5 year old battery

VYMAD · #1 14-06-2008, 12:48 PM

Just bought a new battery today, $143!!!! Any way i asked the bloke when he was fitting it whether or not he could tell me the age of the old one, he showed me where the code was on it, it said J3. He explained that the j meant the number of months so j = 10th month and 3 meant 2003. So the battery had been in the car since new. The old one was an Exide, so i got the same thing. I thought that five years was pretty good, anyone had one for longer?

Shounak · #2 14-06-2008, 01:07 PM

You can buy batteries with a 5year guarantee, so it's nothing special. If you check the electrolyte levels and don't run your car to flat (ie with headlights overnight), a well maintained battery should easily last 5 years. Also assuming that your alternator and regulator work fine.

$143 is massive amount to pay for a battery. I paid $80 for my last battery. Fitting it was just three nuts.

AirStrike · #3 14-06-2008, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shounak

You can buy batteries with a 5year guarantee, so it's nothing special. If you check the electrolyte levels and don't run your car to flat (ie with headlights overnight), a well maintained battery should easily last 5 years. Also assuming that your alternator and regulator work fine.

$143 is massive amount to pay for a battery. I paid $80 for my last battery. Fitting it was just three nuts.

Depends what you want from a battery. If you want to buy a cheap one so be it. I purchased a 550cca sealed battery for the SS that cost me around $120-130 from memory.

Shounak · #4 14-06-2008, 02:26 PM

Mine's a Century battery, so it's not a cheap one.

But then, I have a stock Commo 6 with no stereo system, used a lot for highway driving. It's never let me down and this one has a 1 or 2 year guarantee, which is well and truly over by now.

Why do you need such an expensive battery for the SS? Are you running something that would need it? For most stock cars an expensive battery is pointless overkill.

I can't think of any benefit I would receive from buying a $130 battery over my normal one.

AirStrike · #5 14-06-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shounak

Mine's a Century battery, so it's not a cheap one.

But then, I have a stock Commo 6 with no stereo system, used a lot for highway driving. It's never let me down and this one has a 1 or 2 year guarantee, which is well and truly over by now.

Why do you need such an expensive battery for the SS? Are you running something that would need it? For most stock cars an expensive battery is pointless overkill.

I can't think of any benefit I would receive from buying a $130 battery over my normal one.

I purchased that one as it is a sealed battery with plenty of CCA's since mine is in the boot mate.

immortality · #6 14-06-2008, 03:14 PM

i have a 13plate exide battey thats 6xxCCA and it's been in 3 different cars i've had and i believe i bought in 2000. been run flat a few times also but is in need of replacement soon i think

V-ahhh · #7 14-06-2008, 03:16 PM

my battery in my corolla 4 banger got 8 years out of it replaced it just last week.

VYMAD · #8 14-06-2008, 03:45 PM

I dont know what the average price of an "exide" battery is but i was up town today and when i went to start it she only just cranked over so i went to the nearest battery joint and paid what i had to to stay mobile. Hope he didn't rip me off toooooo much. It has been getting lazy for the last couple of months. The bloke said he had a three year warranty one for $160 odd. "I don't think so, just give me the first one, hey!!!"