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Early 2023 Battery Replacement: Brands, Stores, Prices, Warranties
TLDR; I bought a $170 H8 AGM battery from Walmart because their warranty is longer and their price is $70 lower. Here are the options I found.
This is my first winter with my E350 and the starter cranks slowly when it is cold. Prior to the sale, the previous owner replaced the battery with an H6 AGM Diehard Platinum from Advance Auto. Warranty does not transfer to the new owner.
The battery spec is 760CCA/70AH and my forum searches here tell me the Mercedes spec is 800CCA/80AH. I need a new H6 for my BMW so I'm going to upgrade my E350 to H8 and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, I needed a new battery in the BMW anyway. If it does help, I don't have a warranty on it anyway.
Here are my observations in early 2023:
Manufacturer consolidation has reduced the manufacturer pool primarily to Clarios, East Penn, and Exide who all label their batteries with numerous brands.
The quality variance among the many brands of the past has not gone away. It shows up in the varying price/warranty tiers across all the brands.
* These retailers will sell batteries from any manufacturer
** The H6, H7, and H8 batteries cost the same at each retailer
*** BatteriesPlus had the "Group" type sizes, not "H" sizes. Prices varied by size They have near-constant 10-20% off sales. Returns are a hassle in my experience.
Others:
Pep Boys doesn't appear to carry H6/H7/H8 AGM batteries anymore. That's a shame. I picked up a nice well-priced weird-size Bosch from them a few years ago for my Prius.
Exide AGM costs vary $196-300+ online with a 4yr exchange warranty - seems to be sold by local independent auto parts stores. My local reseller is M-F/8-5 that has hardly any internet presence.
Interstate batteries are $240-260 with a 3yr exchange warranty - seems to be sold by independents (and Costco) and could be from any manufacturer
Notes:
None of these batteries contain platinum You'll have to steal a catalytic converter if you need some.
I believe the first three are the exact same battery. Their web site pictures are pixel-identical except for the photoshopped stickers.
About "Subjective Return Hassle":
I believe that Walmart and Costco will simpliy exchange at the general merchandise counter no questions asked.
The other stores will test your old battery and might try to claim abuse/neglect.
BatteriesPlus made a tremendous effort in the past to claim abuse/neglect with one of my past returns. I'm guessing their franchised and they take a loss on warranty claims. This and their high prices negate their 4y warranty advantage.
I bought from Walmart with free shipping to my home - $70 cheaper (or $15 cheaper if you have a Costco membership), an additional year of warranty, and a simpler return.
Last edited by RWagz; Jan 15, 2023 at 05:41 PM.
Reason: added Costco/Interstate per kajtek1's recommendation
Don't you have Costco around?
I bought H8 from them last year and having Solar gizmo tester, check CA.
The 1000 CA battery delivered over 1500 CA.
Can't complain and the price was on Walmart level.
Don't you have Costco around?
I bought H8 from them last year and having Solar gizmo tester, check CA.
The 1000 CA battery delivered over 1500 CA.
Can't complain and the price was on Walmart level.
Thanks! I added Costco to the table.
I'm not a Costo member. Even if I got free membership their battery costs $15 more and their warranty is one year shorter. They do have great customer service when it comes to returns.
Thanks for doing this comparison.
I agree that WalMart is hassle-free when it comes to battery exchange/warranty. I've had good luck with Everstart in the past.
2016 E350 4Matic wagon, 2019 Ford Expedition, 2019 Chevy Bolt EV
my favorite battery maker is East Penn, who's house brands are Deka and Intimidator. They also make a lot of the better store brand batteries like Duracell. The Intimidator line are AGM, while the Deka line are usually flooded.
I'm not a Costo member. Even if I got free membership their battery costs $15 more and their warranty is one year shorter. They do have great customer service when it comes to returns.
Lot of things to compare.
But IMHO crucial point is battery performance. Would somebody measure Walmart battery CA, we would have serious comparison.
did you check out Rock Auto?
Still have core charges but you can return core to a local Oreillys or such and get $10 gift card.
That is what I did and chose AC Delco battery few weeks ago.
Was going to Wal-mart like you did but mine sold out the one battery it had and next nearest was just not worth the drive to Save $5 over Rock Auto,
Walmart drop shipped the battery to my home - which isn't helpful if you need it right away. It took a few days.
I buy from RockAuto all the time. I never thought of RockAuto because I assumed that shipping would be expensive and returns would be a hassle simply because there are no local stores.
I checked them out. Like everything they sell there are many options/variations.
Warranty:
Warranty durations varied. Most were three years.
DEKA Intimidator was 30-months. Exide had four years.
Price:
Prices vary based on battery size where the top three in my list had the same price for H6/H7/H8.
There is one battery that costs $170 but that has three issues - shorter three year warranty, it is only an H6 760CCA, and you add $16 for shipping.
The cheapest H8 is $200 (three year warranty.) The Exide H8 with a four-year warranty $212.
I'd say the return hassle is medium-to-high since there aren't any local stores.
Last edited by RWagz; Jan 17, 2023 at 10:33 AM.
Reason: forgot to quote
Perfection is the enemy of good enough. I got a larger battery at the lowest price with the longest warranty delivered to my door.
I'm not a serious autophile out to get the maximum battery performance possible, so feel free to disregard my comical comparison.
Let me rephrase my previous comment.
For me performance is indication of quality. If the battery delivers 50% more than listed CA, I hope it will also deliver 50% more, than its rated life (warranty). I know there is no direct correlation, but I still take battery with 1500 CA over the 1 delivering 1000. listed.
There is no other way to test battery for quality as far as I know. All new batteries will pass load test (unless having factory defect), so Solar tester is the only tool I can take with me to check battery before paying for it.
I understand your justification to avoid Exide. That same justification likely applies to all of them.
I know a engineer in the specialty battery business, he has told me several times, East Penn is the class act of all of them. All their car batteries come from their own 2 major plants, they privately owned and run by the same family that founded them 70 years ago, and they've always taken environmental and employee safety seriously. Exide is probably the worst repeat offender, Clarios fka Johnson Controls is somewhere in the middle.
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You'll have to steal a catalytic converter if you need some.
