Auto battery sticker shock

Well I just bought a large battery for my Tundra and it was $239. That same battery a few years ago was $129.

But there's no inflation. Also it's transitory. Also it's good for you. Also it's Putin's fault.

Did he send all our manufacturing to China? Maybe thats who you should blame, not the guy who tried to bring some of it back.

Get hydrochloric acid and distilled water and just refurbish the one you have..if it's not a sealed one that is, 10 bucks and a good charge.

Hope your alternator has a really good charge controller.
PS. if anyone is interested, the best batteries are made by DEKA. made in Pennsylvania.

Remember when Obama's EPA shut down the lead smelters...

By putting tariffs on imported products thereby making them even more expensive for Americans all the while enriching the 0.1% by cutting corporate taxes to the bone?

If he really wanted to bring some of that manufacturing back, he would have ended the Fed and let the petrodollar die. Instead, he did more of the same as his predecessors on both sides of the aisle. He ain't no different.

What about charging that battery? Standing one year is not a big issue. I save regularly car batteries others thought were for the trash, and I let them run in petrol and diesel cars for years.

Not having a base voltage above 8V is not a fatal problem either. I had once one from the neighbor with 2.3V across the terminals. The poor thing wasn't dead as he thought, he used it after doing the carging trick for 3 more years. To start such a deep discharged battery, make a test light from two wires and an indicator socket or solder them onto a nekkid 4W bulb. That will simulate an initial load to kick on the charging. Put the lamp on the ole battery's terminals and only then connect the too "smart" charger.

Best you get an oldschool/cheapo charger, not these fancy digital shits. And get batteries where the caps can be undone to fill the chambers with distilled water a half inch above the plates. "Maintainance free" often means no top caps below the stickers. If the plastic is sealed, the chambers still can be bored up to refill with a syringe, but you better forget that if you just heard about chargers and distilled water the first time.

Battery prices are nuts.

My cool Walmart story... had a older vehicle I let sit awhile and the new I had put in it a few months prior died, so I whipped out my fancy pants high dollar charger and charged it. Battery was 100% charged, but no start, not even a click. So I checked the electrical connections and everything is ok, still no start. So I took it back to WM, they tested it as fully charged, but it turns out the battery was completely dead. Weird.

Just a few weeks ago bought a battery for the wife's 2011 Nissan Rogue.. 185 bucks

Modern (inexpensive) electronic battery testers are able to give a good idea of the condition of a battery which has had a decent charge.

Simple load testing by a long discharge using a headlight bulb or high load engine cranking tests (as done by auto-factors) can damage an otherwise serviceable battery.

Electronic testers use tiny pulses while closely monitoring the small voltage drops and recovery time. They cost about $20. Check them out on Youtube.

Hey dummy, the hold down fits fine. It's a tad shorter and has lower CCA than the original. Big whoop. It'll still go three years like the last one did.

Why are batteries so expensive...

It's not just inflation. It's also the greenies and it started with Obama...

Obama closed all the lead producing mines. Before that, batteries were cheap...

The lead in the new batteries comes from recycled old ones. Therefore, more costs to the consumer...

Sure, we are not throwing our vehicle batteries in the landfill. The recycling companies are doing that to the ones they can't recycle...

Add on inflation and the price of copper and lead going up. You have excessive prices for vehicle batteries...

Yep. Had to replace the battery in my wife's Accord the other day. The 550 CCA exact fit battery was approx $150. Walked out with a 600 CCA battery for $54.98. Automotive associate tried to argue "that won't fit! (Battery was less than an inch wider). It DID fit. And funny enough, it's also the same battery I use in my own Altima.

Where do you find the acid, and how much at what strength do you put into the battery?

Thanks for this thread.
I have been stranded at home, miles from town because none of my old batteries will take a charge after sitting most of the winter. When I finally get to town I will be prepared to pay twice as much as expected. (remote hermit) LOL

I think the heat wave last summer was as hard on them as the below 0 winters. The temp under the auto hood in the sun last summer probably got well over 120F every day for a month. I did not think about the heat being bad for the batteries. From now on I will.

Battery for my 911 turbo is about 300. I put in a great battery for $140. If you can’t substitute a battery it’s time to turn in your man card.

I agree with this. I use golf cart batteries in my Toy Hauler, and the Deka's seem to perform much better than most.

Battery for my utv was listed as 179. I found one the same Ah and more cranking amps for $89. It was a 1/2” taller. A longer Billy for the hold down bracket and I’m in business.

People are so helpless.

It’s free if you steal it.
Stop complaining and just fucking take what you want.

They tried that with me at oreilys the other day..offer the 159$ and the 189$....I said "Son, go in the back and get one of those 109$ Economy"....like I hadn't already seen the stock on their website. I put it in a c4 corvette lol

I'm an old out of the game EZGO mechanic....Deka is OEM, and the good stuff!

Does anyone know if an extended excessive heat wave damages a battery? That is the only thing I can think of that would have damaged all my batteries. I have not heard of it before but I have never experienced such an record breaking extreme heat wave like that before either. They go dead in the brutal winters but usually take a charge in spring.

Price gouging. Call the FBI.

In the old day I could run an auto with a dead bad battery once it got started.
With the new cars they die as soon as you disconnect the charger or terminal.
Any way to bypass extras so it stays running with a bad battery once started?
Can you string three bad batteries together with what little charge they will hold for a short one way trip?

does your wife get good performance from "cheapo", identical size but do internals have the power? Imagine your wifes car getting stuck somewhere is it worth the risk for a few $$

It's a 2.3l four banger and we don't live in Michigan.

I noticed it was cranking slower and did a preemptive swap and put the old battery in my lawnmower. Most commercial John Deere mowers take a car sized battery.

Cheapskate. $49 dollar car battery was never a good idea.

My wife's Jeep needed a new battery. The last battery was $108 the new battery was $239!!

A good automobile battery is currently $150.00 or more

C`mon man