Best Rated Car Batteries Buying Guide
When it comes time to replace your car’s battery, you want to choose one that will be as reliable as possible. For our car battery buying guide, we researched customer ratings from multiple sources to find the best options. We also looked at recent testing results from Consumer Reports. Read on to see which batteries are rated the best for the battery group size you need.
Highest Rated Car Batteries from Advance Auto Parts
The two manufacturers that are primarily featured at Advance Auto Parts are Optima and AutoCraft. Customers gave the highest ratings to two Optima batteries: one in group 27 and one in group 34. They also gave the highest ratings to three AutoCraft Batteries: one each in groups 34, 66, and 78. The text ten highest rated batteries at Advance Auto Parts are Autocraft batteries; evenly divided between Gold and Silver models, across many different size groups.
Highest Rated Car Batteries on Amazon
The highest rating we gave to car batteries at Amazon were to a group 34 model by Odyssey and a group 65 battery from ACDelco. The next highest rated units are two ACDelco batteries (one each in groups 49 and 94R), and one each from Optima (group 34/78) and Exide (group 78). Coming up next based on our Amazon ratings is a group 27 Universal Power battery and two group 34 Optima units. Another Exide Edge battery (group 24) follows. After that is another Universal Power battery (group 35). The remainder of our highest rated list on Amazon includes batteries from ACDelco, Optima and Odyssey.
Highest Rated Car Batteries at Wal-Mart
The Wal-Mart car battery brand is EverStart. According to sources like Consumer Reports, most car battery manufacturer produces units that are scored high as well as low. EverStart is no exception to that rule. The highest rated EverStart car batteries at Wal-Mart are units from group 27, 121R, 41-4, 56-3, H8, and T5. Close behind are EverStart batteries for groups 24 and 65-3. The list continues from there, covering most of the major group categories.
Best Rated Car Batteries by Consumer Reports
This year, Consumer Reports magazine published ratings for car batteries from many of the most popular size group categories. They gave the highest ratings to the following batteries for each group. For group 65, an Interstate battery was chosen. Group 34/78 features a DieHard car battery as their top choice. Their pick for Group 24/24F is an EverStart Maxx battery, with an option for both Northern and Southern regions of the U.S. The Group 35 choice also features two options from EverStart. Finally, groups 75 and 48 both feature car batteries from Interstate as Consumer Report’s top pick.
| Group | Model | |||
| 65 | Interstate MT7-65 | |||
| 34, 78 & 34/78 | DieHard Advanced Gold 50778 | |||
| Group 24 & 24F | EverStart MAXX-24FN (North) | |||
| Group 24 & 24F | EverStart MAXX -24S (South) | |||
| Group 35 | EverStart MAXX-35N (North) | |||
| Group 35 | EverStart MAXX-35S (South) | |||
| Group 75 | Interstate MT7-75DT | |||
| Group 48 | Interstate MT7-48/H6 | |||
Conclusion
A major factor in what car batteries are available to you is where you decide to buy from. With certain retailers dealing exclusively with one or a handful of manufacturers, this is a major part of the buying decision. Each of the sources we highlight in this article offer online sales, with many of them offering an in-store pickup option. Be sure to focus on the correct size of battery and look at other details like temperature ratings.
Sources: Consumerreports.org, Advanceautoparts.com, Amazon.com, Walmart.com
