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Interstate Batteries Havasu

fishing fool

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Milkmoney said he never had a problem with his batteries. His boat was always plugged into a battery tender.
 

FreeBird236

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You should have paid more for a battery with a better warranty if you wanted better warranty consideration past the warranty period. Is this so difficult?

You even said "13 months later batteries are dead, not really blaming the batteries, he doesn't boat much". Why should the battery vendor or even the manufacturer be responsible to compensate for something even you yourself claim is not the fault of the batteries, but improper usage and care?

If they had handed out a set of new batteries...guess what?...they would fully expect you return the next year asking for another warranty on your 13 month old batteries that were killed (didn't fail). Sometimes its less costly for a business to fire the customer than keep the customer....
It's all about the first sentence. Next time you need a battery, knock yourself out, I'm sure they'd be happy to help you.
 

lbhsbz

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It's all about the first sentence. Next time you need a battery, knock yourself out, I'm sure they'd be happy to help you.

I don't understand your point...

When I need a battery, I buy a good battery...usually a DEKA over the last 8 years. I've had some fail earlier than expected...but I wrote that off to the poor manner in which it was treated. If batteries are maintained properly, they don't just fail. Starting batteries are not meant to be discharged and recharged...they are designed to accept a heavy starting load which draws it down only a bit...and then the alternator recovers it from that. The battery from that point forward becomes effectively a damper between the alternator and the load...if no load, the alternator doesn't put out shit....if high load...there will be a high demand from the alternator. The alternator is NOT a battery charger...it is there to provide for the loads.

If you make the starting battery responsible for dealing with the loads...you'll have a bad time with batteries and the battery suppliers you think will save your ass from spending money.

I've always noticed the ones complaining about buying batteries are the ones who have no issues paying $300+/month for storage and $300+/weekend in boat gas, but holy fuck...should they have to cough up $100 each for a couple batteries every year after letting them die all winter...FUCK THAT BATTERY PLACE. lol.
 

fishing fool

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Why are we still beating a dead battery?????? Buy a $$$$$ battery or a $ battery. Lesson learned is use the boat or put a battery tender on it when not in use..


ps. Can't wait to see if my batteries are going to be good this year
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Why are we still beating a dead battery?????? Buy a $$$$$ battery or a $ battery. Lesson learned is use the boat or put a battery tender on it when not in use..


ps. Can't wait to see if my batteries are going to be good this year

Lol you must be knew here.
 

lbhsbz

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...LOL...they'll grab you another one out of the rack
 

Havasu Surfer

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I have done business with said dealer for many years. I had Interstate in my first boat without any problems when they were maintained with distilled water and regular charging. I usually got 3-4 years out of each one in Havasu climate only. As our stereo system grew I began replacing with All American deep cycle and eventually a Stinger which was a much bigger cost. They didn't seem to last any more seasons even though duration on the water was longer. However, some years (we had babies/kids) I may have not done my due diligence and eventually went back to Interstate. When we built a new boat in 2016 we added 3 batteries and builder put in Interstates. Didn't have any problem until last June when one of them blew up while in garage due to being plugged in all winter and probably running low on water since I neglected to check them at the end of previous season. I switched over to the Interstate AGM as a replacement because I've come to realize I'm not always compliant about maintenance and we had a trouble free season. We plug them back in after every day on the water. Guess I will find out if it was worth it when we start up again in the spring. I have bought 3 Interstate batteries over a 15 year period for our truck which we keep in Havasu. The only reason they have lasted so long is because this dealer educated me on proper trickle charging with a smart charger system that does not over charge when the battery reaches 13 volts. I have not had any issues when I have employed their recommendations and followed through. Any time a battery lasted less than a couple of seasons I chalked it up to non compliance on my behalf. As Kid Rock states; "You get what you put in and people get what they deserve". Just my 2 cents, take it for what you want.
 

FreeBird236

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I don't understand your point...
The point is, screw the batteries, we all know Interstate is just so so, It's the the lying and attitude, trying to get over on my buddy like he's some fool. Telling him the batteries were 4-5 years old and nothing they could do, before he even said a word. BTW this was about 7 years ago when Interstate still had batteries with 72 month warranties. They just came across like shysters, at 13 months these batteries should have been at least 50% covered. I can agree with you on one thing, Deka's are much better.
 

riverroyal

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Ive been to that shop. I thought the guys were pretty cool.
Had to get a truck battery once in my diesel

I bought cart batteries at premier cart, trojans last summer. They were great and a few bucks less than the others
 

SBMech

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Interstates are garbage. They off gas like a bitch on her period, creating a ton of corrosion issues.

