looking for the best battery for the buck

artikulieren · 01-20-2009, 10:52 AM

My 3 month old Costco battery failed when I went to move the 87 yesterday, went to exchange it and find out they discontinued that size!!! Tried next size up but no fit so I got my money back. I probably should have just charged it but I like free exchange programs. So now I'm in the market for a new battery and want to get a real good one. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Danglerb · 01-20-2009, 11:28 AM

Consensus of last battery go around was Autozone Duralast Gold 84 month prorate, 36 month free replacement. They have a $12 core charge so bring them an old battery. I forget which big and popular battery company makes them, but so far no issues reported with many users.

artikulieren · 01-20-2009, 11:49 AM

Duralast gold is a pricey one isn't she! That makes me mad about the Costco one, it was made in the USA, had (supposedly) 36mo free replacement and a 10 yr warr. and they would not let me contact the manufacturer... I had only paid $39.99 (it was on sale) and they gave me $55.12 in cash when I gave up and returned it. I told them I wanted them to cover the cost of a actual replacement battery as per the side of the battery (3 year free replacement) and they had discontinued that unit, but it turned into a fiasco from hell and I got tired and took the money and left. Luckily the Wal Mart battery the car came with still had a good charge and the car started right up after sitting since October... Anybody running a Gel Cell? if so what brand and number?

Blau 5speed · 01-20-2009, 12:42 PM

Ummm... Charge the battery and find out why it is discharging, but if you enjoy battery exchange programs, by all means, continue...

artikulieren · 01-20-2009, 01:46 PM

It was 19 degrees yesterday and all I wanted to do was move the car from one side of the garage to the other, I wasn't really in the mood to wait 4 hours for the battery to charge- it was completely flat dead- that's what exchange programs are good for

. I suspect that the battery had been dead while we had temps in the negative double digits so I felt as though the battery was most likely compromised and possibly had frozen, not something I wanted to trust for a long time to come. I realize the battery likely just went dead from my not disconnecting it prior to parking it for the winter, I had planned to start it at least once a week and let it run but I have been very busy. The car has never seemed to have a significant draw while sitting unused, but any modernish car that sits for several months in progressively cold weather is bound to run a battery down (correct me if I'm wrong here). the purpose of my post was to see if there as a battery that proved universally popular in the 928 community, particularly a gel cell.

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danglerb

Consensus of last battery go around was Autozone Duralast Gold 84 month prorate, 36 month free replacement. They have a $12 core charge so bring them an old battery. I forget which big and popular battery company makes them, but so far no issues reported with many users.

This is one I have. Heavy beast too

Danglerb · 01-20-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artikulieren

the purpose of my post was to see if there as a battery that proved universally popular in the 928 community, particularly a gel cell.

Gel cells have had issues, but by being the most expensive battery some still "gotta" have one, but the BEST battery that has worked the BEST with the BEST warranty is the Duralast Gold. I wouldn't even consider something else at this point.

Alan in AZ · 01-23-2009, 11:33 AM

If you are going to leave you car sitting for >>1 month you will kill almost any battery... you must disconnect the battery in these cases - or connect a battery maintainer. Even the best quality batteries make virtually no difference to this... high quality gets you reliability in normal use - this isn't normal use. Letting your battery run down to <10% charge is the second worst thing you can do to it... the worst is to also let it freeze when its discharged... so you may have done both.

This is what you need to fix else any new battery will go the same way...

Alan

curt_924 · 01-23-2009, 11:58 AM

Sorry to chime in here guys... Over heard while browsing... I vote for a DieHard. The one in the 79 has been in there for the past 10 years.. never let me down. and that includes not being run for weeks at a time. About what 100 bucks or so.. 10 bucks a year.. and I bet I can go another few years..

Curt
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79 5sp silver/blk
02 boxster 5sp blk/blk