New Battery Thread

[lostfamilyof6]

Hi All,

I know this has been discussed a little in another thread but I didn't want to take over that thread for my specific problem and I hate to hijack a thread.

I am seeking out real world experience and advice on batteries. I have narrowed it down to a two batteries companies that I am seriously considering.

I know there are more companies that that sell the type of batteries I am looking at but the reason I am settling on the two that I have listed here is because for a battery I don't want to have something so elemental and primary to the operation of my vehicle die on me and have to deal with warranty business "over the web". The two I have listed I can get locally and get local service almost nation wide. (with 6 of us we aren't looking at any for any world wide trips just yet I would like the children to learn all about their native country before we worry about other ones) that may sound harsh but just coming out of the military they have seen enough of other countries for a bit we would like to focus on this one.

1) Odyssey: right now this is my first choice, Man these things are almost bullet proof. I am really impressed. I talked to the rep at Batteries Plus for about an hour, very knowledgeable and helpful.:wings:

2) Sears Platinum: I was less then impressed by the staff at Sears, they didn't know much about the battery other then to keep repeating the same thing over and over "this is the best battery you are going to find."

I want real world feedback can anybody share with me their experience with these two. Sears is about half the price but I have no problem going with the odyssey because it seems to me that the 10 year warranty is really sticking there reputation out there.

Sorry for the long post but any help would be great.

Oh sorry I forgot to tell you I am looking at odyssey 31pc150 (the biggest one they sale) and the equivelent Sears. For both starter and house, so any thoughts?

Thanks,
Kendall

 

[dzzz]

They are the same battery according to Odyssey. So what is to compare?

 

[keezer37]

I've had an Odyssey 1700 as a pure backup battery for 2.5 years now. It sits in the back of my truck and there's about 20' of #2 cable between it and the starter. Used it for it's primary purpose for about a week in Jan. '09 when my OE battery up front died. I would have bought another Odyssey at the time but money was an issue. I will do so should the need arise.

At the time I bought the Odyssey, I was not familiar with the Sears Platinum that is as I understand it a rebadged Odyssey as you probably already know. My two concerns were and are, 1. The details of the contract between Sears and Odyssey to build these batteries. Are they just rebadged? When a retailer as big as Sears contracts with another company, I would think they have the ability to change other parameters. But this is conjecture on my part. 2. I have not for some time had any confidence whatsoever in Sears in general.

Many things I've done to my truck are overkill but I am content with that.

On a side note, I know you want to buy local but at a glance, I think Batteries Plus is about the most expensive place to buy. I bought from West Coast Batteries and will again. I'm comfortable enough with Odyssey that I'm not overly concerned with needing to exercise the warranty.
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/

 

[dzzz]

google is the enemy of batteries plus. I bought two smaller batteries for my
truck on Friday. I paid $82. Batteries Plus wanted $155. "Plus" I would pay tax.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

Thanks

Thanks All,

I was not aware that Sears Platinum was just a repackaged odyssey. I guess that is my bad for not doing more research on the subject before asking the forum sorry about that.

I really appreciate the advice. I would really like to hear from someone that own the Sears and their advice, problems, pluses, etc.

I am leaning toward the Odyssey, I guess I need to start looking online for some. I don't need to buy from Batteries Plus and I didn't realize their bad reputation. So now I am really worried cause if they have such a bad rep, and I experienced great service from them and crappy service from Sears what does that say about Sears? J/K :Wow1:

I would love to hear more on the subject before I dump so much money into batteries. so any and all advice will be welcome and I promise to go and do a little better job tracking down information myself on the web before I come on here and look like an idiot for not knowing simple things like they are the same. (I still have a deep seeded doubt that they are the "exact" same) but I will look deeper into it.

Thanks,
Kendall

 

[dzzz]

The important word from an Odyssey email was "rebadged".
The variety of Odyssey batteries is much larger than the few Sears Platinum batteries sizes offered. Odyssey markets with a high MAP, and I'm sure drops ships for all the small retailers offering their product. Your doubts about the batteries being exactly the same shows they are successful in how they position their product.
The advantage they have with sears is steady production volume. They not only make money on the Sears sale, but it lowers their per unit cost of the Odyssey brand.
I went through a lot of research on Odyssey versus platinum, and then ironically ordered 3 Group 31 Lifeline hybrid starting batteries at $330 each to make my life easier. While the lifeline isn't the same battery of course, it is a direct competitor for this battery type.
Battery Plus doesn't have a bad reputation, just an expensive reputation. Its the Carmax of battery seller. You pay more for the same product, buy they make you feel good about it. But with the pricing enforcement on Odyssey batteries it may be about as good of a deal as you can get. Check the price on Odyssey at a couple of speciality vendors here. Delivered it may be as good as you will find.
As far as the Sears Platinum, it seems to vary in price by $20 dollars. If you found more than $20 off their usual price it's an unusual deal.
It's all good, buy what you feel good about.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

Thanks Don,

I really appreciate your experience, time and comments on this for me. Just to update you I went to Sears last night got the manager and spent some time on the computer looking up things and come to find out they do not offer the size I am looking for . So after all this I find out that the Battery I am looking for is a "Special Order Item" from Sears and with the shipping puts me about $10 within the Odyssey.

I guess I will skip the BS and just go with the Odyssey. Once again thanks for your help.

I am also looking a bit harder on the specialty sites from here so you have been a great help thanks.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

Kendall,

To repeat a post I put up elsewhere here: The upcoming fall issue of Overland Journal will feature a comprehensive test of batteries including the Sears/Odyssey, Deka, Optima, Interstate, and a Valence Lithium-ion model. It should be out in late September, by which time you'll undoubtedly have made your choice. But it might be interesting for you to see how your selection did!