Well guess what.. Walmart battery…

so I posted in the Farm and Fleet battery post, and I said, that every day I went out and crossed my fingers.. well today.. I needed prayer to GOD.. one plus year old and PUKE…

I got caught in this “low price ” trap three years ago, when we were desperately broke.. and so instead of buying a Die Hard , like I have for the past 40 years, I bought this.. and its been nothing but problems..

take my advice.. don’t do it.. bite the bullet. borrow the money.. do what ever. but don’t scrimp on your battery.. because even with the deal that they will give me a new battery.. you don’t want to be caught some where else.. YOU just don’t want it..

three years, three different batteries.. Sorry.. but I am going to pay for what I need.. the battery that glows in the dark from under the hood even on the coldest nights.
a DIE HARD Platinum… I learned again, the hard way..

in this instance, you get what you pay for.

If you want the best… then you need an Interstate…. More technicians recommend Interstate than any other battery… and I am not a technician

I’m no technician either however I would recommend an Interstate or an Optimum

Same vehicle? Three batteries in three years – I’m guesssing you have a voltage drain somewhere that is drawing down the battery. I’ve used FF and Walmart batteries many times and never had an issue. There are only 3 or 4 battery manufacturers – wonder who Sears used this year to rebrand their Diehard batteries?

Just a thought.

Pete

I would have to agree on the interstate battery but I just replaced a walmart battery and the receipt date on it was 01-30-04 so I cant complain for $65.

If he has a draw…. it would be dead alot more than 3 times in 3 years…. Walmart demands a cheaper, self branded battery for X amount of dollars from their supplier…. that is what they are getting, no matter who it happens to be…. there are ALOT of battery manufacturers, not just 3…

big G

I agree, there are good, better and best grades of batteries. And no, I’ve not bought WalMart low end batteries – comparable to most of Fleet Farm batteries, which I have used many times with no issues.

Yeah, there are tons of battery manufacturers globally – the 12V 7AH rechargeables in your Vexilar/Marcum all come from China.

Last I heard, Johnson Controls manufactured Interstate and their rebranded batteries. A lot of consortiums and alliances that pool recycling, smelting and manufacturing requirements.

Wonder if someone can tell me what county of origin is stamped on an Interstate battery…I’m curious what their supply chain looks like.

Go Vikes…..

No idea they stamped batteries with county of origin ??? BTW, DieHard (which most people assoc. with SEARS) is made by Interstate… a Dallas TX company If you have to have a SEARS battery, get the GOLD

big G

Here is some interesting reading that will confuse you.http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm#D

try this

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm

I agree, Die Hard has not failed me. I do not shop Wally world

I just bought a Wallmart battery for my daughters Jeep. It is also made by Johnson Controls

For what its worth my daughter bought a Wallmart battery 2 years ago and just changed it. The new battery she bought was from Autozone and it also came with a guarante like the Wallmart battery did. I asked the guy behind the counter about thier batteries and he said they’ve had very few returns in the last two years. He told me he heard that the Wallmart batteries were haveing problems with dead cells. I know he works for Autozone and he might be pushing thier batteries but my daughter had to have one right then and with the Wallmart battery going weak in two years I told her to try the Autozone battery out. I have bought many parts from this guy and I asked if his information was straight and he said thats what he heard. I have been buying Wallmart batteries for 10 years and never had a problem until now with the battery in my daughters Yukon. She might have just gotten a bad battery, one out of 10,000 but I told her to buy the Autozone and try that out. Its a what if I guess. I do know Interstate batteries are good.

i’ve been using the EverStart batteries in all of my vehicles, and boats for years now, and have never had one fail… ( on wood) i’ve got one in my duckboat that was in there when i bought it 7 years ago, and it still will hold an 80% charge over the offseason with no maintenance charging.

until i start to notice a difference with performance, or life of the product, i’ll save the few bucks everytime and buy the cheaper battery.

and for the people that are having numerous dead batteries, either your equipment is drawing on the battery too much and killing it, or you need to go and buy a lottery ticket, as you are just getting a lemon in whatever you buy.

I just replaced my minivan Mopar battery (reputedly a rebranded Interstate ) for the second time in 6 years. Both batteries were 84 mo batteries but the first fell under the car warranty so it was replaced with a Mopar N/C. The second would have cost me $130 under the battery warranty since I had to pay the dealer $70 to test it and $60 for the prorated replacement battery. I though about the $78 Walmart battery and got a call from my sister-in-law who had Walmart refuse to replace her <2 year-old battery under warranty because the manufacturer wouldn’t stand behind the product() I went right out and bought the Interstate battery and I know it’ll be covered by them without the hassle of additional testing/costs. No worries!

