Buying A Battery for the RAV4

[Dr. Dyno]

I go you guys one better. I only pay for one new battery. Buy them at Walmart with the three year free replacement. Exchange at 35 months.

[vanib]

Does walmart do an actual load test on the battery to test it?
What do they consider a failure?

[RTexasF]

Wasn't aware of that deal @Wallymart.

[RTexasF]

Originally Posted by JuneBug

You're such an optimist!!

Remember our creaking frames for the driver's seat that were replaced? Mine is creaking again.

[vanib]

Just switch the RAV with hers!
Like Canadian standup comic Russel Peters would say in Chinese accent,"Be a man!" ... but I bet that's not happening

http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7...fv=-qtrAMK7_Qk

[Dr. Dyno]

Originally Posted by vanib

Does walmart do an actual load test on the battery to test it?
What do they consider a failure?

My store in Westerly RI is all over the place on testing & replacing. I've had them make me wait to come back in a couple hours so they could charge and load test it. Then came back only to find that guy gone and have to do it again. Then the tester didn't work right so he said just replace it. So with patience I got my new one eventually.

The last time a few months ago I took two from my truck in, one just a little over a year old, but having been beat to death by what turned out to be a bad starter. No test, just had to go back & forth between Customer Service & Automotive a few times as directed.
Issue then was whether I had the receipts or not (which I did since I put them in a plastic bag on the battery for just such occasions.) Since one was bought in Idaho I said I didn't and they went by the date on the battery. Somehow that came out I'd have to pay RI tax since it was a return over 90 days, or whatever RI law says. I said it wasn't a "return" but a warranty exchange.
They said it didn't matter so I produced my "found" receipts. That came up more final cost to me - something to do with the Idaho deal (which was also a free replacement a friend had done for me).
Ended up going back to no receipts and paying the tax. But then I got the $5 return battery fee which didn't make sense to me either since it was warranty. Kind of a saga but I just let them do it their way and came out with $200+ worth of new batteries for about $2 or $3.

[ARK]

Battery sizes, build, boxes, plates, acid size, terminal size, lead compound, plastic compound, space for spent lead, space for acid electrolyte, cell covers, no cell covers, venting, no venting, gel acids, robustness of the shell...and costs to make the thing all govern the actual cost of the battery.

But one make , style may be promoted because of marketing, because of supply. For get demand because demand is built in.

Batteries come in 2 basic types: automotive and deep cell and some come in between.

Automotive: frequent charge and discharge to 20% of total where a 12 V battery is considered dead at 11V

Deep cell:constant draw down to 80%, larger heavier battery. Rule of thumb, if you can lift it, it's not a deep discharge.

Middle: Some makers make a battery that has characteristics of both types.

Decision for our cars.
To replace a battery: Size is critical it must fit the designated location. Based on no modifications.
Get the largest Amp/Hr rating that will fit
Get the biggest reserve
Get the best CCA
With all these things is it well built? Will it fit, is there a good warranty, will the terminations fit the cable, are there cell caps to each cell, are the cells big enough for a battery hydrometer. Are the terminations big enough, robust enough, are the bolts/nuts sizable and placed to easily be used?
NO SUCH THING AS MAINTENANCE FREE, that is a marketing ploy, like 10,000 mile oil changes.

Cheap Chinese made batteries are cheap in every way, the cheapness may not be apparent in the store if something else is not there to compare. But without a specification to allow comparison, price may be meaningless. And a cheaper price does not indicate a cheaper battery be sure to check the published specs. And if buying and you find the published specification to be a small blurb with no real facts, that product is a mass produced battery that may let you down.

My experiences with batteries are to buy a good quality one, look after it and get 7-10 years out of it. The same went for buying cars and get 15-20 years out of them.

But now I don't relish being under them, so the time interval may be 2-3 years and get a new one.

[JuneBug]

Originally Posted by RTexasF

Remember our creaking frames for the driver's seat that were replaced? Mine is creaking again.

My new seat frame has never creaked. Of course, now that I've jinxed it.....

[RTexasF]

My experiences with batteries are to buy a good quality one, look after it and get 7-10 years out of it.

That ain't gonna happen in South Texas pardner. Best I ever got was 37 months.....ONE month out of warranty with my 2004 Honda Accord. The car was on the alignment rack at the dealer and a hurricane was coming in the next day, no choice but to pay their exorbitant price. At least the one in the RAV crapped out in the garage at home.

[Blogson]

The November 2011 issue of Consumer Reports magazine has the results of their extensive testing of a number of automotive batteries. We've had our best experiences with Panasonic maintenance-free batteries in our Hondas, which we never touched and were still working fine when we traded the vehicles. One was nine years old. The worst - Delcos, one failed after two years (case cracked and leaked acid electrolyte, making a mess), the other after three (wouldn't hold a charge).