Interstate battery from costco

[s4restore]

I'm sure someone is going to tell me to search (which I did) but most of the results were quite old. One of the first things I need to put in my car to see what else it needs is a battery. Costco seems to be the best deal and interstate has always been reputable in the past. I do not want to drop the coin on an Optima because it is a completely stock car that might be sitting for a little while anyway so I was just curious if anyone has used one of these with good success? From what I've been able to figure out it should be a similar size to OEM and fit right in there...

Thanks for the input!

[wpfahl]

I use Costco batteries in my cars and truck. They honor a 36 month free replacement warrantee and are inexpensive. They also sell AGM batteries that I used in my B8 for $30 less than other vendors. They are few battery manufacturers thus, most are just branded with private labels.
The battery covers are twice the price of a battery these days!

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[s4restore]

Thanks for the response!! I dove deep in the rabbit hole last night about Eastern Penn vs Johnson controls vs exide. The main response was exide was junk. I have seen people happy with interstate but I just wanted to get a piece of mind from the Audi crowd because our cars are always a bit different to say the least.

[RMode]

Audi genuine batteries are quite inexpensive, and also fully warrantied

[zatch_303]

Personally I'd just go OEM through VW for the best price.

[s4restore]

I might be missing something... 000915105DHDSP Is the part number equivalent to our OEM battery and they seem to be in the 160 range. Interstate is a stronger battery with a warranty for 115.

[RMode]

Audis batteries are warrantied as well.

Anecdotal:

The one I did in my B5 16 months ago was a little over $100 (maybe $120-$140, don’t remember) before my discount. I live in areas that are cold (PA and NE), zero issues. The one that was removed was an Audi battery, done in 2009. The car was driven daily from new till 2012, then sat, outside, not on a charger for 5.5 years,
from 2012-2018 (I got the car in 2018). Took a jump from my little portable jump box to get the car home, and that battery remained in the car until I chose to replace it last year while doing some other things in the cowl area. In the interim it did another 8500 miles and worked fine at removal.

Have had many many Audis from new, most of which I’ve done about 120k-160k before selling them. I’ve have always stuck to theirs because they’ve treated me well.

The most recent two were my B5 and B7. Last summer did the one in my B7, purely preventative, as the car was going to be sitting outside for an extended period and I wanted to be able to move it as needed. It was the original unit that the car came with 13 years ago. That car is now in Mass., and now being used regularly at a second home. I’m the original owner.

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but given they’ve worked great for me I have zero reason to deviate

[dalazybastard]

Between all the brands I’ve had the most prone to fail was Bosch. Well within their warranty period. Eventually my vendor dropped Bosch because they were unreliable.

My top picks would be Interstate or VW/Audi. But I’d lean more heavily towards interstate because my Costco is 5 minutes away and the closest dealer is 30 minutes away(not necessarily the cheapest dealer either).

I just had an Interstate, purchased and manufactured in 2012, finally start to give me issues in the cold. Most of my other interstates have easily lasted their warranty period with no issues.

On the newer generations that require a little more programming and are more sensitive to batteries, I go genuine. My example for this is a 4L Q7, which requires VCDS coding of the new battery.


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[2380S4]

I just picked up an interstate batt yesterday for my silver Avant as it’s batt died in this last colder snap.. actually it’s only the second battery in one of my B5’s that I have had to replace. The other one I did OEM.. thats in 12 years of opening one of them..

[s4restore]

I'm probably going to grab an interstate on my way home today. The battery I pulled out of the car was a NAPA and dead as can be from the car sitting for so long. The dealer is not local and 50 bucks more. I don't see the advantage for me to go OEM

[wpfahl]

The OEM batteries do have longevity. My 2011 B8 S4 battery lasted 10 years and 158,000 miles. I am a Piker that shops at Costco once a month and it’s easy my to swap for a new battery. Surprisingly an employee there told me to write my purchase date on the battery and bring them in before the 36 warrantee is up.



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