On the whole they are unreliable to make it through the warranty period, it's why I do not use them, even though they have the highest markup from wholesale to retail.
 
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CobraDave

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Interstates are garbage. They off gas like a bitch on her period, creating a ton of corrosion issues.

On the whole they are unreliable to make it through the warranty period, it's why I do not use them, even though they have the highest markup from wholesale to retail.

I haven’t experience corrosion or build up with Interstates but the ones in my boat failed at less than two years. I’ve bought three recently and am giving them one more shot, one is in the wife’s Altima.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TPC

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Details? I run interstate batteries. Only issue was the Costco ones failed in 4 months. Boat shop tried to warranty them and interstate told him they were not the same as green top and I had to drag back to LA to return at Costco.
BTW and FYI: The COSTCO Interstate 6V are less spex than the regular Interstate 6 Volts they sell at the parts houses. Next time around I'm going Trojan.
 

bk2drvr

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Im amazed that in this day and age with technology the way it is that car batteries can be so shitty in terms of longevity. The last several batteries I’ve purchased have only lasted 3-4 years and these have all been the so called higher end batteries with the longer warranties. I feel like car batteries are this big mystery, you really don’t know what the hell you are getting in most of the mainstream brands.

It would be interesting to hear from an industry insider on this. My understanding is there are only one or two companies that manufacturer the cores. I have a theory and that is that the cores go through a binning process (crap, decent, better, best) and sold to battery makers at tiered pricing levels based on quality. Then the battery maker puts there warranty layers on them and make believe marketing and sells them.

When I started driving 30 years ago it seemed that car batteries then went consistently about 5 years. Somehow we have slid backwards since.
 
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HALLETT BOY

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My original battery in my 2014 Ram 1500 is going on 6.5 years !
 

LargeOrangeFont

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My original battery in my 2014 Ram 1500 is going on 6.5 years !

The battery that comes in your car from the factory is probably near the best you can get in many cases.

Personally, I’m fine with a cheap battery that lasts 3 years vs one that lasts 5 years that costs more than twice the price.

I got 4 years out of the 2 $65 Duralast marine batteries in my boat.

I went with the Interstate for the RZR just because I didn’t feel like driving all the way to WalMart and had planned a ride that morning.
I believe they were cheaper than Autozone or Carquest for that battery.

All of the above are on “smart chargers”.
 

Singleton

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BTW and FYI: The COSTCO Interstate 6V are less spex than the regular Interstate 6 Volts they sell at the parts houses. Next time around I'm going Trojan.

I just did the Interstate 6v in the ToyHauler. Got them for cost and same day. Trojans needed to be ordered and were 3-4 days out.
 
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TPC

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I just did the Interstate 6v in the ToyHauler. Got them for cost and same day. Trojans needed to be ordered and were 3-4 days out.
I have the regular Interstate 6V in the Toyhauler and so far good. Have the COSTCO 6V in the Golf Cart and last ToyHauler purely because of cost but power and charge hold duration was noticeably less.
Walmart stocks a 6V with the same spex and price as COSTCO BTW.
This thread reminds me, we all need to check battery water levels.
 

Willie B

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...I’ve had $25 blems last eight years....
 

JDKRXW

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The battery that comes in your car from the factory is probably near the best you can get in many cases.

This.
Same with farm equipment.
If you want a good battery, check Deere, Case or Cat dealerships.
 

2Driver

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I found interstate has 3 levels of battery in the same size like group 24. RD, HD and XHD. The performance between the 3 is large for the same group. I had the XHD in the Ultra and they were great after 5 years and they were only topped off before leaving the river, no trickle charge left on.

The same 24 group RD level is at Costco, it’s 4.5 Lbs lighter than the group 24 XHD. Costco is hoping people see that battery and say wow that’s $60 cheaper for the same size Interstate than the battery store at the river. LOL I got my Interstate XHD at River Island Market. They were awesome.
 
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NicPaus

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River island market is owned by Phil. They even have the 6V good green tops at our store. I bought the green tops to replace the bad Costco ones there as well as my golf cart battery. Better price than auto zone.
 
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