It’s for my 2004 Toyota Prius. My go to is to get AGM Interstate at Costco, at a fair price, $~175. It is a brand and store I have trusted for the last several decades.
With that said, they are 4-6 weeks out for my battery. While I can get Interstate for $~250+ at the local Interstate distributor, OEM for $~250 to $~300 at the dealer. I’d rather not pay extra unless there really isn’t an alternative.
Are there any other quality alternatives at the $175 range? The only one I found is EverStart at Walmart, but I’m not too sure of the quality of their AGM batteries.
(As an aside. It’s hard to keep track of who makes what. At one point in time, I believe Johnson Controls supplied both Costco/Interstate and Walmart. But there have been so many mergers and supplier switches of battery makers, I don’t have a firm grasp of who makes what anymore.)
Are there any other quality alternatives at the $175 range?
Never personally owned an AGM Battery. The same companies that build lead acid batteries, build AGM batteries.
Here's a CR article from Jan last year. They say these companies are: "Johnson Controls, which supplies more than half of the market; Stryten; and East Penn".
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-batteries/buying-guide/
My 'buying preference' is Walmart's EverStart, Lead acid or AGM. Heck, all the labels are just monikers.
@Kaizen after checking several sources, in-stock S46b24r batteries do cost $250 or more. Wow, I see why you posted. That's nuts.
Totally! It used to be so simple to find quality parts at a decent price. It seems pandemic onward to post pandemic, everything is harder to find at a decent price. Things are available if one is just willing to pay the premium.
My 'buying preference' is Walmart's EverStart, Lead acid or AGM.
Thanks for the suggestion. I am curious if you know what country your EverStart batteries were made. I just checked the EverStart for my car, and it was Made in Korea! That’s a new one for me.
I am not necessarily against it Made in Korea, just not familiar with it.
This is an interesting thread and list several suppliers. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/who-makes-everstart-platinum-agm-batteries.363492/post-6353625 The $179 AGM is apparently made by Clarios as this is the warranty info: https://clariosdigitallibrary.widen.net/s/mhtl8q6cj7/everstart_battery_warranty I noticed they significantly reduced the warranty on Maxx and AGM batteries in 2020 as the link was taken from Walmart's site
That is very interesting info. It is kinda concerning how the warranty period from Clarios/EverStart has dropped. Like they know their batteries won’t last long.
I also found this comment interesting: “
Clarios/JCI for the most part, I've heard some people on the east coast can get East Penn made ones.“
It could be different suppliers for the EverStart brand depending on region.
Thank you for sharing these links.