Car Batteries

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#100342 10-Apr-2012 08:59

Hi There!

Wow did I get a shock today, I need to replace the battery on my v8 Audi, to find that the cost installed was $300, and the entry point for car batteries seems to be $227 Installed.

Does that seem right? Last time I replaced a battery 3 years ago it was $135 installed.

Cheers

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#607276 10-Apr-2012 09:07

Someone has found a way to turn lead into gold?

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#607277 10-Apr-2012 09:08

Blue: It would seem so!

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#607287 10-Apr-2012 09:28

Seems quite reasonable to me to be honest.

All the larger European cars are packed with electronic gizmos these days so in the scheme of things $300 for a car worth 100-200 times that is a pittence.

Not that Im putting a value on your Audi, just making a general statement on large, expensive European cars. Im currently on my ninth BMW :)

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#607289 10-Apr-2012 09:29

Go to Supercheapauto.co.nz they have batteries for sale online, you can compare the price. Installing a battery is generally pretty easy:

Disconnect the old one, connect the new one.
Some cars, probably including yours, need pin codes for alarms and stereos reset when current drops from the system. Your manual should include this.

Jon

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#607300 10-Apr-2012 09:45

jonh: Sorry to ask a dumb question, but how do you compare? They don't seem to sell the same brands, so I am trying to work out how to find a comparable car battery for my specific vehicle.

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#607303 10-Apr-2012 09:46

Yes sounds correct I use to sell these things years ago and not cheap DIN88

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#607304 10-Apr-2012 09:56

Hmm their Website says DIN66 620CA will that not work?

xpd

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#607307 10-Apr-2012 10:09

Replaced battery in my fathers Laser the other week, was $147 from Repco (only auto shop that was open). Remember paying around $80 for a battery for my old Tredia in the late 90's and thought that was expensive .... how things have changed.

XPD / Gavin

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#607318 10-Apr-2012 10:24

The Price for lead 6 years ago was about $400 USD per tonne, now its about $2000 USD per tonne. Given the average car battery is made up of 40% lead then you can see why prices have jumped.

It is hard to compare batteries and pricing unless you know exactly what you are getting.

ie;
There are lead antimony batteries, these were the most common and only ones that can used in cars pre 2000 as the alternators only put out 14.4 volts and the newer calciu, need about 14.8 to charge.

Calcium batteries are the newer type and have longer shelf life and generally better cranking amps but the trade off is longevity of battery. Mostly all sealed maintenance free batteries are calcium.

The 3 main suppliers in NZ , Exide, Cenrury Yuasa and HCB, get most of thier batteries from one of 2 suppliers in Korea and these are very good batteries. Supercheap used to get thier's from the Phillipines but not sure now. Other suppliers get them from Thailand, not sure about China but as they produce mainly for Euro and American market they can't supply the range required for Australasia.

Also just because a battery looks the same the insides maybe totally differant as plate numbers and size can vary a lot.

Basically find a reputable Auto Electrician and brand and stick with it. Don't get carried away with 1,2 and 3 year warranties as this is only a marketing gimmickj and you can't contract out of the CGA. Most batteries are designed to last about 3 years on normal use.

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#607323 10-Apr-2012 10:35

jeffnz: Most batteries are designed to last about 3 years on normal use.

My father hadnt changed the battery in his Laser since he bought it, about 7 years ago. :)
Needless to say, it was poked ;)

New one was a lot smaller as well, so made the car lighter straight away, and amazingly (I'm saying this with a huge amount of sarcasm) the aircon didnt need to be on to keep the car idling nicely.... :-p Which my father couldnt figure out (hes old).

XPD / Gavin

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#607330 10-Apr-2012 10:51

@ XPD
yes some batteries will last a lot longer based on where they live, climate and thier normal use. 20 years ago the batteries made by Lucas in Auckland regulalry lasted for a lot longer as thier plates were thicker but they changed when batteries were being imported from Asian countries as they couldn't compete with pricing and imported batteries had thinner plates.

A real basic rule of thumb used to be that the more surface area of plates, be it larger plates or more, the more cranking amps you get. Car batteries are generally only supposed to start the car and then the alternator takes over but with all the gadgets that a car now runs the more drain on a battery. A perfect example is Taxi batteries these generally last about 6 months as they sit with lights, stereo etc on and nothing going into battery, once the car starts the alternator pours a charge into it which heats plates and if for too long they bend and the active material falls out and that lessens the output on battery until such a stage it ceases to have sufficiant power to start a car but is still fully charged.

A lot of people say thier battery "isn't holding a charge" which is generally incorrect and being a grudge purchase the battery is always blamed but true warranty batteries are rare possibly below 1 %.

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#607388 10-Apr-2012 12:55

Hi,

Couple of things, assuming you have the 4.2L V8.

- The factory recommends 110Ah batteries although you can get away with 90Ah just fine. I bought my D2 S8 with a 55Ah battery and it started fine for 4-5 months.
- The Audi/BMW batteries are not as tall as 'normal' batteries found in japanese (and possibly other european) cars so be careful what you buy as it might not fit.
- The positive and negative terminals are the other way around, not like you find them in most batteries.
- I found a reasonably priced battery on trademe (with a 2 year warranty) but I don't remember if it was $220 or $250. It's the 90Ah model if I recall correctly. Have a look and see what you can find.
- The D2-S8/A8 has the battery in the boot.

Cheers.

riahon

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#607398 10-Apr-2012 13:21

johnr: Yes sounds correct I use to sell these things years ago and not cheap DIN88

Same, the european style batteries were often a lot dearer than those for Jap cars. We could speculate the many reasons why but $300 sounds about right. Quality matters when buying a battery and if you get 4 to 5 years out of one and you consider the thousands of starts required then the price isn't that bad. Pushing is cheaper, except if it is an auto then pushing will only get you fit.

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#607402 10-Apr-2012 13:29

Two years ago my battery failed while in a parking building in town (jap car), only option was to call AA and get one delivered. AA Mobile battery guy arrives, quotes in excess of $220 for a battery than offers another option. $80 cash and he'd pass me a near new AA one. Two years on still works like a charm. Few weeks later my dad had to put new battery in his V6 Volvo... he's still recovering from the shock. Cost of living a.

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#607420 10-Apr-2012 14:04

call the AA breakdown

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