ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 983
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Good car batteries ferny
@ferny
Club Retro Rides Member 13
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I've been lucky with the Herald in that I've only gone through two batteries in 14 years. One was a Halfords 3-year one which lasted 9 despite being taken down to 0 volts multiple times! The Bosch replacement has never been a good one - I've never been confident in it. It's also now saying it only holds 6v.
Who makes good batteries now? Ordinarily I'd grab a Halfords one on trade but thought I'd check other people opinions first.
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I only ever use Bosch or Yuasa. Both are first class.
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 Specialist Bodyshop & Fabrication Classic, Retro, Prestige & Custom Small Repairs to Concours Restorations Mechanical Work Vintage to Modern |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Good car batteries Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
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Very odd to see people recommending Bosch. In the trade they’re generally classed as junk, they rarely make it to the end of of their warranty and often create weird faults on newer vehicles that are finicky about voltages.
Yuasa and varta both seem pretty decent for the price, I tend to stick to them as they have good long warranty periods and make some odd sizes that other manufacturers don’t. I’ve never had to return one.
Halfords batteries are pretty decent as you say, but you’ll will be paying over the odds for them versus a branded equivalent from tayna.
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Last Edit: Apr 9, 2020 18:37:14 GMT by Dez
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Good car batteries ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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I’ll update this late with evidence, but as Dez said, Bosch are absolute junk.
Halfords and Exides seem to last well
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 983
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Good car batteries ferny
@ferny
Club Retro Rides Member 13
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Thanks everyone. I expected the Bosch to be a good buy, but there's just something I don't like about it and I can't explain what. For clarity, I'm a Bosch fanboy when it comes to tools and oil filters.
I've had a measure and might be able to fit a bigger battery with 4 year life. £43 on trade at halfords instead of £92 - huge difference!
I just need to do some research about using stop/start batteries in "normal" cars.
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I always buy via Tayna batteries on ebay, they do budget to names at good prices and quick delivery.
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Needs a bigger hammer mate.......
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Good car batteries ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Found a reply which I wrote elsewhere:
The one thing which has helped keep my battery expenditure down is a smartcharger (fancy battery charger). This has come in very handy.
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logicaluk
Posted a lot
Every days a school day round here
Posts: 1,305
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Apr 16, 2020 13:23:24 GMT
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IIRC halfords batteries are made by Varta, I tend to fit Halfords or Exide, except for the Duracell iv got in the civic
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Apr 20, 2020 17:24:43 GMT
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I have had a Varta Silver battery for about 7 years, the first 5 when I worked 20 miles from home, but the last 2 years a change of job to only 3 miles from home, not good for the car or batt, but it has not complained! The car is a BMW E46 323 petrol, the batt is supposed to be for a 330 diesel, so its overrated for the car, its 95 AH, (AmpHour) and 800 CCA.
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Apr 20, 2020 19:57:48 GMT
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I must have fitted 200+ Bosch Batteries to cars and have only ever had two put in 2 warranty claims and have never heard a bad word from anyone about Bosch batteries and there are certainly no issues with them causing any problems with cars electrics, that’s total nonsense.
I’ve fitted maybe 50 Exides over the years and have had 5 or 6 warranty claims, so usually steer clear of those if I can as that’s a high failure rate and two came “dead”, but maybe just luck of the draw.
Yuasa I’ve fitted maybe 100 and not a single claim to date.
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Specialist Bodyshop & Fabrication Classic, Retro, Prestige & Custom Small Repairs to Concours Restorations Mechanical Work Vintage to Modern |
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Apr 20, 2020 20:02:44 GMT
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In there interest of subjectiveness, as the Bosch S5 was singled out as being unreliable, I’ve actually only fitted a handful of S5s. The vast majority have been S3s or S4s and many years ago someone who taught me a lot advised me to get an S4 for my car rather than an S5 and told me it was the best battery. I can’t remember the reason why now, but that battery lasted a hell of a lot longer than 4 years!
