OEM Toyota Battery is a no brainer!

The only batteries I have had bad experiences with are the Advanced Auto Parts branded batteries. I completely gave up on them after the fourth one failed on me, and none lasted more than halfway through the warranty period. Since then, all I have bought is Interstate, with no problems at all.

 

It's been well documented that many here have had terrible luck with "Toyota" batteries. I wouldn't buy another. My last purchase was an Interstate battery. We'll see how long it lasts.

 

East Penn, JC, and Exide make up the big 3 battery manufacturers. Yota TruStarts are not the same as the crappy ass batteries put in at build time.

 

Mine crapped out on a road trip. 2 years used. The dealer was open for 20 or so minutes more, but didn't have the techs to replace it. I had to come out of pocket for a new one or stay the night in the truck, in a gas station parking lot.

 

East Penn! That's one of the ones I forgot.

I work in fleet maintenance for a company with about 1,200 vehicles. We go through batteries like crazy.

 

Have you investigated a battery maintenance program, something as simple as applying a topping charge monthly?

My research indicates the prime vector of capacity loss is due to sulfation. Constant under charge is the culprit.

 

I usually replace mine every 3 years since I live in one of the hottest towns in America. But the OEM battery is going strong for over 3 years now. Still testing good at service appts

 

I still have old Trak Auto battery in my RAV4. Those things lasted forever

 

Trak Auto has been gone for more that 20 years. How can that be? I bought a Delco from them and it lasted about 10 years but that was about it.

 

I worked for a large Interstate Batteries distributor in a major metro area back in the 90's. Interstate is a brand under Johnson Controls. JC sells direct to Walmart, club stores and several auto parts chains, they have for a long time. While I worked there is when they started supplying dealerships with OEM labeled replacements. They are manufactured the exact same as interstate batteries; the Interstate Batteries came into the warehouse in a white case with a green top and already tagged, the dealership batteries came in all black cases and we actually put the manufacturer decals on as we prepped to deliver them. Even back then we were delivering to Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, etc. They may service even more large brands now and they all got batteries from the same stock. To my knowledge the OEM batteries are the exact same as the Interstate batteries just a different color case.
There are only a few battery manufacturers in the U.S. because of the regulations on the recycling process to dispose of the sulfuric acid and to break down the old battery cores to reuse the lead for the new battery plates. The variance in the reliability often time comes from the manufacturing process and how well the lead plates are placed in each cell, a few other things such as environment and handling can effect its longevity as well. The caps on the top of the batteries are a giveaway as to what manufacturer made the battery. The warranty differences comes from the chains getting a good price and just wanting to get more business. i.e. Toyota throws out the 84 month warranty and relies on their service department to sell you a lot of other services over the life of the battery. I worked in direct delivery for many years and batteries are definitely the hardest physical job I have ever had! Between the industrial batteries weighing a ton and the shear volume we move from landfills, busy dealerships & repair shops, companies like UPS etc. then loading and unloading trucks, its a young mans job for sure.

 

I originally bought it for my 75 Opel Manta and it probably set on a shelf for a couple of years, but it still works. Now that my son is going to take to car to college, I should probably put in a newer one. We always used them in our fleet vehicles and never had a problem. I don’t know who manf them, but I don’t think we ever had one last less than 10 to 12 years. The only batteries I buy now are Interstate. My step-father has a Trak Auto battery in his farm tractor and I know It’s over 20+ years.

 

Trak Auto? Dang that's an old battery!

 

Good call on the OEM battery, replaced mine at 80k miles with one. That's a pretty good deal, can't beat it. My truck is a 2013, the original lasted 7 years, I'm looking forward to the same on this one

 

but by buying an interstate you bought the same thing the true start is! (we get our battery deliveries from the interstate truck, theyre the same battery as the green/white cased ones.. just in black with a red sticker.

personally i use to run die hard platinum (not a thing anymore) 10 years on the one thats now in my avalon. still tests 800CCA.
an odyssey will be going in the tundra (they made the die hard platinum)

 

Yeah the die hard platinums were great, was bummed when they went away.

 

You got sold. They’re marginal batteries

 

Maybe. But just because they are rebranded doesn't mean it's the same quality. You can have 2 products made in the same warehouse at different quality specifications. That's assuming they are made at the same place which we don't know for sure. Interstate batteries seem to have good reviews.

 

Spot on…. Home Depot was one of the pioneers of this strategy (rebranding-model numbers in particular). Put apart SOME Dewalt tools from Home Depot/Lowe’s and compare them to the EXACT one from a certified Dewalt dealer. You will be surprised….

 

My OEM crapped out in my parking lot at work: 3 years old, 60,000 miles. I replaced it with a higher CCA Interstate

 

I have a 2010 Tundra and my original True start battery lasted till today with 89,000 miles on the Truck. Plan on replacing with the same battery as this one has never let me down till this morning and a quick jump box started it right back up but time to replace with winter coming in New Jersey.

 

my 2012 with 124k still has the original battery. i wish it would puke out so i could get a sealed battery. so sick of cleaning up the terminals every few months.

 

The Toyota OEM batteries suck a harry manstick. I barely got three years out of mine. As is the case with all of my vehicles I replace them with Duralast Platinum batteries. Is that the best battery? I don't know. I will say I can usually get 4+ years with them, and if I have issues ever no matter where I am in the country I can get it taken care of because there are Autozones all over the country. In fact, in 2021 I had the family out in Colorado on a 2 week vacation and the battery went out. I took it to Autozone, it was outside of the warranty, but they gave me a 10% discount for my troubles which was really cool. I got 4 years on that battery and it was in a Honda Odyssey.

 

why you gotta steal my avatar?