Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Costco Interstate car batteries, any good?

I'm going to bust a few bubbles with this, but a recent experience on my wife's car.... she called me from work when it was time to come home and " My car won't start!".

So I threw some tools in the car and jumper cables... go over to the Hospital and her battery has a large cracked spot on the corner, and it is leaking. its shot.

Back home, pull a battery out of one of my other cars and bring it back over, and put that in her Camry.... starts right up.

I head over to Costco with her battery. They look at it and tell me its gone and they will replace it.... BUT...

The replacement battery, won't have the new 36 month warranty any more.... they will only honor the balance of the warranty that was left on the battery that went bad, 8 months, and the warranty is over.... the other option is to just pay for a new battery and get the 36 month warranty, AND they will not credit the 8 months remaining on the old battery.

And then I think back to when I started using their batteries.... they had a 6 year warranty, and the first 36 months was no charge, the last 36 months was credited on the remain months left on its 72 month warranty. Their tire warranty use to be the same thing... and then they started lowering the warranty, and it got lower every time I had to replace a tire off of a new set, and the prices kept going up tho. I no longer run Costco tires....

My jury is still out on if I'll buy any new Costco batteries.... now you can match their warranty at a number of places....

it was great for the 20 plus years that it lasted.. but that ship has now sailed....

These new batteries, aren't lasting as long either as the ones that had the Costco name on them....even if they were made by Interstate for Private Label...

just passing that recent experience along.....

Interstate batteries suck donkey balls. I'll never buy one with my own money. The best we get out of them is maybe two years.

Stop being cheap bastids and buy a good battery if you want reliability.

I'm not afraid of them

There's no such thing as a good battery anymore...

Had one fading in my Tacoma last month. Tested it at O’Reilly and it was bad. Their 3yr battery, but it made it 5 years.

Toyota batteries are made by Interstate with a Toyota label.
I usually buy mine from the Toyota dealership.

My daughter got screwed over at O'Reillys Auto Parts they sold her a battery that doesn't come close to fitting the battery compartment looks like it should be in a riding lawn mower....I saw it and went up there and pitched a bitch to no avail.

Screw O'Reilly auto parts.

Cosco is not the only place with the new screw you warranty. I guess that's not really fair to say about Costco if the warranty was different we'd be getting free batteries for life.


Harbor Freight the junk tool store takes it one step farther. I bought a cheap electric cut off tool...girl asked if I wanted the extended warranty...told me the price I bought it figuring the cheap Chinese chit wouldnt last.

Short time later it broke....I took it in and they gave me a new one....I was informed that my warranty had now expired and that I could buy another warrenty

I didn't buy the extended warranty on the second one and it running strong after 4 or 5 years.

some of you guys can complain all you want about costco...you arent going to beat their tire prices or battery prices and they have the same if not better warranty as anybody else selling the same products

#16747142 New5 hours ago
Offline
smarquez
Campfire Guide

Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 4,942
Rancho Altacucawanda, CA
Originally Posted by cisco1

Costco tires are "price point" tires.............Batteries probably are too.


Even the high end Michelin tires?

Yes smarquez, even the high end Michelin. I knew about price point items forever, however , years ago,I made the mistake of buying Michelin tires for 2 Duramax company trucks . Very good saleslady assuired me same as dealer tires . Replaced them on both trucks at 50K miles . Worn out .

My wife's 2016 4runner has the original battery. It's labeled Panasonic. I did not contact the dealer to see what they have.

I payed like 200 bucks for a Diehard Gold for my 2002 4runner and really thinking about running over to Costco. Same 3 year replacement warranty for almost 100 bucks less.

The Interstate AGM battety is around 50 bucks less than the Diehard Gold.

It is a crap shoot with price point batteries. Some will have to honor the warranty.

Ain't that fun on a late night in the winter ? Carry a jump pack.

I like Costco . Things like Prime Steak, the best bird seed. Buy 10 bags at a time. The flowers and the gas.

I have 2 6v golf cart batteries on our camp trailer. The yellow top Interstates sold at Costco aren't the same as the green top Interstate brand. They're nowhere near as powerful.

I have had good luck with Costco batteries, regular FLA.

If you go AGM, make sure your vehicles charging voltage is compatible, or I would expect short battery life. AGMs may need higher charging voltage to fully charge.

Ended up buying 2 Costco Interstate batteries (not AGM) and saved about 190 bucks compared to auto parts store prices.

Thanks all.

Napa sells a good battery.

What are the complete specs on your old battery?


What are the complete specs on the replacement new battery?

Specs do not matter .....the cheapest price does . I have some relatives like that ...they always need a jump .

Last interstate battery($154) I purchased for my 2004 Ford F-150 lasted a whopping 2 years never again for me.

This NAPA GOLD or Deka batteries.