Does the battery make much of a difference?

I'm looking at a Walmart battery for my car for about $90 or and Optima that's $150. The Walmart battery has only 500 or so CCA at 32 degrees and the Optima has 720 CCA at 0 degrees. Should I shell out the extra money for the Optima battery? Is it worth it in a 2002 Subaru Forester that has 162,000 miles? I don't need the best battery, but something that will start in Maine weather...Does the battery make much of a difference?
Do you have an Autozone near where you live? If so, go down there and get a Duralast Gold in the size that fits your car. About $95 for the last one I bought. The price may vary slightly for your vehicle.



The Duralast Gold I bought before that cost me $85, because that was over 7 years ago. But it started my Van after sitting outside overnight, not plugged in, at 25 below 0 F last winter.



That's not a typo. A 7 year old battery started my Van last winter at 25 below 0 F!
I would look in the yellow pages and find the Interstate battery dealer nearest you, it is far better than the walmart battery, and will have been tested to make sure its good. (wal mart uses its customers for quality control and I had trouble with more than one wal mart battery. The optima is over rated, and over priced, the Interstate battery is comparable to optima but less money, and does the job better.I also tried a nascar battery for the first time this year it came with a 10 year warranty , I have done my third winter on it so far and it has outlasted three walmart batteries together. I have a wheelchair lift on my van that moves 600 lbs this is the best load tester ever, so far the only two batteries that hold up are interstate, and this nascar batteryDoes the battery make much of a difference?
Dont buy anything w/o reading Consumer Reports.



Just bc you car's old, doesnt mean you can skimp on battery quality, esp in Maine.



But bc something costs more doesnt mean it does more.



"You get what you pay for" is a con that sellers run on buyers. A quick read of CR will prove that.



I carry the Black and Decker "jump box" for recharging a car battery, about $40. It's the size of a very small microwave. It's charged w/ house current. If you'r battery dies, hook up the boxes' jumper cables to it, and follow directions. It worked for me. After one use it needs a recharge, ususally overnite.



CR recommended it.
It really depends on what you are looking for over the next few years. You can expect the Optima to last a lot longer and if the lights are left on once or twice the Optima will take it in stride, while the conventional battery will lose at least half a year's life every time it is drained. In very general terms, if you are expecting to keep the car more than about 5 years from now the Optima is a good choice.Does the battery make much of a difference?
hello, i would go with something like an interstate battery or diehard. those are really good. the optima is a good battery but is overpriced and you wont get that much more from it then a interstate or diehard. i would not get a walmart battery, in your weather you might have problems getting it started. hope this helps. i use diehard all the time.
If you were living almost anywhere south of Maine it wouldn't matter what kind of battery you buy, in Maine it can make a big difference. The only reason I can see for buying the Walmart battery is if they offer an 18 month free replacement warranty, this is very important because their battery isn't likely to last more than one winter in Maine.
Well i wouldn't buy it at walmart, those batteries can sit on the shelf for awhile. go to a parts store. It depends honestly, i usually use duralast but i'm a tightwad and they don't last all that long (year or two). go to auto zone and have them look up your car info and they will usually recommend the best battery for you (ask them what them for a battery in a price range your willing to pay).
I have found that the best battery comes with the best warranty and pays for itself. if you plan to only keep your Subaru for a year or 2, I guess the Wal-Mart battery would do. But if money is tight and you intend to keep it for several years, the good battery might be a good idea
Warranty doesn't mean anything because the third time you are stranded you will realize it was cheaper and easier to buy a good quality battery. Wal-mart sells Everstarts (aka Neverstarts) built by Exide and have a failure rate of near 60%. Exide is not a good name in batteries. Interstate, Direct, Diehard maybe just stay away from cheap.
Get the cheapest one, the car will start the same when the battery is new and the starter is working properly, why don't you visit an auto parts store, they might be cheaper and might have a 1 year warranty on the battery.
i would get the $90 battery. heck 500 amps should crank that engine in cold weather. i only have 650 amp battery in my oldsmobile and nights when it got down to minus 1 degree it started that 3800 v6.
Go find you an interstate battery dealer and get a good battery. The walmart neverstart is not much of a battery. The optima is a good battery but over priced.
if you live in maine, shell out the extra for for the best cold-weather battery you can get. i lived in chicago a few years. it's no fun being stuck with a dead battery.
Just get the walmart most sizes rate as a good value with consumerreports.com if you were running a bunch of stereo equipment or something it would make a big difference. In your old car it wont make any difference
For Maine, I would go bigger.

but I would get the biggest one I could find from a salvage yard first.



Last battery I bought was 15.00
shop around and ask an auto parts attendant to look and see what type of battery this car requires.

good luck.
I'd just get the $90 battery. If it doesn't start as fast as I want, I'd change to synthetic oil.