Hello All
I just thought I’d let you in on one of the best car battery secrets around. In the USA Walmart won’t you you sell your car batteries without a min 6 year warranty, sure beats Century’s overprice 2yr W on their premium series. I found out about these batteries from a farm supply store and later through my work with Telstra. These batteries are used in Telstra’s most remote radio sites back then die to their performance. I heard that farmers used these batteries for over years in a row and that’s what I have discovered, I swap them after 10years only to find the person who took them got another 2-3 years out of them. They are priced under $200 so make $20 a year for trouble free battery performance the best value in town. Not only that you can put your family on the road knowing that battery issues will be a long way down the road. The brand is from USA GM and are called AC Delcor or the Korea version from Arrow Auto Electrrics in WA. The best place to by the AC Delcor is Coventries or Cov’s as they are now known. No battery comes close for performance and $value, period! They also have a high CCA capacity for their size compared to other brands, they come back from the dead often, due to other power issues like alternator failure, than any battery I’ve seen. A secret to good to keep quite.
AC Delco started as GM’s OEM electrical parts brand. If you want to check them out visit http://www.acdelco.com.au/ for resellers.
While AC Delco are very good products @matts statements are not backed by facts; there are no references to statistics or tests, only anecdotal statements that remind me of a sales pitch, not implying it is one.
Most batteries sold in the US have superior warranties to ours, 3 to 5 years being common. 2 years warranty is considered short in that market but It is important to note American battery warranties are of the form (eg) “24 months replacement, 72 months prorated” so both numbers are important for comparisons. The prorated warranty is a device to sell another as it provides some value toward a new one of the same make. The prorated equations reflect the value lost from the time of failure to the end of the warranty period. At 25 months the prorated value would something like 47/72 of the price, and at 72 months 1/72 of the price to make the point. At some point buying a replacement on sale can sometimes be a better deal than claiming the warranty.
Walmart does sell economy batteries with 1-year warranties. I was not aware they sell AC Delco auto batteries. https://www.reference.com/vehicles/car-batteries-walmart-carry-be5173feeef17aec
The better advice in the US market is that no single battery company provides the best of every size so doing a bit of research is warranted (no pun intended).
I have personally brought over 9 of these batteries for myself, friends & family so it’s a personal recommendation based on years of good service. The fact that Telstra used them in remote radio sites I can also a text to since I new the workers who installed them. Ford used to fit these batteries Into their F350 that speaks volumes in itself. WA farm supplier Agie Parts sold pallet loads to farmers, they wouldn’t keep buying items that don’t work they are a wily bunch. A well known commercial fishing business wouldn’t go to sea without them. What experience do you have with AC Delco batteries? Who do you work for Century Batteries?
In addition, I work in the Telco game not the battery selling market, so we saw a few different brands go through the system but AC Delco got the job due it being the best, not just a “good battery”.
My background is ICT. You might re-read your OP and honestly tell me it does not read like an advertorial.
Yes, that’s how I read the original post too. Maybe Matt could place his hand over his heart and swear he has no financial interest in the sale of these batteries? 
Not wishing to gang up on you Matt, but I have to agree with The BBG and wbf here, your first post does read like an attempt to promote a certain brand of batteries. In my job as a forum moderator (not this forum) I see a lot of posts similar to yours, and invariably the poster turns out to have some ulterior motive to post what they did. However, it is possible that you just like the brand of battery battery a lot, but if that is the case, then your choice of wording is unfortunate.
Anyway, since you are proclaiming it to the Choice community, it isn’t really a secret anymore 
Yeah so it seems I assumed that this forum was to aid consumers and not just bag rubbhsh products. I can assure everybody that I have no sales or marketing connection to AC Delco, Arrow Auto Electrics or Cov’s. The product is what it is, the best value money for battery in the market. If you like replacing your batt every 18/24 months be my guest. A lot of fleet and mining vehicles use they as well, just another score in the board for them.
