So, needed a battery bad. They were out of the normal flooded lead batty but had AGM so bought it and installed it (only $20 difference from a premium flooded battery).. No issues so far (so far being driving it to work and back). Looking up info after the fact some say it won't charge at the right rate which kills the battery life, other places say it depends.

So specifically for my generation, anyone done this? Any issues?

 

In my opinion nothing is going to change. I've worked part time at an auto parts store for over 12 years now, I've never had a customer come back because the AGM battery wouldn't charge the same as a flooded battery.

The AGM's hold up way better in the cold and tend to have the same avg life of 4-6 years in most cases. Some can last longer.

 

Dunno about the charge rate thing but for some reason FB keeps showing me a sponsored post about some device that I think is for Toyota truck dudes.. never owned one and never will..

I've had two high-priced AGM batteries fail in relatively short time periods in my trucks. First was an Optima Red Top, second was an Odyssey, which replaced the Optima. Can't remember how long the Optima lasted but they cost less back then so it didn't sting so bad; the Odyssey was $220 at the time I bought it and it lasted 4.5 years. When it went bad in 2021 the price for the same battery had climbed to $260. Today? An Odyssey group 78 is $332 or an "extreme" group 78 is $385. They can kiss my ***. Never spending big bucks on an AGM again, they don't last any longer for the money than a regular battery.

Any decent brand group 78 is about $200 right now and all other things being good (alternator, cables) should last longer than 4.5 years. About 3 years ago I replaced the battery in my 300 SRT8 - it had a Duralast Gold in it when I bought the car, date code on it was from 2013. Failed in 2020. I did get an AGM battery for that car since I don't drive it daily, but a Champion AGM was only a few bucks more than a regular one, not anywhere near cost of an Optima or Odyssey.

Richard

 

What comes up in your search bar, when you type, "little asian ***cks"

 

I sell about 250 batteries a year, I own a marine repair business, The agm’s are made for specific applications where you can’t mount wet acid batteries. They are not “better” batteries, they are just made for unique mounting situations and where the battery can not vent properly if it leaks. I have never had a set of gels or agm outlast a set of wet acid, they do not even perform better. Unless you make a special request I install wet acid and reset chargers for such. No need for agm and heavy *** gel batteries unless you have to have them they are a waste of money.

 

Got one in my truck out of a boat and it’s damn near 10years old. Best free battery ever!

 

I went with an AGM for the battery before current in my 2012. The Advanced Autoparts AGM had a few more CCA than the platinum FLA and the Optimas in my 2000 have done very well. Just after the 3 year warranty period it got to where it would not turn the motor over on a hot start an actually drop the voltage low enough to reset the HVAC (ie, road trip stopping for fuel). Originally thought it was the starter getting too hot from the headers but after further research, troubleshooting and testing on on the battery, determined the battery had gotten weak from overcharging. When electrical loads are up, my truck will charge in the low 15V range which is too high for an AGM battery (recommended mid-14V by most manufacturers). Taking the battery out and doing a full charge with my smart charger would remedy the issue for a short period. I dealt with this for about a year till I got a new scanner that I thought could change the charging strategy in the BCM but since it couldn't, went back to a FLA. No hot start issues since changing the battery 6 months ago. We shall see if this platinum FLA lasts longer that the last AGM.

My opinion, AGM batteries are of no benefit as a stock replacement in the GMT900 trucks due to the high voltage charging strategy they use.

 

I don't have any experience with AGM, but it seems like just every battery for my vehicles here last right at 3 years. I've bought from AutoZone, Walmart, O'Reilly's, AAP. AutoZone being the around 2009 and most recent AAP. But I did buy a cheap battery in like 2019 for my k3500 when I just bought it. That's all they had in stock. We'll, that one lasted 1 year, LOL.

So last year I just decided to buy Walmart batteries. They are cheaper and last just as long. I own 6 vehicles (5 are GM with V8s and 1 V6 Penta star) so if one dies I can usually swap a good one and keep on truckin.

Unfortunately, it seems like nowadays they just die quickly and w/o much warning. I remember when I started driving in 2001 or so, batteries would start getting weaker cranking giving you ample time to at least get somewhere. Not so much today. Your warning is that clicking sound and no cranking.

 

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I usually buy the Everstart Maxx for all our vehicles because they have more CCA and CA than their Plus. They last exactly 5 years almost down the day regardless of the vehicle. Swear they have an internal timer. And they do typically give you a couple slow last starts before they totally give (which is how I knew it needed a new one - got the last final crank out of it picking up the battery).

Unfortunately our Walmart was out of the Maxx and I didn't want to step down to the Plus with lower CCA. So bought the AGM to try since the price wasn't that much more (not that the AGM was cheaper, rather the Maxx was pretty expensive for a flooded battery!) and CCA similar. Anyway, we'll see how it works out.

 

I got a Super Start AGM battery that just went out of it's 3yr Warranty in July, still going right now without any issues. I also work Part Time at an Auto Parts store (O'Reilly's) for the past 8yrs and I have not had any customer come into the store saying anything good or bad about the AGM batteries they bought. Some last right up to the warranty, some don't and some last past the warranty. We replace them as needed.

But nobody including me can or could say "Wow, great battery, cranking power is great, long lasting!!" To me and other customers its just another battery that's a little more expensive.

Chad