fancyjean

OK, I know, sounds silly just replace it with another battery .. My current battery in my RX300 has 160k miles on it. I am having no signs of problems (yet) but I have heard with the new batteries you sometimes don't get any warning. I don't like surprises, so I was thinking maybe I should replace it before I am stuck. I have also heard that consumer reports rates Napa and Duralast as good buys. Someone said Diehard is still good. Car gurus please tell me what I need to watch out for (someone else said make sure it is fully charged before installed..) and what your brand and power recommendations are. Thnxs.

thomas1

Costco or Walmart brands are just fine....Most of the time the clock starts resetting to 0100 when the battery is going bad.

LA4Mead

I found some successful advice... To compare batteries by what really counts, since only a few manufacturers build the batteries for many brands including DieHard, Costco, WalMart, Napa, Duralast, etc... I think Consumer Reports said there was a direct correlation to how much use you get out of the battery to the reserve rating, NOT "cranking amps" (COLD Cranking Amp rating is somewhat more useful) or the length of the prorated warantee.

So I've compared the "reserve" minute ratings. I think the RX300 required minimum is something like 95 or 100 minutes. MOST size group 24replacement batteries I found were rated at 105 minutes, meaning that's how many minutes the battery can chug out a certain amount of power on its own. I was really disappointed with the batteries now available from Costco in the So Cal area. They used to offer a wider variety of size groups, but recently they scaled back on the size groups they sell, and their current battery they sell to fit the RX is puny, and it's output unacceptably small in my opinion. It's small case holds fewer plates within it, and it's only barely within minimum paramaters required for the RX300, so I would avoid Costco until they start offering a wider variety of sizes or a more powerful size group that can fit in the RX300's space again.

I ended up going back to Pep Boys again, but did not buy the stock size. I used a size group "36R" which took a little wiggling to get the heavy battery to fit in, but it does fit. I was careful not to stress or distort the case. The reserve rating for size 36R at Pep Boys was 130 minutes in the "ProStart" (or something like that). I got the Pep Boys Prostart(?) 36R on sale about $75. My last battery was also 36R from Pep Boys and replaced it when it was over 8 years old (mileage doesn't really affect the battery unless the car sits for a long time- usually low mileage). The last one gave no trouble, but I started getting the climate control resetting to 75 degrees - my hint not to wait any longer even though it easily started the car. Pep Boys also had the group 24 (similar to stock size) at 105 minutes, what I would call barely acceptable, but a very common size to find, except at Costco. I thought it was baffling that Costco eliminated the most common battery group size that fits many cars universally.

Also, don't bother comparing the full "months" of the warantee like 84, etc. The relevant story is how many months are covered NON-prorated (or "Free Replacement". Most are 24 months, some more expensive batteries are sometimes 36 months. Walmart offers batteries with 24 or 36 month free replacement. You pay more for the battery that has a longer warantee, but that's usually because they are made with tougher cases that are more resistent to damage from vibration, etc. and might last a little longer than the equivalent output battery with the standard case.

I hope what I found out helps you. Good luck!

varithms

I have had really good luck with optima.

LA4Mead

I'm curious so I know when I'm shopping next time: How long did the Optima last in your RX300? Is it more cost-effective, considering how much you paid?

Thanks!

code58

LA4- I'll do some checking on this but I seriously doubt the accuracy of some of the information you have provided. I spent almost my entire career in automotive work and am a stickler for accurate information. One of the reasons I NEVER listen to politicians! I do keep informed, but not by what they say. I'll be back when I've had a little time to research.

rx300mm

I installed Costco's Kirkland battery 3 years ago, still going strong.

