Does Costco Test Car Batteries? (All You Need To Know!)

So, your car battery is damaged or do you think it is damaged. What do you do now? Can you head to Costco to get your battery tested?

Yes. Costco does test car batteries. You will need to go to a Costco that has an Auto Center. However, the vast majority of Costco stores do, so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It is completely free to have your car battery tested at Costco.

Let’s answer some of the more burning questions that people often have when it comes to Costco battery testing, shall we?

Does Costco Test Car Batteries?

There does seem to be a little bit of confusion about this.

Generally speaking, if your Costco has an Auto Center, then they will test the car battery for you. They will do this completely free of charge, and the process only takes a couple of minutes. They are doing this with the expectation that you actually plan on purchasing a car battery from them.

Evidence does suggest that if you are taking a faulty battery back to them (i.e. one that you have purchased from Costco), then they will not test the battery at all.

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Instead, they will just swap it out and give you a new one. However, you will likely need to show them the receipt for your battery here. This is because the Costco batteries only have a 2-year warranty.

Still, even in the latter case, we suggest that you only return batteries that are truly faulty. While a lot of people do report that Costco won’t test those returned batteries, they can do.

This means that if you try to return a battery works, they are just going to turn you away.

Here is the device I use to test my car battery. You can get that on Amazon, great quality and a lot of positive reviews.

Does Costco Sell Replacement Car Batteries?

Yes. The whole reason why Costco is happy to test your battery for free is that they want you to purchase your new car batteries from them. While they will test your batteries, even if you do not plan to purchase from Costco, it isn’t really the type of service that they want to offer.

Costco keeps a huge selection of car batteries in stock. Unless you have something incredibly unique in your vehicle, then chances are that Costco is going to have that battery on offer for you.

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If you don’t know what type of battery you are after, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. If you have brought in your old car battery for testing, the team at Costco will be able to give you a like for like replacement.

Remember, Costco only sells their own brand of car batteries (this is currently the Kirkland range). These are high-quality batteries, often produced by some of the largest battery manufacturers in the world, so you know that if you buy them, they are going to end up being good quality.

They all have a 2-year warranty.

Below you can see 3 of the best car batteries out there:

Will Costco Install a New Battery For You?

No. Costco will not install a new car battery for you. If you purchase a car battery from them after determining that the old one is no longer working, then you have just two options available to you:

• You install the battery yourself, which is the preferred option if you have a car battery. They aren’t tricky to install.
• You go somewhere else to get the battery installed.

The problem is that if you go somewhere else to get the battery installed, it is going to cost you a considerable amount of cash.

Most companies prefer you to buy your car batteries directly from them, so they make prices prohibitively expensive on installation.

As we said, we highly recommend that you try and install a new car battery from Costco yourself. The process isn’t too hard and, in most vehicles, the battery is easily accessible.

It is a case of sliding out the old one and clipping the new one into place.

If you do run into any issues, then we are positive that one of the countless numbers of YouTube tutorials will be able to help you out.

How To Test & Replace A Car Battery – COSTCO vs WALMART >> Check out the video below:

Should You Take Your Car Battery To Costco To Get Tested?

If you believe that your car battery is broken and you do plan on purchasing a new one, then we do suggest that you take your car battery to Costco.

It is probably going to be the quickest, and perhaps the most affordable, way to get your hands on a brand-new car battery.

As we said a bit earlier, the products that Costco sells will be their own-brand products. However, this is completely fine. People absolutely love Costco car batteries.

This is because they are built to incredibly high standards. They will often be a good 10-20% cheaper than some of the competing batteries on the market. 

The only downside to getting a brand-new battery from Costco is that they are not going to be able to install the battery for you.

This means that you will either need to take the battery to be installed elsewhere (which will cut into the amount of cash that you have saved on the battery), or you will need to have a rough idea on how you can replace it yourself.

Of course, you will need to have a Costco membership if you want to purchase a car battery from Costco. We probably wouldn’t recommend getting a membership purely to buy a battery.

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Final Word

If you have a broken car battery, you will be pleased to know that Costco will test it for you. This means that you do not have to spend a ton of cash on buying expensive battery testing equipment.

While Costco will test any car battery for you, their goal is to get you to purchase a new battery from them.

This means that we wouldn’t really recommend that you head to Costco for battery testing unless you have a plan to purchase a brand-new battery from them. 

References

https://www.costco.com/automotive-batteries.html