interstate batteries

how good are they,and what would you recommand? opinions ,or experience.

I've had a few, car batteries, boat/rv batteries. They have ALL been great.

What are you planning to put the battery in? For what purpose? 4x4 electric winch battery? Race car starting battery? RV? Street family car/truck?

Longest lasting battery I ever had was an Interstate, lasted over 7 years. But that ended in 1994, who knows today.

My last one, that is still in the older boat, lasted 7 1/2 years. The only reason it's going bad is because I didn't use the older boat for 8 months, and I had the batteries on the trickle charger/maintainer charger, but I didn't check the battery water and it got too low, ruining the battery. It still works, it's just down on volts so the electric motor doesn't work as powerful or as long. Been that way all summer now. I'll get a new one come spring.

No input for Interstate but I think it's hit or miss no matter the brand.

I had a Walmart battery last 14 years, 2001-20015. Another went 11 years. Both were extremes, usually I get 4-8 out the Wally batteries.

Great batteries! I used to buy blemished ones cheap in Dallas years ago, but no more.

Just replaced mine this year; it was 9 years old. For 7 years, the car was used sparingly on nice weather days. In the Winter months, I'd place it on a trickle charger a few times until it was fully charged and then remove the charger.

The last few years, I drove the car most of the Summer. Each Spring the past few years, I thought I'd have to replace it as it was getting weak but, once I started driving the car regularly, it was fine until it wasn't about 3 months ago.

I don't think it really matters much anymore. All of the good stuff has started to be removed from batteries due to EPA regs. I think you'd be lucky to get 7-8 years out of any of them.

I also had to replace my Batteries Plus Worker battery in my Road Runner this year; it was 14-15 years old.

1962 savoy max wedge

All the good stuff has started to be removed from batteries? Prove it. What "good stuff"?

This sounds like just another scare-mongering attempt at getting folks riled up.
Does it make you proud to post fake news?

Lead-acid batteries have been around for more than 150 years and the basic chemistry has not changed. Some alloying elements are added to the lead to make the plates stronger, but this has been going on for 50+ years. The AGM battery is the latest type but this is more of a change to the structure of the battery with the electrolyte absorbed in fiberglass mats between the plates. These are the batteries to which you cannot add water.
The EPA keeps a very close eye on lead acid batteries because lead is proven harmful to human beings in relatively small doses. Of course, lead is harmful in larger doses administered in the form of bullets! The goal seems to be 100% recycling of the lead in car batteries, not removal of any "good stuff" from those batteries.

If the EPA had more clout they would probably outlaw lead acid car batteries and force conversion to Lithium-ion batteries. BUT, they have not done that, and I don't think they will in the near future.

The California Condor is making a comeback in the wilds of Northern Arizona, but because they eat dead animals and people still shoot animals with lead projectiles, the condors have problems with lead poisoning. If you are close or are coming through the area, stop by the Lees Ferry area of Northern Arizona and see the condors that have been settled on the Vermilion Cliffs. They are truly impressive creatures.

The best advice on battery value AFAIK is:
1. Read the latest Automotive issue of Consumer Reports to see which company has been making poor quality batteries lately.
2. Buy the absolutely freshest battery you can. They all have date stickers on them and the shorter a time they sit on the shelf the longer they'll last.

R.

I like Interstate as they have a good warranty and there are Interstate dealers EVERYWHERE.

Interstate in every ride I have. Can't say I've had any crazy long life spans out of them, but mine have all lasted at least as long as they claim to. There is an actual interstate store where I live and I've always had good service at their shop.

I have bought many of the Interstate blems over years and never had any problem with them.

I've had a Deka battery in my Savoy for about 6 years now and it starts every time at 95* and 25*.
I pulled it out of a Ford F250 during cash for clunkers
I think I may replace it with another one this year. I have always had good luck with Interstate batteries though.
My daily drivers get Toyota batteries because well I work at the dealership and get a good deal.
Gus

I just exchanged the interstate battery in a jeep that saw light use every year...Battery lasted 9 years...Needless to say I bought another to replace it...We were just discussing this today and the average for the interstate batteries at the local distributor is 7yrs..Longest life seen from one there was 14yrs...Not bad heck even if you get the average from it you still got a great deal for the price..

Have two NAPA Legend group 27,both over 8 yrs old,removed the top caps and replaced with Mopar caps,most would not know they're not Mopar.

you should live in he77 like I do... you buy the cheapest battery you can in the land of two year battery life.

Ain't that the truth. If you get 3 years out of battery here you did good.

I have had great luck with the batteries I have purchased from our local Interstate dealer.

Bill

We sold them plus Dekas.then we went with Advanced batterys at the shop.They all worked good.Had very few problems.Ran all 3 in all the cars.In the atv I have a cheap AZ battery bought it in like 05.Still works great in that.Had an Advanced battery in my Allis tractor that was at lest 14 years old.Would sit for months and still start it.I run the highest CCA battery that will fit.My 65 now has a 1200 CCA battery in it.Rocky

Interstate, Johnson Controls, and East Penn manufactures some of the Batteries sold under the Advanced/Car Quest label

http://www.carquestprofessionals.com/batteries/Battery-Spec-Sheet.pdf

Lead Acid auto Batteries are now so light that it is impairing their service life, in my opinion.

There are much better chargers and diagnostic meters for evaluating batteries.

https://www.pulsetech.net/xc100-p-xtreme-charge-12v-battery-maintenance-charger-desulfator.html/

https://www.amazon.com/Associated-Equipm...uct_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/East-Penn-Tempera...ctrolyte+tester

To the bests of my knowledge Interstate does not manufacture any batteries. They are all built to their specs by others, mostly Johnson Controls.