Francis

I changed battery every 5 years for my RX.

code58

I apologize beforehand for the length of this post. Trying to correct some misinformation.
I don't know where you live in Ca. LA, but if it is indeed in L.A. that is all the more off target.
I checked at Costco today and found what I expected to. I use Costco Kirkland batteries but not because I endorse them. I don't! it is simply because they offer one of the best deals on batteries out there. When you have a problem with a Costco battery (early or late), they simply take your word for it and return the unused warranty in cash or full price if within the 3 year "Free" period. They don't even have a tester to test it with.
The warranty is 100 months on all the batteries they sell. 3 year free and the remainder of 8 1/3 year pro-rated. The battery for your car is $59.99. The original battery for your RX was rated at 585 CCA's. Costco's battery is rated at 640 CCA's. They didn't even use to put that heavy a battery in heavy duty P.U.'s! My brother's '07 Ford F-150 with 5.4L (large) V-8 and fully loaded came from the factory with a 540 CCA battery!!!
The reason Costco is only offering one (1) battery for any given car or truck now is for simplification of inventory. They offer the LARGEST battery in any given application that they ever offered. You use to have at least 2 choices, now only one, but it is the LARGEST, at no increase in price over what you used to pay for standard. That is hardly what I would call inadequate or puny. I recently purchased my 1st replacement battery for my '04 Ford F-150 w/5.4 V-8. The original was the optional 650 CCA battery and when I went to Costco was surprised to see the only battery they offered for my truck was the 875 CCA, equal to the HEAVIEST option Ford offers, PERIOD!!! Hardly PUNY!! And yet the price was only $75.
One other thing you should know, you can tell the power of a battery (CCA) simply by lifting the battery. A light battery CANNOT have a high CCA, and a HEAVY battery will not have a low CCA. The power of a battery is in the lead, not a different case. I have tested probably by now between 2000 and 3000 batteries over my career and have learned probably more factually from experience than CR has from testing. I read CR but often disagree with their conclusions because they are many times not backed by real world experience. I have sophisticated testing equipment and can tell you that "Reserve minutes" means little in the real world (IT SHOULD, but doesn't), because it have tested MANY batteries that test great on voltage and CCA's, but fall miserably short on RM's. Most people don't have the equipment to test that, but mine does.
I hope you don't feel I have disrespected you in my answer, I don't, I just couldn't let so many inaccuracies and bad information (I assume from CR) go unchallenged, for those that depend on accurate information.
One other thing that some people don't realize, for a large part, the battery is only there to start the car and modulate the flow of juice. Your car, for the most part runs on the juice produced by the alternator while it's running, not the battery! Therefore, you could (incredible oversimplification) theoretically operate the car on a booster battery 1/4 the size OR less, than what the car originally came with.

Hope this helps those out there that wanted the straight scoop on batteries.

karasdad

I replaced a seven year old original OEM battery (at 75K miles) with a Costco Kirkland battery. We went from driving 10K miles/yr to less than 5K/yr and the Costco battery died in two years. I was able to get a full refund and replaced it with a biggest Diehard from Sears. The Sears battery tech said they see a lot of batteries fail on these cars when you don't drive enough.

artbuc

Roger, nice job as ususal. Please explain your comment about reserve minutes. Are you saying that most batteries fall way short of their nameplate reserve minutes? If batteries actually had the reserve minutes they claim to have, would reserve minutes be a good way to compare batteries? Thanks for your help.

code58

Hi K's dad- What happened to you with the Kirkland (Costco) battery is not surprising. What they told you at Sears was true. When a battery (read car) isn't used much, the battery will sulfate in direct proportion to how low the voltage drops. When not used much, the voltage may maintain say, 12.2 or 12.3V instead of a good battery that should maintain say 12.6V or more when driven daily, enough miles to maintain FULL voltage. When it drops in average maintained voltage it BEGINS to sulfate. That only hastens the drop in voltage as it (being even SOME sulfated) isn't able to hold on to the voltage as well and exacerbates the problem. To put it in perspective, I have seen BRAND new (say less than 2-3 mo. old) batteries destroyed in as little as 2-3 weeks when something is left on and you go out of town for that long. The battery is drained completely (to 1-2V) in a couple of days or so and has the rest of that say 3 weeks to sulfate. And will it ever, when the charge is virtually completely gone. You will have a difficult time breaking that severe of sulfation even with a desulfation device. If you are able to break it, the battery won't come even close to testing what it did before, and will have shortened the life by at least 2/3. I have the test equipment and have tested batteries for the last 20-25 years on a consistent basis. Most of what I pass on is from an insatiable quest for knowledge and having never stopped learning from personal experience.
Very frankly, if a car is to be driven that little, a (good) deep cycle battery is a better choice. Not because a deep cycle is the right battery for a car, it's not, but a deep cycle uses plates that are substantially thicker and able to HOLD the charge better (drain slower when sitting), therefore not getting to a lower voltage near as quick, thus not sulfating near as readily.
Please don't say I said you should run a deep cycle in your daily car, I only said under your conditions it COULD hold up a little longer.

