I need to change my car battery. Does anyone have any insight into a good brand and what spec it needs to be?

thanks

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_264171_langId_-1_categoryId_165762

I personally have always used Halfords calcium batteries in all my past cars and will continue doing so =) 4 year guarantee is useful if ever it fails before time and you can claim a new one, not that I've ever owned a car long enough to try it, but can't complain to be honest, they do the job just fine!

you wont beat Varta ,Bosch or Exide

you wont beat Varta ,Bosch or Exide

Someone on this site just bought a new battery on Moggytechs recomendation, it took a long time for the penny drop but he eventually bought a Boch Silver £80 Ouch!! You should stick to the top brands but maybe not as much.

halfords seem to sell the same model for £110 and it has a 5 year warranty so its not too bad

Whats the difference between a normal and calcium battery.

About Ten Quid

Calcium technology is better at preventing antimony deposits building up on the negative plates.

In more simple terms, they last longer than normal ones due to what Moggy said above, hence why they carry a longer guarantee than normal batteries..

As said already, buy a quality battery, maybe with only a normal garantee as buying a crap battery with a great garantee for the same money means that when it fails early - and it probably will, you will need to get the car to the battery shop to get your new FOC crap battery. IE avoid KwikFit if they are still playing that tune!

Buy Bosch Car Battery with 5 Year Guarantee, i got one from Euro-car parts for £90 In the winter car starts every time first time.

Edited 25 December, 200916 yr by Guest

I personally have always used Halfords calcium batteries in all my past cars and will continue doing so =) 4 year guarantee is useful if ever it fails before time and you can claim a new one, not that I've ever owned a car long enough to try it, but can't complain to be honest, they do the job just fine!

Bosche silver plus mate 5 year garentee! plus i may be able to get a discount for u!

working there has its bonuses i supose lol if only part time and acounting student the rest of it!:p

Edited 25 December, 200916 yr by lex2311

lol.. I would go for Bosch but to be honest most of my previous cars have been JDM imports which require the little battery terminals and weird size batteries so could never get my hands on other brands other than Halfords, but for the time being the Fab has a new battery fitted since September this year, so not needing one yet.. will see when I decide to sell up the Nissan Skyline Estate and get something else :p

Cheers, my mate has a trade card, so can get the 4 year calcium one from halfords for £67 down from £99, gonna pick one up tomorrow

Cheers, my mate has a trade card, so can get the 4 year calcium one from halfords for £67 down from £99, gonna pick one up tomorrow

you can probably pick up a bosche one for about the same price from halfords (bout 6 quid extra)

Edited 26 December, 200916 yr by lex2311

Good grief, batteries are expensive these days, I haven't bought one for more than 20years when they were about £15-£20.

I was pleasantly surprised- got a Bosch one for the Lupo from GSF for under 40 quid, 3 year guarantee.

Halfords = ££££ IME.

Good grief, batteries are expensive these days, I haven't bought one for more than 20years when they were about £15-£20.

Raw material used in battery construction has sky rocketed. The technology has come a long way as well. Halfords are quite expensive, but their batteries are good quality, and not everyone lives close to a motor factor. The only batteries I don't think are worth the extra money are the silver oxide ones. I had two fail in the Moggy in a matter of weeks. They do not seem to be able to recover from a deep discharge like standard or calcium batteries.

For christ sake just done a 30 mile round trip to Halfords and I think Ive got the wrong bloody battery!

Their stupid Instore list, lists the Bosch Silver HSB012 as suitable for the Fabia VRS and on the website its the HSb 096

FFS

HSB012 I think is for Fabia 1.2 Petrol, It's only 54Ah capacity

its the 096 you want trust me i hate those charts i wish theyd take them off so you had to go to parts and ask!

Went back and got an 096 just a halfords own brand calcium 4 year.

old battery must have been a state, the glow plug light only comes on for like half a second now, on the old battery it would stay on for 5 seconds some days

The only batteries I don't think are worth the extra money are the silver oxide ones. I had two fail in the Moggy in a matter of weeks. They do not seem to be able to recover from a deep discharge like standard or calcium batteries.

Is the Moggy's charging system modernised?

Is the Moggy's charging system modernised?

Yes it runs a flat back Ford Sierra alternator. Output 14.2 to 14.4 Volts. Fine with calcium batteries, but two silver oxide ones just died.

Edited 27 December, 200916 yr by MoggyTech