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I just bought a Wallmart battery for my daughters Jeep. It is also made by Johnson Controls

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Your missing the point… Walmart dictates the cost of their batteries, from whatever supplier they buy the battery from,(including Johnson Controls) they just have their name put on it. What you won’t see, is Johnson Controls putting INTERSTATE on a battery built for Walmarts great deal pricing…

big G

the bottom line is that you are getting what you paid for.. I was totally broke.. , I tried to cut a corner.. its cost me.. why do you never see a price code for a walmart product outside of walmart? because its sold at the walmart price point and only so much product can go into that price..

trust me, you won’t buy the same Sony TV at Best buy that’s sold at Walmart.. no way, no how.. its a special number and its a special product for wal mart only..

Big G – absolutely correct.

Pete

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trust me, you won’t buy the same Sony TV at Best buy that’s sold at Walmart.. no way, no how.. its a special number and its a special product for wal mart only..

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that is not always true. i just picked up a vizio 32″ LCD tv at sams club this winter, and the same exact model number on the box, and product was available at wal-mart and best buy, and numerous other places online.

there is no way they are putting different materials into the same model number of a product, depending on what retailer it is going to. the additional overhead on that would be a nightmare for the manufacturer, and would probably soak up any saved dollars by using cheaper equipment.

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there is no way they are putting different materials into the same model number of a product, depending on what retailer it is going to. the additional overhead on that would be a nightmare for the manufacturer, and would probably soak up any saved dollars by using cheaper equipment.

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Not at all…
My uncle was an engineer for Motorola for nearly 40 years…they made several production changes on the same model #, depending who contracted the items, how many, how much…
Its easy because they “run” that model all at once…if Walmart orders 10,000 units with some price cutting features incorporated, they will run all those and ship then out. They don’t have to change the components on the assy line until the run is complete. There will be an SKU label code somewhere that does identify that specific model though.
The dollar % of return items at Walmart is insignificant to their trillion dollar business. They do not worry one bit about that.

ehh batterys a battery. ive always had the “cheap” wal mart batteries and replaced them when the car didnt start, bout a year after battery should have been replaced. and up until recently had high wattage car stereos pulling off the battery as well. the only way im spending more than 50 bones on a battery is if it is an optima and that is only needed for a trolling motor or such as if your alternator is working correctly on your vehicle the battery should be just fine.

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the bottom line is that you are getting what you paid for.. I was totally broke.. , I tried to cut a corner.. its cost me.. why do you never see a price code for a walmart product outside of walmart? because its sold at the walmart price point and only so much product can go into that price..

trust me, you won’t buy the same Sony TV at Best buy that’s sold at Walmart.. no way, no how.. its a special number and its a special product for wal mart only..

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Well I for one have had good luck, in my case I had to buy three batteries for my boat, and yeah, well it cost me what one optima would’ve cost.

On the whole BB vs. Walmart and model numbers just about EVERY store does this, check the specs, rarely do they differ if any from the similar products elsewhere, rarely do they make special models for certain places, but they may change a modle number for them.

I still have to say over the years I’ve been screwed more by target and than any other store, then again sometimes it goes both ways.

I always check dates on batteries too, I want one that’s barely been on the shelf.

I buy nothing BUT Walmart batteries… never an issue. Snowmobiles, trolling batteries, batteries for cars and trucks. I guess I’m lucky.

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I buy nothing BUT Walmart batteries… never an issue. Snowmobiles, trolling batteries, batteries for cars and trucks. I guess I’m lucky.

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Same here….

-J.

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I buy nothing BUT Walmart batteries… never an issue. Snowmobiles, trolling batteries, batteries for cars and trucks. I guess I’m lucky.

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Here, too, except they didn’t carry one to fit in my truck–terminals are in the opposite position of a normal battery.

Never had an issue with the Wal Mart EverStart batteries. The neighbor even was reimbursed 40 bucks for a battery that was 2 years old. The issue with his battery was caused by an electrical drain that went un noticed and the battery froze in the first deep freeze of the year. Sure wasn’t the batteries fault.

I work at a walmart grocery distribution center so I of course buy them and get 10% off. I have a deep cycle and one for my truck and no problems to date.