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You don’t want to wait until the day your car doesn’t start to begin researching replacement car batteries. Eventually, your car’s battery will run out of charge and needing a replacement is part of your car’s maintenance. Generally, you will likely have to replace your car’s battery once or twice during its life, although there are products you can purchase to help maintain and extend your car’s battery life. But that’s not what this article is about—you’re likely here because you’re shopping for a replacement car battery.
There are two general types of automotive batteries: Lead-acid (regular) and Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM). Lead-acid batteries typically cost less than AGM batteries but won’t hold a charge for as long. AGM batteries, on the other hand, are designed to withstand routine draining and recharging cycles. Most modern vehicles with high-tech features such as start/stop systems now come from the factory with AGM batteries, which is why most of our recommendations on this list are AGM batteries. They may be more expensive, but they offer better long-term performance by withstanding deep discharges and are more likely to be recovered if they’ve been accidentally drained.
Batteries also come in different sizes and terminal types, so you’ll want to check your car’s manual to get the right one prior to purchasing. You may notice some of the battery models on our list are similar but with different top terminals—make sure you’re getting the one you need.
As you browse through our list, you’ll see that we’ll highlight a couple features for most of the batteries. One of them is cold cranking amps (CCA), which measures how well a battery can start your car in cold weather conditions. Another feature is reserve capacity, which is how long a battery can run if any parts of your car’s charging system fails.
For more information on the best replacement car batteries, refer to our table of contents.