Europarts vs Costco Car Battery?

thescouselander

Sounds like a no briner - I'd just go to Euro Car Parts. You'd have to be pretty unlucky for your battery to die before 5 years anyway warrantee or not.

Zanzibar

And you know how much extra one often pays for a top brand.

Not too much as long as you avoid Halfords(!). A no-name equivalent would be about £35 - and the poster has been quoted £45 for Bosch.

Which would you prefer? A top brand battery with a 3 year guarantee or a cheaper unknown brand with a 5 year or even longer guarantee?

I'd prefer the top brand. The warranty is to get a replacement battery after failure - which doesnt help when stranded needing a jump start or recovery. Its more about reliability. All the top brands have long warrantys - Bosch have 4, 5 or 6 year warranty as standard depending on the range.

You tend to get consistency with the better known brands in my experience but the no-names can be ok, sometimes excellent, its just a bit more pot luck.

There was a review of some here:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/210431/car_batteries.html

Moreover compare the actual specifications - its not just one brand label compared to another. Look for Cold Cranking Amps, Amp Hours and Reserve Capacity. The Bosch S5 range for example have higher Cold Cranking Amps (helps start in cold weather) than the direct equivalent Halfords standard or calcium ones.

As mentioned before its always better to get a size above the one for your car as it will be stressed less and start the car more easily in harsh conditions.


If you want to be fancy I hear Porsche are offering a Litium-Ion car battery now(!) - think its £400.