Best battery for daily driver

[lynnmichelle]

Shall I revive this thread? My Optima yellow top is dying; bought it in November 2016 so at least got a decent run out of it. I haven't been driving the car much and I need a new battery because the dash is lighting up light christmas and the car is shuttering when turning on.

[soundman98]

the best battery for a daily driver is the same one subaru put in from the factory.

[RZNT4R]

Panasonic are astoundingly good batteries, you just can't get them in north america.

There are bad batteries, usually the house brand at the little local supplier is some cheap shit, but battery performance from any of the big makers should be relatively similar, battery life has more to do with its use once it's under the customer's hood.

[why?]

When my battery died I went with the most ridiculous overkill I could find because it came with a 5 year warranty.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...cca/sli35agmdp

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by why?

When my battery died I went with the most ridiculous overkill I could find because it came with a 5 year warranty.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...cca/sli35agmdp

That costs the same as 3 Subaru batteries though. My dealer charged under $110 with the core charge.

[Bello]

My local Toyota dealer had it for $130 with a 5 year warranty but the posts started getting battery acid/corrosion after about 8 months. Could have been my fault, over tightening the posts or something. Replaced once and is currently fine.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

That costs the same as 3 Subaru batteries though. My dealer charged under $110 with the core charge.

batteries plus also seems to suffer "the radioshack problem" as in they tend to sell stuff at an increased markup to maintain brick and mortar stores. ironically about the same size as radio shacks even.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by why?

When my battery died I went with the most ridiculous overkill I could find because it came with a 5 year warranty.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...cca/sli35agmdp

One thing to consider for anyone looking at that battery is it is massive at 46 lbs. When I took my OEM Panasonic out, it was 28 lbs, so that's throwing an 18 lbs. extra weight over the front. Could be a worthwhile tradeoff if you absolutely need the most robust battery... just depends on the application.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

One thing to consider for anyone looking at that battery is it is massive at 46 lbs. When I took my OEM Panasonic out, it was 28 lbs, so that's throwing an 18 lbs. extra weight over the front. Could be a worthwhile tradeoff if you absolutely need the most robust battery... just depends on the application.

optima's also weigh more. the recommended red top is 31.7 pounds, and the recommended yellow top is 36.4 pounds, all per optima's website.

[ls1ac]

Unusually inexpensive good warrantee, Walmart. (three year save your recipe)

[why?]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

One thing to consider for anyone looking at that battery is it is massive at 46 lbs. When I took my OEM Panasonic out, it was 28 lbs, so that's throwing an 18 lbs. extra weight over the front. Could be a worthwhile tradeoff if you absolutely need the most robust battery... just depends on the application.

That isn't a lot for piece of mind. I've removed most of my interior, but I'll add that weight because I drive my car every day and can't have a dead battery. These things are supposedly unkillable.

[DarkPira7e]

AAA batteries are great. (AAA the towing company)
You could also relocate the battery so it's inside the car if you're paranoid

[Overdrive]

I realize it's not always an option for everyone depending on where you live and having access to electrical power where you park your car, but if I know my car is going to sit for more than a week without being started, I will hook it up to a battery tender just to be safe, especially since I live in a region where winter is an actual thing. Any battery will last you that much longer if you're able to take care of it. Even an Optima has its limits, and they're not the same batteries they were 15 years ago that gave them the reputation they still have.

My factory Panasonic finally got replaced at around 3 years of ownership (the car was effectively 4 years old by build date). I think because it was the dealer's showroom car it sat with a flat battery for most of the year it was there (in hindsight I should have requested that they put a new battery in it when I bought it because they had to jump it in order for me to test drive it) and that took away a lot of lifespan in combination with living through 4 pretty cold winters with me. Had to jump it twice, though one instance was totally my fault. The other was from the car just sitting in the garage but in cooler weather and for long enough that the battery just drained. This past winter it got to where I didn't trust it to crank on too many more below freezing cold mornings. Replaced it about 6 months ago with a nothing-fancy Duralast from AutoZone and it has been flawless. Even let it sit for about two weeks (no ability to put it on a tender where I had to leave it) right after I replaced it, and when I came back to it it started up just as strong as it sitting overnight. Other than that situation I'll still be practicing my maintaining method if the car has to sit longer than a week.

[solidONE]

I'm about to build a battery out of SureFire 3600mah 18650 cells. I've built one using cells out of a dewalt 28v lithium battery that lasted me 3 years on my motorcycle before I overcharged and fried it on a rapid charger. Cost me $80 total with fancy connectors and oversized heat shrink. 3 years without using any sort of balance charging or protection. This one I'll be taking extra precautions especially not wanting to fry these expensive cells. CCA should be pretty decent.

I'm currently using an Interstate Green top, 5 years in and it still stronger than a new Panasonic OE battery. It's also about 25% bigger in every way than a standard battery. No fuss no muss tho.