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Old 04-22-2018, 07:50 PM
 
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,296 posts, read 8,459,563 times
Reputation: 16558

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heidi60 View Post
I find the thought of buying a Walmart battery concerning.

We use Interstate batteries and have had very little trouble. About 2 1/2 years ago we had our mechanic install one but it failed just two days before it reached the full replacement two year mark. Our mechanic installed a new battery with no problem, or charges, as Interstate stood behind their product. It was well worth the few extra dollars.
I can't remember where but I saw some kind of consumer report where the Walmart battery ranked quite higher, even past the Interstate. It was their premium one though, not the $49 el cheapo the op got.
I have them in my f-150 and lexus. Also my Dodge Viper. No complaints.
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Old 04-22-2018, 07:51 PM
 
Location: North West Arkansas (zone 6b)
2,776 posts, read 3,218,471 times
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I seem to recall someone telling me that Interstate makes the sams club batteries and Johnson controls makes the walmart batteries. That may not be right, but it's what I recall.
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Old 04-22-2018, 08:15 PM
 
17,405 posts, read 14,964,685 times
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I'll say.. remember, I'm doing someone a favor buying them this battery. It's not going to be my problem. I figure the vehicle it's going in, the battery STILL might outlive it. So, there was no way I was buying a $120 battery to put in it.

My vehicle? It's getting a green top Interstate most likely.
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Old 04-23-2018, 04:45 AM
 
628 posts, read 824,671 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gunslinger256 View Post
I seem to recall someone telling me that Interstate makes the sams club batteries and Johnson controls makes the walmart batteries. That may not be right, but it's what I recall.
Johnson Controls makes all batteries for all Walmart companies including Sams Club and of course Walmart and all of the foreign names of Walmart and Sams Club
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Old 04-23-2018, 06:32 AM
 
Location: Metro Detroit Michigan
6,977 posts, read 5,318,861 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Qwh View Post
Johnson Controls makes all batteries for all Walmart companies including Sams Club and of course Walmart and all of the foreign names of Walmart and Sams Club
And they make them for lots of other retailers including interstate, they also make other automotive systems for us cars and light trucks at one time they were the major supplier for seats for the Ford Expidition and the Lincoln Navigator, they had a big plant in Plymouth Michigan witch Bosch bought in the early 90’s. Johnson Controls is a big international company.
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Old 04-23-2018, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,639 posts, read 12,276,107 times
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I got an interstate brand from Costco for my wife's car. It was under $70 I believe.

If I lived in Alaska or something I'd spring for something that's top of the line.

Otherwise, they seem to last so long anyways nowadays I don't think I'd be overly concerned.
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Old 04-23-2018, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Midwest
9,238 posts, read 10,998,512 times
Reputation: 17518
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAHntr View Post
I had an Walmart Everstart last about 6 months short of the warranty (something like 5 or 6 years). They pro-rated the battery, refunded my core and the replacement battery was on sale. They were done changing the battery before I finished shopping. I've put them in a few vehicles and they're good batteries. If you do a search, Everstart batteries are made by Johnson Controls, who also make AC Delco and Diehard as well as other battery brands.
I had my wife's car in a local Mazda dealership for something. Oil and filter I guess. I had coupons.

They checked the battery, said it was "some no name brand I never heard of" and suggested a replacement. LOL

You've been wrenching five or 10 years and you can't ID a Walrus World battery? Time for more inservice training!
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Old 04-23-2018, 04:57 PM
 
9,891 posts, read 11,687,773 times
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What a lot of people do not understand, the Walmart battery, will be the same as a lot of other names on the battery other than Walmart. The only difference will be the name on the battery.

The difference will not be in quality, but other sellers may have to pay for advertising to attract customers. They buy in lesser quantity, so they pay a higher price, and then have to charge more.

In business there is an old joke. A wholesale salesman named Mike came into a store, and showed his product. He said it will cost you $5 each if you buy 10. If you buy 25 they cost you $4.25. If you buy 100 they cost you $3.75 each. Henry the store owner told him "Lets cut to the chase. How many do I have to buy to get them free."

I spent a lot of years in the Furniture Business. One year we bought a major brand of Recliner Chair. In a slow period, they made us an offer. The chair that sold normally for $249 per chair (a lot of years ago), cost us $130 including shipping in dozen lots. It we would buy a full rail road car of chairs, with better quality fabric of their choice (fabric they did not have enough of to keep in their books for us to chose from) but top quality in type, color and quality), they would sell us the chairs for $44 and we sold them for $88 each. They did it so they could keep workers working in a seasonally slow time and not have to give them a temporary lay off, and use up odd lots of fabric. We bought them, put them in the warehouse till Christmas season, and sold out in 2 weeks. In the furniture business, Christmas is a slow period for furniture sales, but that year it was gang busters. The other furniture stores in town, might as well have closed for Christmas season.

Walmart gets a decent quality battery, that they can sell for $49, due to the sheer quality they buy from the maker. A lot of products they sell, such as food products with their own name, is the same as the makers put in their own boxes. They can sell it to Walmart cheaper because they can do away with costs such as advertising which can cost as much as 1/3rd of the retail price, and lots of other costs. Same product, just different packaging, and Walmart sells it less than other sellers.
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Old 04-23-2018, 05:37 PM
 
Location: Metro Detroit Michigan
6,977 posts, read 5,318,861 times
Reputation: 6431
[quote=gunslinger256;51691731]I seem to recall someone telling me that Interstate makes the sams club batteries and Johnson controls makes the walmart batteries. That may not be right, but it's what I recall.[/QUOTE

Interstate Battery System of America, Inc., a.k.a. Interstate Batteries, is a privately owned company that markets automotive batteries manufactured by Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls and others through independent distributors.
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Old 04-23-2018, 09:03 PM
 
13,075 posts, read 20,749,280 times
Reputation: 21255
Lets get one thing straight, who manufactures a battery is no indication of the quality of that battery. Manufactures make garbage and quality items if their clients wants one or the other. Walmart is no different. They have cheap batteries and they have good batteries. Their batteries could be the exact same battery as whats at some other national automotive retail chain. The idea that a particular "manufacture" is better just proves how well american marketing works over reality. There are also mass confusion over what is a "manufacture" versus a "brander" versus a "distributors".

As it pertains to Walmart, Look at their 4 standards. You have the Value, Plus, Max, and Platinum. If you read the specifications of each battery, (or even dissect it) often the exact same battery may be used up or down one level. So the Value and Plus may be the exacts same battery just with a different label (and price) on it. Or the Value may be some cheap thing, but the plus is a Max with a different label. In all cases, the specs will be a hint.

If you find the same specs and want to know if it's an up or down battery, just look at the price spread. If a higher quality battery is being used, there price spread will be a lower percentage, This is so that you will be more likely to spend more to buy the longer warranty battery because its not that much different. But if a lower quality battery is being used, the spread percentage would be greater. This is done to provide a financial cushion for the greater potential warranty replacements. Not rocket science and should be widely known by now.
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