TonyG

As the scoob is occasionally a bit sluggish starting up in the mornings, it looks like I'll be needing a new battery before the winter sets in. Any recommendations?

scoobyloopy

I'm interested to

Mister_DJ

and me.

GU5

Halfords, 4 year guarantee, £60, job done!

You may be able to get them cheaper elsewhere, but if it does go wrong you can take it back to any of their branches easily.

Ken Ross

Remember to buy the Smaller ones :-

scoobyster

Are the Halfords ones any good though?

My Lucas batt is losing charge (sufficiently to confuse the alarm, let alone start) within 2 to 3 weeks - admittedly the car isn't being used at all, need to sort out a solar trickle charger (see other thread). Does that mean it's knackered or it is now having been deep cycled twice? It had a 3 year warranty, guess how old it is

The OE Panasonic battery lasted ~7 years in my MY95 and family has one that still works fine in a MY98. I think I've seen Varta batteries have lifetime warranty, presumably they know they can afford this as most people will have sold the car before the battery fails.

Ken Ross

If it last the length of the warranty then I would be happy. If it doesn't then they replace it.

madmoog

iTrader: (1)

Buying a battery from Halfruads would be like buying a tyre from NTS, ATS, camcorders from Dixons or any other large chain! Most people (though probaby not on here so much) think that large reputable chains offer good value to their customers, the truth of the matter is that they find it even easier to fleece them (not to mention the cartel like pricing, opps did I say that?)

I get mine from the local Lucas place, LSUK I think is their trading name and essentially you pay trade type prices on all their eletrical goods and a wide range of other automotive stuff. I wouldn't go anywhere else, unless I found it cheaper elsewhere and I never have for batteries.

Last example was a heavy duty one for the girlfriends car, £50+ from Halfords and just over £20 from Lucas and a long gaurantee to boot, pity she sold the car 3 months later.....

Graz

Got a Halfrauds one on mine, works fine, £60, 5 year warranty IIRC and I got a £10 voucher to spend (spent on Meguiars ).

That said I wouldn't normally buy a battery from them but mine decided to die on a Sunday morning and they were the only place open.

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Halfords Batteries are made by Yuasa in Birmingham, not a bad product but def overpriced. I got an identical battery but with a different brand name from a local trade place for 25 quid!

Dan.

Col Stone

The ones you get from Subaru dealers are VARTA you can get them from an auto factors for £40 with a 4 year garuntee the battery number is D27W.
Cheers Col

Rachael Rocket

Have just asked this question on maybe the wrong area (general tech) my battery is 4 years old and seems to be on its way out now.

don't use the car during the week an it if i'm lucky it starts on a wkend, if not a little push an it fires fine.

is that why the alarm bleeps wen it starts??

been quoted £51 for the best Bosch they do (any gud)??

thought the tracker might be not helping matters. do they use alot of juice wen stood?

& if i take battery out will i loose code on radio or effect tracker 2 system

onslow

mine is the same

when i turn the ignition the alarm chirps for about a second and the engine turns over sluggishly
im only doing 100-120 miles a week and its mostly short journeys to work and back
if i go for a long drive its ok for the next couple of starts then its the same
ive got the standard alarm, another immobilser and a tracker sucking juice all the time

if i wass to disconnect and charge the battery overnight how would this affect the ecu/car when i recoonect the battery???????

scoobyster

Rachael, that's not a bad price for the Bosch, cheaper than Halfords' own brand effort, but see the posts above for cheaper deals. Yes the alarm beep on start up is a knackered battery warning. Check your radio and tracker manuals re disconnecting the battery - I know there is a set proceedure with my Clifford alarm to let it know that it's about to have its power disconnected, for example. Most headunits don't bother with codes these days, are you sure yours needs one?

Onslow, I don't see why you need to disconnect the battery to charge it - I never have done. Unless you need to remove the battery from the car to get it close enough to a mains socket of course... The ECU will reset itself if it has no power over night, that's not really a problem if your car is healthy though. You also need to consider the power needs of the alarm and tracker.

onslow

i charged my battery over the weekend and it seems a bit livelier

i checked the voltage before charging and it was 12.1 volts which seems a bit low
and there is also a .5 amp drain on the battery(disconnected the earth and connected amp meter from lead to battery)
does this seem a bit high?????

John 37

0.5 A is high.
Was the interior light on?
Is the boot light staying on?

onslow

no ive checked all the lights and they go off when everything is shut

it jumped to 0.7a when i first connected it then levelled out at 0.5a
i charged the battery sunday and it hasnt been so bad all week

would having the alarm set increase the drain more?????

rgv_stu

deta batterys are some of the best imo

but i would buy mine from vauxhall on the trade club account i have

Dazapc

VARTA....
I've been fitting them for last 3yrs to Motorbikes,Cars,Motorhomes,HGV's,PSV's & Heavy plant machinery CAT,JCB,VOLVO,etc... and IMHO cant fault there reliability and after sale service when (very rare!) a battery has a fault!

Daza....
Auto Sparky