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Specialist Bodyshop & Fabrication Classic, Retro, Prestige & Custom Small Repairs to Concours Restorations Mechanical Work Vintage to Modern |
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Apr 20, 2020 20:11:26 GMT
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This was my last yuasa battery, filled the boot with steam, wouldn’t restart the car either, not sure why,
Can always get a battery From eurocarparts, 6 months Before warranty expires, take the battery out, stick a headlight Bulb on it until it goes flat, they just replace it no questions, new battery for next 2-3 years
I thought to do it but lost the receipt after about 2 days of buying the battery lol
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Last Edit: Apr 20, 2020 20:12:27 GMT by pauly22
1994 BMW 525i touring
2004 BMW Z4 sorn and broken
1977 Ford Escort
1982 Ford Capri getting restored
1999 Mazda B2500 daily driver.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Good car batteries ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Apr 20, 2020 21:06:12 GMT
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In there interest of subjectiveness, as the Bosch S5 was singled out as being unreliable, I’ve actually only fitted a handful of S5s. The vast majority have been S3s or S4s and many years ago someone who taught me a lot advised me to get an S4 for my car rather than an S5 and told me it was the best battery. I can’t remember the reason why now, but that battery lasted a hell of a lot longer than 4 years! The last car I had with an S3 in was spot on ; the 944 Turbo. The S2 with an S3 wasn't quite as good but that also was a 6+ year old battery in the car. The most surprising battery was the M3's ; a genuine BMW battery. It only just went a little 'iffy' after 15 years of use. That was partially my fault for probably leaving the car idle for longer than it ever has been ; 4 months. I didn't trickle charge it either, so it didn't really stand a chance. The replacement from BMW wasn't stupid money either to be fair. |
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Last Edit: Apr 20, 2020 21:06:52 GMT by ChasR
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Apr 20, 2020 21:24:12 GMT
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Bosch and Varta get my vote, bought them many times and never an issue even at eight years old. I've had great success with BMW branded batteries many years ago. The batteries were supplied dry with the acid separate, those were spot on for ten or twelve years.
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Last Edit: Apr 20, 2020 21:49:15 GMT by Woofwoof
Still learning...still spending...still breaking things!
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Apr 20, 2020 23:16:58 GMT
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had some bad experiences from Bosch tools, had a grinder and a drill and cordless lawnmower all die prematurely from electronic failure, (black and decker grinder still running after 25 years!) Yuasa seem good but the batteries that regularly surprise me with how old they are and still work are Varta.
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69 Plymouth Fury Convertible
75 Range Rover 2 door
82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door
78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
78 Datsun 120Y Coupe
78 Datsun 620 Pickup
81 Datsun Urvan E23
86 Datsun Vanette van
98 Electric Citroen Berlingo
00 Electric Peugeot Partner
02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
76 Honda C50
04 Berlingo Multispace petrol
07 Land Rover 130
15 Nissan E-NV200
15 Fiat Ducato
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This was my last yuasa battery, filled the boot with steam, wouldn’t restart the car either, not sure why, Can always get a battery From eurocarparts, 6 months Before warranty expires, take the battery out, stick a headlight Bulb on it until it goes flat, they just replace it no questions, new battery for next 2-3 years I thought to do it but lost the receipt after about 2 days of buying the battery lol There must be something wrong with the car. Its overcharging the batt, and its boiling. Thats not steam, its acid vapour, Dangerous! Measure the voltage across the batt with the engine running, more than 15-16 volts, I bet. |
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lrman
Part of things
Posts: 41 
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Apr 23, 2020 21:24:41 GMT
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Would be either a Varta or a Moll if it was my money. I’ve worked for manufacturers that use both and they last well outside there warranty. Only had one issue with Moll batteries that was recognised by them and all stock recalled.
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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Apr 25, 2020 10:06:17 GMT
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I've always bought Bosch batteries and never had issue so it's interesting to hear the problems people have had with them.
A bit leftfield but I bought a Duracell battery for my 924 which has seen me well. I did only buy it for novelty value as it looked cool.
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Last Edit: Apr 25, 2020 10:06:38 GMT by shin2chin
1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924
1974 VW Beetle 1600
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