Just because a company manufactures a battery, tire or whatever is no assurance that it is the same quality. Could be better, could be worse.

Bill

As said above, I`m pretty sure Interstate doesn`t manufacture any batteries. The longest lasting batteries for me have been OEM ones that came in the car. Any replacements never seem to last as long.

I agree. I wonder if they don't make them a little better to keep from having damage to the electronics from low voltage during the warranty.

Nonsense. The battery voltage is determined by the chemical composition of the battery components.

Weight? Prove it. This is just another irresponsible version of "the sky is falling!" This is old fogyism at its best.
"The world is going to Hell in a handbasket!"
This has been spoken as long as there have been new generations coming along.

I've been buying batteries for 45 years. The weight of a top line 27F has stayed pretty constant over the years. As battery construction becomes more advanced, auto manufacturers have been specifying smaller batteries to save weight which will improve the fuel economy.

STILL, battery manufacturers have to manufacture product that meets the automakers' specifications.
Battery manufacturers have to produce a good product or word of mouth will kill them.
Auto shops don't want bad batteries that come back to the shop
There are other magazines than Consumers' Reports who periodically test batteries.
As much as you'd like to not believe it, there are Truth in Advertising laws.
There are greedy lawyer groups trolling for new Class Action Suits.

Way back in the day, say 1975, one could expect 5 years of life from a battery. Exceptional ones would last seven. That is still true today. Battery life is on a bell shaped curve. Some of the long life stories from here obviously represent cases on the outer limits of the bell shaped curve.

Generally any "non open" lead acid battery, you can pop the caps off . . . always, always, make sure the electrolyte level is to bottom of the top hole. I have always done this and used distilled water for top up . . . AND . . . keep the battery charged (maintainer/tender) . . . or charge it manually and remove the charger . . . I have original OE batteries in my 02 cummins, in my 04 Xfire, and my 06 Magnum . . . all check out great ! . . . it is the heat and lack of electrolyte that will kill a battery, along with the low charge state . . .

Battery voltage is determined by the number of cells.

Voltage per cell depends on
amount of either Antimony or Calcium in the lead alloy,
and also the specific gravity of the electrolyte (long life stationary batteries generally lower sg) and today either
traditional wet or
Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM)

Voltage per cell at full charge is actually rather tricky to determine

I had to replace the original battery in our 04 PT Cruiser last year. I had to replace the battery in the coupe in 2016, because one of the cells got a hole melted into the bottom of it, it was 4 years old. I have no idea what battery is in my 93 Dakota, we put together 3 new to us rides in the past couple of years, and the mostly winter use Dakota battery was an easy target to hijack.

My luck with interstate batteries has not been so good, I won't be buying a new battery from them.

I get my batteries from our local Farm & Fleet store, and its their store brand battery line. I usually buy the 5 year batteries, and often end up on the extreme side of the bell curve. I'll be buying a new Farm & Fleet 5 year battery for the new hot rod next spring. Gene

original battery in the 2002 1500 I finally replaced in 2014, by the date sticker on it that battery was almost 13 years old, during the first cold period in fall of 2014 it cranked over slower... it was replaced the next day. No idea who made it for chrysler, no replacement batteries have ever lasted like the OEM. I added water to that battery twice over the years.

the OEM battery deal has been a mystery. I've noted at work in the past that the batteries that new Chryslers were born with often lasted much longer than the "Mopar" replacement batteries. For years these have been Interstate, but our parts manager just told me last week they had lost the contract. Exide had it before them.

factory and service parts often have different suppliers or different specifications.

My Son is sold on interstate batteries. I always get a marine battery with at least 800 cold cranking amps. The marine batteries always last me a long time. Plus the extra nutted connectors come in handy on top posts.

OEM batteries are made better and will typically last around 6-7 years from what I have seen.
Batteries are made different than they used to be. Instead of having a solid lead sheet they have really thin lead foil that wraps around a paper insulator many times around. The problem is these are much more likely to flake and the deposits create a short in the bottom of the battery.
My battery of choice is Deka. I have never had one that lasted less than 5 years, and I have had many of them. You can keep those wal mart batteries. Only last a couple years tops.

I don't even know where to start, so I won't.

JC Penney battery and a Schlitz

I had a battery that was ten years old and still going strong up until I replaced it late last summer. They usually fail when the weather changes and I'd rather replace it before it dies cuz you know it's not going to quit in a convenient location.

I also know of another battery that was close to 10 years old that was replaced before the car was used on a long road trip. Figured it was old enough, and they more than got their money's worth out of it.

I have an Interstate battery in use right now and so far it's fine.

So the actual manufacturers of auto batteries with USA plants are
Johnson Controls, Exide, East Penn and Decca?

Trojan concentrates on industrial batteries only?

Yuasa concentrates on SLA batteries only?

I switched to Optima gel cell batteries after 2 incidences that destroyed paint. I have had great luck with them, my truck however just sits and I've warrantied it's Optima battery 2x's in the last 2 years. Then within a week of the truck I had to buy a new optima for the Cuda, that one was about 10 years old, and so was the one it once it replaced many years ago.

Napa's policy is the 3 year warranty starts over upon replacement. I though that was an optima thing and got the cuda's battery at an Autozone. Apparently they don't have the same policy?



Both of my kids 2013 Darts batteries were warrantied at just about 3 years