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Do auto stores buy core batteries?

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
At one time a battery was worth 10 or 12 dollars in the form of a store credit at auto zone. Do auto stores still buy junk batteries? What are they worth?
A recycler used to buy batteries by the pound. Don't remember $, it was around $0.40#
I have 6 core batteries.
 
around here you almost have to beg to get rid of old batterys unless its traded in on new batterys. your area might be diffrent
 
I just replaced one in my garden tractor. NAPA gave me a $5 core credit, then charged me $5 for something else for core. So it netted to nothing. $180 for a garden tractor battery.......

Tim
 
In my part of MN you have to turn in an old battery when buying a new one or pay $10-15 more, but they don't care how big it is, just so it's a battery. When I buy small batteries online you don't do that, so I have small batteries to turn in, and the local scrap yard pays about $8 for average car batteries. Every scrap yard I have ever dealt with buys old batteries.
 
I'm sorry, I don't know how much luck you're going to have. I work for a CAT dealer and we don't even charge a core charge. We have Deka come pick up our cores a couple times a year and they only give us a couple bucks for each battery, even our big 8D cores we only get maybe $5 bucks for. I'm sure a couple places would take them, but they're just not worth anything unfortunately.
 
I thought the battery core charge was universal all over the US? Batteries have a scrap value just like scrap metal, in fact the local scrap metal buyer here also buys batteries. They are priced per battery instead of by the pound. I ve sold skids of batteries before to them, at the time it was around $10 per battery. I ve never heard of buying a battery where you didn t get core credit by bringing in an old one, is that not a thing everywhere?
 
That is just what i was thinking, glad I do not live in New York . Rural Kings best lawn and garden battery is only $40 bucks, guess it is all about location. Here local salvage yard buys batteries just like scrap by the pound, average car battery is around $ 8.00 .
 
Ya know, I called my local AutoZone and got an answer quicker than reading all the opinions on here .... .. yes, they will take them , $10 store credit on each.
 
If I could remember, my next trip to Autozone I'll reduce my junk battery inventory.
A lot of my inventory is batteries tenants leave behind..
 
I almost always have to pay the core charge, 50 batteries last year, only 3-4 tractors we bought had an old battery in them ....
 
Local O'Reillys is paying $5 or $10 a battery (can't remember which), but it's paid to you in a gift card that can only be spent in an O'Reillys store.

The local salvage yard is only paying $2 to $4 a battery depending on size.

Thinking O'Reillys has a business twist on thier battery price, considering mark up on thier stock in the store. Probably figuring thier return is on extra sales within the store, rather than peddling batteries.

Most places that sale batteries, except old ones as a core. Or charge you a core price if you don't trade one in on a new one.

I usually don't trade a battery in for a core unless they are completely shot. But I have ways of using them until they are that far gone. If nothing else, for a battery to put on an electric fencer. A battery can fail a load test, and still be used for something like that. So my batteries pretty much have to fail a load test, and also no longer take a charge, before I am getting rid of them. I realize other people don't have any use for them, once they no longer pass a load test.
 

I wonder why they call it a core charge?
They run them thru a hammermill in order to sort out the various ingredients for recycling.

Anyways, most states require a core charge in order to promote the consumer into recycling.

Some retailers will not take orphan batteries period.
 
I just went to a wrecking yard and bought a 8 month old Interstate for $40.00 + core charge. Core charge was $10.00 for the battery. I had an old one with me.
 
Yes Interstate will pay cash for cores (our distributor does) I have been buying Walmart batteries for about 5 years now and they are working great. I started with them for price on a mower that takes a car battery. Now I just buy all of them from WW.
 
Been a couple of years ago: :)
jfMGNLp.jpg

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I m really surprised the battery core charge isn t universally the same, I had no idea it varied state to state. The odd thing here is I get the exact same $12 whether its a 1 lb motorcycle battery or a 50 lb tractor battery. Its always by the piece.
 
Lead in ingots was .40 per pound 2 weeks ago. subtract all the Sulphur, plastic, and water, and there it is. Jim
 
If I counted right that's about $10/battery.
I need to get brake pads this morning, so I'll take core
batteries to Autozone and see how many they will take.
 
Never seen an auto parts store PAY for an old battery. They are required in NY by law to ACCEPT them but they don't pay for them.

If you want to get paid you take them to the scrapyard.

NY does require all stores to charge a $5 core per battery, regardless of size, and to refund it when you bring the old battery back.

They are worth $10-$15 each at the scrapyard so I hardly ever return them to the store. I have a couple of pallets of batteries that I need to load up and take in.

This post was edited by BarnyardEngineering on 10/10/2022 at 09:07 am.
 
(reply to post at 13:06:08 10/10/22)
Click to expand...
Down here the scrapyards almost require a blood sample if you bring in more than one battery at a time.
They even require a thumbprint if your not a business that regularly brings in certain types of scrap on a regular basis.
 
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