Batteries

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:56 am

Hello everyone,

I'm going to need a battery for my GT that i'm picking up on Saturday, i've had a mosie around halfords and asked the chaps in the local motor factors and prices seem to range between £60 and over £100 for a battery. And I have found them on the internet for as little as £45.

There are a few different types too, like calcium electrolyte and silver plated electrodes etc. What do people suggest? Is it worth paying more for a fancy one?

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:26 pm

No, just get a cheap type 065 and a £5 trickle charger to keep it topped up. Newer tech batteries are designed for newer cars with smart charge systems - it's a waste of money on a petrol BX.
If you want one that is a bit beefier go for an 096. I've got one in the 16v (back from the days where I always thought bigger was better, like a pleb) and it just about fits. I think the diesels used the 096 type from new.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:51 pm

If the heavier duty battery is not much more than the standard one its worth while, ive found the smaller ones to struggle on the larger engined BX's, especially diesels.

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:04 pm

I'm looking at Varda Silver, with above factory requirement CCA and Ah, it's £6 more than the next one down which is standard spec.
might get one for the astra too.

Funnily enough this battery (most expensive one of the range) from carbatteries-online.co.uk is £6 cheaper than halfords mid-range battery, and only £4 more expensive than their cheapest!
Free delivery too.

Thanks chaps.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:05 pm

£6 well spent I think!

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:06 pm

And it's all silver and shiny...

Ordered, £70 all in!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:09 pm

I'm on 5 years now with a Varta blue top battery, if that's any use. But guessing about the kind of use that your GT is likely to get, a battery is most likely to fail through going flat over time rather than from the number of starting/charging cycles. So Kitch's suggestion of a trickle charger is a good one!

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:13 pm

I agree with the trickle charger, I think I still have my dads multifunction recharger/trickle charger that I 'borrowed' years ago!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:21 pm

£70 for a battery for a petrol car

I would just get the cheapest one available tbh, it'll make no difference & longevity will be probably similar. Kitch is spot on with these fancy calcium batteries etc...they aren't all that suitable for a bx which hardly loads up on the battery anyway. Infact, i'd just get a 2nd hand battery if your car is only going to get used now & again & just plug in your trickle charger.

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:06 pm

Special car needs special things! I think the GT will get doted on a bit... I could always use this battery on the astra occasionally to keep it charged up (like before I need to use the GT) as weirdly the specs required for the two cars are the same??

Bought now anyway, and the cheapest I could find was £45, and it was an unknown make so, I don't mind paying £70 at all.

Mickey taker · Post by **Mickey taker** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:41 pm

thought I was going to need a new battery for the meteor this morning as car wouldent start.
Turns out I have a sticky starter motor.

Funnily enough my BX has a GM battery on it.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:18 pm

Too late then, if you were mega tight, you could always just have one battery between the 2 cars & just remove & replace in whichever car you actually need

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:23 pm

I thought about it, and still could, but it's effort, and the astra's battery is fine.

Bought a cover today too, went for coveryourcar.co.uk's Sahara for £51, seemed the cheapest effective thing. As on inspecting the garage, it leaks in one corner and is nothing more than a pile of breeze blocks with asbestos roofing sheets. Might ask them if I can paint inside to try and reduce the dustiness, it's a council £8 a week job, cheap but not very nice. So temporary GT storage I think.

Mickey taker · Post by **Mickey taker** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:36 pm

didn't think councils were allowed to rent out asbestos roofed garages anymore Tom.

I thought all the roofs had ti be replaced with non asbestos materials.

saintjamesy89 · Post by **saintjamesy89** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:46 pm

Weeell it looked like asbestos, quite a few of the sheets were newish looking so I suppose it could be something similar? Certainly wasn't metal or plastic.

The garage doors were metal, but so thin you could probably kick a hole in them, or achieve the same feat with a plastic fork. I know they're cheap, but that cheap?

Perhaps I should ask and complain of their leakiness at the same time. Might also be interesting to see if they'd sell a row, there's 7 in this row, perhaps if I got a few interested people together...