I got my first indication that the original battery in my 2005 RX is going south. Well, hardly an indication. Yesterday it worked fine and today was "rrrr, cough, rrr" A 30 minute charge and the car started right up (it is still on the charger, btw). Yes, all lights were out, all connections were clean and free of white precipitate and nothing was left on. The car purchased in Feb of 2005 so that is 87 months which is REALLY good for a battery in today's cars.

So, the question is, does anyone manufacture a battery as good as the OEM Delphi? I know that Delphi was bought by Johnson Controls and they are one of only a handful of battery manufacturers. My local Advance Auto sells their Autocraft with a 36 month warranty. Sears sells Diehard with a 36 month warranty. Johnson controls sells their Optima at twice the cost of conventional battery through multiple sources but with a 36 month warranty. Finally, recognizing that neither Advance Auto, Sears, nor Lexus manufacture their own battery, what are you folks using?

 

Good info here http://batteryfaq.org/
Interstate is a good brand, as is AutoZone, some people believe in WalMart or Costco for batteries, no questions asked.
IMHO
Stay away from Optima, since they've moved manufacturing to other parts of North America the quality is terrible.

 

costco: 100 month warranty....


Your local BM auto stores carry them, pretty much made by 2 or 3 companies. I like the Johnson Control ones (like Kirkland of Costco). Majority of BM stores' batteries are basically the same maker.

Just a tip, Costco does not carry 24F. But Group 3 is an alternate. In my case I just had to add washers on the battery frame, one side and it worked fine. Same specs as CCA and all. Good price too, since it was more of a generic size. $70 out the door.

 

Believe it or not, the Wal-Mart batteries are actually pretty good. I bought a Sears Diehard Gold for my 05 RX 2.5 years ago. So far so good with that one. Kinda expensive though, so my next one will most likely be from Wal-Mart.