code58

Hi Art- Glad to see you didn't abandon us just because some rather senior (from what I remember) destroyed your tenderly cared for RX.
You have only my opinion, but it think it has high credibility. You don't ever see reserve minutes listed on a starting (car) battery because normally you are not even concerned about that. The only people who generally are, have stereo systems that would blow the doors off anything but a Humvee (and maybe even that), and they spend hours detailing their truck (or car) Those people actually NEED a cross breed (or MAYBE an actual deep cycle battery) Cross breed would be what MOST RV batteries are, and especially boat batteries, because they are actually used for starting as well as deep discharging. A car battery is NOT made for deep discharging, and as earlier noted, are quickly damaged by deep discharging. An RV/Boat battery tries to give you some of each, and only does a mediocre job of each, indicated by the relatively SHORT warranty that they always offer, even in a very heavy duty one. So, to answer the question, on my opinion, the reserve minutes is a poor yardstick on a STARTING battery, because you can't (and don't) normally ever use those minutes in a starting battery without damaging it.
As stated in my ramblings yesterday, no one normally ever knows what the new battery ACTUALLY has in RM or AH because they don't have the testing equipment to tell them, they have to trust the rating on the battery, which will normally be a deep cycle or crossover. Because I do have the equipment to test that, and because I am more curious than any man should ever legally be , I am always testing it as well as other things, I have frequently found that on a brand new fully charged battery that the AH's or RM's don't test close to what the battery is rated!
One problem we have especially in the U.S. is that the companies that made really high quality batteries have been bought up by the battery co.'s that made mediocre or junk batteries, so no matter who we buy them from, they still aren't (normally) going to give us the service that we used to get from MOST of the batteries. If we had access to Panasonic batteries here, that is definitely what I'd buy, but NO ONE is going to ship something as heavy as car batteries half way around the world. Johnson Controls makes 85-90 of all the batteries sold in the U.S., (and a good deal of THOSE made in Mexico) Not all of them made to the same standards admittedly, but virtually NONE of them made to a high standard.
Maintaining good voltage consistently (12.6-12.8V) and a good strong CCA (at LEAST what the battery is rated at) is more important than the size of the battery, unless you live in Alaska, or this year, in CHICAGO (and a lot of other places!)

trhs75

I think Costco batteries are great, but my last two or three were from Wal Mart because of the high ratings from Consumer Reports. One went out after just under three years, however, so I took it back to the return counter (NOT the auto counter) with a receipt and they not only replaced the battery but gave me a new receipt with a new three-year replacement warranty. I don't know if that was accidental or on purpose, but I wasn't about to argue! Look for the most clueless-appearing clerk you can find.

fancyjean

I am telling you all (code58, LA4Mead, Thomas1.. all of you). I get the best information from this forum! I made the mistake of mentioning to the mechanic who was dropping the pan (per the forum recommendation) to change my ATF that I had gotten the recommendation from clublexus and he scoffed. Kind of like, clueless lady listening to "club lexus". So... I now know the "best" most unbiased information about changing the battery that I could. U guys are a great help. Thanks from a "clueless" RX300 proud original owner at 160k.