something like that with the last year or year and a half being prorated. If they made it in the size that fits the Optima I wouldn't even have thought twice about getting another one but they only made that size in a 'Silver' version which is basically identical to the CostCo/Walmart and likely all over offerings on the market.

 

Northstar make their own batteries

 

Happy with mine. A little pricey, but wait for a sale. Has some of the best reviews.

 

Navigating the Northstar website is a pain. The I tried a local dealer's site. Even worse. Never did find that 27F AGM battery. What's retail on that puppy?

Trying to do my research before I need a battery. I need it to do a fair bit of hot weather, lots of bitter cold(like for real cold) and occasional winching.

 

http://mediacdn.shopatron.com/media/mfg/15710/spec_file/213779785.pdf

http://buy.northstarbattery.com/p/nsb-agm-27f-battery

 

Thanks OZ. I think this is currently the front runner for my next battery.

 

$358.99

 

Yeah , they aren't cheap , however I paid less than that up here with free shipping inside Canada through an online battery supplier

 

Yup. I was told the same thing at my Costco- same battery, different label. The casing matched the old one I brought back perfectly. Don't know the cost for a Taco battery but for the Scion it was $85.

 

For something like a passenger vehicle lead acid battery that's a complete waste of money. Get a $100 battery and call it a day. You will get the same 4-6 years out of both batteries and your truck will start every time before they go so spending 3x the money makes no sense IMO. You get 6mos more 100% replacement warranty than CostCo for 3x the price. It's not an item that will get you more performance during it's service life so it doesn't make sense to invest so much money. Not like your truck will start faster, jump higher and live forever because you got that battery versus a $100 battery with a 3.5 year 100% replacement warranty.

 

Walmart here has a 5 year battery. 3 years replacement, 2 years pro-rated. That is the route I will be going soon.
Currently, I have Optima red tops in both my vehicles. The one in my car is over 5 years old and wont start my car if it sits for a couple days or when the engine is warm (like stopping to get gas). The one in my truck just got warrantied because the 2 year old battery that was in it was dying overnight. I will be getting the one from Walmart to put in my truck, and move the new Optima to my car. The old one will be relegated to powering the chainsaw sharpener on firewood trips.

 

Yeah I agree with you but I have noticed that the truck has trouble starting when its below 0 out. I also have a pretty high draw from my LED light bars and my audio system. Last week I waited outside a retailer for my fiancé to deposit a check, no more than an 8 minute wait and in that time with just the radio playing (At a low volume) the battery died. I am hoping to get a little more up time out of a better battery and higher CCA...

 

Thank you all for the great advice....

 

Higher CCA and deeper draw cycles for accessories

Same reason lots of guys run the Diehard Platinum

If cheapest battery is your criteria neither will be your pick