I have heard from several people that the AZ heat kills auto batteries or shortens their life. Is there any truth to this, or is it a crap shoot on how long they last. Is there a brand or type of battery that is better for the AZ climate? I have a '13 F150 with the original Motorcraft battery that still cranks fine, but I am starting to think about doing a preventive replacement.

Most batteries will not last more than 3 years.
We have one car made in 2007 that takes a size that is only made by AC Delco, and that one never lasts more than two years.

Make sure to check the water levels in your battery, top it off as needed with.distilled water only. That will prolong your battery life.

I think 6 years on a factory battery is damn good!  Two years ago I lived in the Midwest where it would get down to -20 some winters, but my truck cranked every time. There are only like 3 companies that make auto batteries and Johnson Controls makes the same batteries found at Costco, Wal-Mart or an Interstate battery dealer. I have read up about the Optima dry cell batteries and I guess they are POS's for the price. A lot of people are reporting that they don't last very long.

Optima batteries were fantastic when they first came out and were made in the USA. I was getting 6-8 years on them.
Then the company was bought out and for a couple of years they were crap.
The last couple of years they have gotten much better and I use them in all my personal vehicles except for one they don't have a size that fits.

There is still a lot of hate out there for Optima batteries.
As a side note they are not dry batteries.

3 years is lucky.

I've bought expensive ones, I've bought cheap ones.

Now I just buy whatever has the longest warranty at Wal-mart.

Wal-Mart is good about the warranty, I have had them replace a battery no questions asked.

This. Get the Duracell with the three year warranty. That usually covers it. I had one last year that only made it 6 months, took it in and they replaced it no questions asked.

I also carry a lithium charger / jump box with me just in case. I have helped a few people who were stranded and it is a nice piece of mind knowing that I have it.

Optima batteries are improving?  Well woop-dee-doo.  When they moved their manufacturing from Colorado to Mexico, the quality went into the toilet.  I was getting five years out of a set.  (My truck takes two.)  The Mexican Optima batteries lasted maybe nine to 18 months and caused the terminals to corrode.  This at twice to 3x the price of a regular flooded cell battery.  A PR guy at Optima had the brass to tell me that they moved manufacturing to Mexico to improve quality.  F them.

Yes, it's true that the heat kills batteries in low altitude Arizona.  If you use flooded cell batteries, you can extend their life by adding distilled water regularly.  I quit bothering with that noise years ago because the failure mode is bad.  The battery works OK, then just quits without warning.  Not like in normal climates where it slows down.  It just quits, sort of like when you have eight gallons of ice cream for the kid's birthday party in the car and it's 117F outside and the car won't crank.  Or you're 35 miles from pavement, there's no cell service, and it's 117F outside, and you'll die before you get to cell service.

Now, I use the Batteries+ house brand AGM batteries.  I get three to five years out of them and call that a victory.  An expensive victory, but it is what it is.  I wish Costco would sell Interstate AGM batteries.

Now you might ask why I don't use regular flooded cell batteries for my in-town cars.  A fair question, that.  I've gotten spoiled by AGM batteries and their complete and utter failure to corrode the battery terminals.  They also don't splash acid all over the place.  Splashing acid ruins connections under the battery trays, and nearby.  Many cars & trucks have their computers and other sensitive electronics near the batteries.  The acid and the acid mist cause corrosion that results in peculiar electronic gremlins & quonlans that defy diagnosis.  The extra cost and longer life of AGM batteries (except for the #@&% Optimas) make it worthwhile to me.

But I really don't have strong opinions on the matter.  

This, or the Auto Zone Gold, also has a 3 year replacement,  then a 2 year prorated. I'm happy when any battery makes it past 2 years here.

Ya go to Costco and buy the battery and exchange it every 2 years( no questions asked)  for free . They have Interstate ,and Interstate's are as good as any .

Never gotten less than 4 years out of any of mine. Been in the Valley my entire life. Always either factory batteries, or Costco.

But another factory motocraft.
Or a Deka, or a Panasonic. I’m giving optima another go, I had one ten years ago or more that lasted through 6 years, 3 off-road toys, and 1 rollover. I heard they had gone to shit and then got better, so I put one in my truck last summer.

I do the autozone batteries w/ a warranty. I usually get 3-5 years out of my batteries.

no idea how any of you get more than 3 years out of a battery unless its mounted under the seat or in the trunk which is common with many Euro vehicles.

I used to be upset I couldn't get more than 3 years out of a battery.  Now I get upset when the posts rip and battery acid ruins my battery terminals & cables inside of 18 months.   And that is whether they get installed by Costco or Sams Club or myself.  Such garbage.

I am now trying NAPA batteries.  Whenever a company comes out with a good battery, they get bought out by Johnson controls and they milk the revenues by dropping costs and quality.

If my battery manages to make it to 3 years, I just replace it before the next big seasonal temperature change.

I get my batteries at Costco.  I wanna say they are Interstate ???  usually they have  a 3 year warranty and i get whatever the AGM version is.  I also put a reminder in my phone for 2 years from when I purchase it because usually around that time is when I will start to have battery/starting issues.  Then its back to costco for a new battery.

I always get the Autozone batteries, and if you get 3-4 years out of batteries in the Arizona heat, you are doing good.

There are only a couple of battery manufacturers in the world.  All you're really doing is picking the color of the case is comes in.

I buy mine from Costco.

they can build it to any price/quality point requested by a vendor...  its just everyone sells crap.

I run Optimas, the OEM units usually get me 25-40k, switch to optimas and have never had one fail me before I sell the truck typically around 90-100k.  Maybe I’ve just been lucky but they seem to hold up for me.

I've put four SETS (2ea) of Optimas in my DMAX in less than 10 years. I'm not spending another cent on them.

Get an Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery. Water evaporation reduced by  greater than 90%. Sams Club sells the Duracell brand for a reasonable price. Northstar and Odyssey are other options.

I may have to take Sam's Club up on one of their trial offers because I am not a member.  My go-to AGM is the house brand at Batteries Plus.  The most current example is a six year old Batteries Plus house brand AGM Group 35 that is just now slowing down in one of my cars.  I am hoping to squeeze a few more months out of it.

But six years out of any battery in low altitude Arizona is more than satisfactory.

good to know.

I have been only buying my AGM batterys from interstate in mesa on Broadway

Optima is AGM= absorbed glass mat. Maintenance free.  I have five in service right now and have never gotten less than 5 years from one.

The very first really hot days and really cold days tax a starting system.  That is when many AZ batteries die. If you really want to push it, keep your AAA membership paid up.

They were Johnson Controls, last time I looked.  It sucks that Costco stopped carrying Optima.

I put Costco batts in a couple cars I sold.  My golf cart has 6 Costco batteries in it.