Regards Matt
@matts has indicated that he is in the telco industry, and has also contributed to other threads on the Community. I’m happy for people to share their experiences, and I’d also encourage others to share their experiences with this product or others to help advance our understanding. It’s also a potential area for us to investigate and test, so I’ll flag it with the relevant CHOICE staff.
We also appreciate the concern to preserve the integrity of this forum, so thanks to everyone for commenting in the right spirit. The explanation on pro-rated warranties has also helped to provide further information for consumers that might see this claim, either while travelling or online.
If there are further concerns or you’d like to discuss, feel free to get in touch with me directly at any time.
Just to clarify for the benefit of would-be purchasers between two battery brands that sound similar (and due to your spelling), are you referring to ACDelco (owned by GM) or Delkor (joint business with GM)?
I have recently replaced the OEM ACDelco battery in my wife’s car after 10 and a half years of service, incredible for any car battery.
Conversely, I have had two Delkor batteries fail before the 3 year warranty was up.
Hello V8Snail
The best units are the AC Delco but the AC Delkor’s sound like they have dropped the ball! They did some 20years ago win an internal quality award from the German plant but sounds like they have slipped below par but in saying that 3 years is still better that most manufactures best efforts here in Australia. So to clear this up AC Delkor from Covs are the ones to get, they are also available from other suppliers just search the net.
Good to see your wife got 10years service out of hers, backs up my flowery adjectives!
Oh! And V8Snail is not connected to me, a friend of mine, or relative. My information on battery warranty was a least 15 years old but if you want to buy a 1 year warrantied battery from Walmart go ahead. I guess since they make of of their product in China 1 year is about the best you will get.
Sorry man, but this doesn’t clear anything up as ‘Delkor’ doesn’t have ‘AC’ in front if it like ‘ACDelco’ does, hence why I brought this up to avoid confusion with would-be purchasers.
All I can verify is that ‘ACDelco’ was made in the USA back when my wife’s car battery was manufactured, nearly 11 years ago and that battery was above and beyond in its life span at 10 and a half years. I don’t know where they are manufactured today.
The ‘Delkor’ batteries I purchased (6 & 3.5 years ago respectively) were made in Korea and lasted around 2 and half years each which has left a bad taste in my mouth as they were not cheap, but I can’t comment on their quality in the last couple of years.
Don’t be sorry you are right the Delkor doesn’t have AC in front it was my memory playing tricks, probably due to the recollection being some 20 years ago. But just for the record the GOOD batteries are called AC Delco. Thanks Brother err! v8Snail.
For everyone’s reference, the AC Delco batteries now come with a 24-36 month warranty, as per the following page:
http://www.acdelco.com.au/warranty/
Cheers,
M
Interesting topic. Certainly sounds like the ACDelco batteries would be worthy/value for experimenting with some solar battery setup
Only if they are deep cycle. Car batteries are totally unsuited to off-grid storage use. Car batteries are designed for very high discharge rates, but need to be recharged to full shortly afterwards. They wont last long if deeply discharged or left at a low state of charge. Deep cycle batteries for use in off-grid solar systems can be discharged more deeply, but can’t be discharged or charged at the high rates that car batteries can accept. They will last many times as long as car batteries when used in a typical off-grid usage regime.
However, Lithium chemistry is superior to any Lead-acid battery now.
Heh, except I suspect, in the pocket.
Only if you look at the up-front cost. The cost per kWh delivered over the life of the battery is lower when comparing like for like quality with current pricing.
That has certainlly been the case for my LiFePO4 battery vs previous Lead-acid batteries I have used over the past 26 years.
Very good suggestion, and as an Electrical Contractor, with a lifetime of experience living on a boat, and of recent years an off grid solar system in the bush it would be a trial worth testing. @gordon brings a valid point to the fore, though I do wonder Gorden the fact they outpaced most other batteries 3-4:1 is the possibility the ACDELCO is a kind of hybrid chemistry with attributes of both deep cycle and starting characteristics. Or it’s all just in the quality construction and materials. 10 years…never heard of the animal, outstanding!
We have always had an amazing run out of Panasonic car batteries!
