Is Motomaster OE Plus battery any good?

iExcel wrote: ↑ I'm looking for a new battery (H6/Group 48). Costco, CT or Walmart? Any suggestion?

Who manufactures this OE Plus line of product? Thx.

walmart / CT batteries come from the same supplier (east penn last I heard) and are designed to last barely as long as the 'warranty' period, if you can even get them to honor the warranty... If you want to gamble on whether you will get stranded 2 or 3 years down the road, buy a walmart / ct battery.

Generally Costco batteries received positive comments on here.

kr0zet wrote: ↑ walmart / CT batteries come from the same supplier (east penn last I heard) and are designed to last barely as long as the 'warranty' period, if you can even get them to honor the warranty... If you want to gamble on whether you will get stranded 2 or 3 years down the road, buy a walmart / ct battery.

Generally Costco batteries received positive comments on here.

Has anyone had problems with their warranty not being honoured? I've used it a couple times at CT/Partsource with no issues. Heard the same from others.

engineered wrote: ↑ Has anyone had problems with their warranty not being honoured? I've used it a couple times at CT/Partsource with no issues. Heard the same from others.

I've heard too may horror stories about ct and batteries to be anecdotal...

As for walmart, well from personal experience it depends on the store/manager you get as to whether they will follow their own return / prorated policies.

engineered wrote: ↑ Has anyone had problems with their warranty not being honoured? I've used it a couple times at CT/Partsource with no issues. Heard the same from others.

One of my friends had a problem with CT honouring their warranty. The battery would die under load - ie everything looked fine until you go to actually start the car and then the output would drop like a rock. When he brought it back to CT, they tested with a conductance tester (which is not the best tool for testing under load) and it passed so the warranty claim was denied.

kr0zet wrote: ↑ walmart / CT batteries come from the same supplier (east penn last I heard) and are designed to last barely as long as the 'warranty' period, if you can even get them to honor the warranty... If you want to gamble on whether you will get stranded 2 or 3 years down the road, buy a walmart / ct battery.

Generally Costco batteries received positive comments on here.

I wouldn't throw all of their batteries in the same boat. East Penn's batteries are based more on calcium which according to various accounts has a better CCA output than non-calcium ones BUT have a more limited service life when compared to non-calcium batteries. I don't believe any battery if properly maintained - ie top off charges, fluid level checks... - will just last 2 or 3 years. As we have seen in this COVID lockdown with the large number of battery questions/failures reported on RFD compared to pre-COVID times, preventative maintenance matters.

iExcel wrote: ↑ I'm looking for a new battery (H6/Group 48). Costco, CT or Walmart? Any suggestion?

Who manufactures this OE Plus line of product? Thx.

Just get a Kirkland battery. That's it.

Call and see if you can get a guest/day pass if you're not a member. You don't need to be a member to exercise Kirkland's no test battery warranty. Do keep the receipt.

Very good experiences to share with Costco Kirkland car batteries in terms of durability, reliability and honoring warranty.

Canadian Tire is a little sketchy with their warranty terminology. Example, some batteries carry a "5 year guarantee*", others carry a "5 year free replacement". The parts department at my local store gave me the run around on a warranty after it "barely failed" their load test. They had 0 in stock, 0 on order and made a point of telling me "we don't ship batteries between stores" (I never asked). I ended up driving to the nearest store that showed stock and it was no problem at all.

Local battery shop is pretty great, prices and warranty are as good as the big box stores. Might be worth looking for a place like that.

A little surprised about the negative comments about Walmart batteries. Have them in both my vehicles and they have performed well. They are 4 and 5 years old respectively. My experience with CT batteries has not been great. Have never bought a Costco battery due to poor reviews.

CheapRuss wrote: ↑ A little surprised about the negative comments about Walmart batteries. Have them in both my vehicles and they have performed well. They are 4 and 5 years old respectively. My experience with CT batteries has not been great. Have never bought a Costco battery due to poor reviews.

By Johnson Controls or East Penn ? It's not the brand - it's who made them. And what technology/chemistry were used.

For the 96r, it was Johnson Controls until ~5 years ago when they switched to the calcium/calcium East Penn craps (they are prone to internal corrosions - the CCA goes down within a few months from new/full state). Calcium/Calcium batteries are the cheapest to make.

the2ndme wrote: ↑ Call and see if you can get a guest/day pass if you're not a member. You don't need to be a member to exercise Kirkland's no test battery warranty. Do keep the receipt.

I think that pass only allows you to browse the store, not buy anything? I think if you want to buy something you still need to get a membership. Much easier way is to get a family member who has a membership to get one for you if you don't want to get a membership. Friend or coworker might work as well but keep in mind that person may not be your friend or co-worker anymore, years from now when the battery dies. This might make warranty a bit awkward, lol.

Or you can get any member you know to buy you gift card(s). They restrict non-member GC use to once or twice per year now but that's enough to get a battery.

Final way is the weasel way of getting a membership, buying the battery, then returning the membership afterwards.

ES_Revenge wrote: ↑ I think that pass only allows you to browse the store, not buy anything? I think if you want to buy something you still need to get a membership. Much easier way is to get a family member who has a membership to get one for you if you don't want to get a membership. Friend or coworker might work as well but keep in mind that person may not be your friend or co-worker anymore, years from now when the battery dies. This might make warranty a bit awkward, lol.

Or you can get any member you know to buy you gift card(s). They restrict non-member GC use to once or twice per year now but that's enough to get a battery.

Final way is the weasel way of getting a membership, buying the battery, then returning the membership afterwards.

A gift/shop card is required to get a day pass actually (hence the confusion). I wonder if the gift card has its own account ID or it's attached to the gift card purchaser's account ID.

Even with the price of membership, the total cost of the purchases is not much more. The 96r Kirkland battery is ~$35/$60 cheaper than Walmart's/Ford's Motocraft Max respectively for example. I think the 96r Kirkland and Motorcraft Max are the same.

the2ndme wrote: ↑ A gift/shop card is required to get a day pass actually (hence the confusion). I wonder if the gift card has its own account ID or it's attached to the gift card purchaser's account ID.

I believe it would, this way they could find people who are habitually buying giftcards and having them used by "day pass" users, i.e. most likely reselling them.