Car Battery Advice Please

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

We have a 2011 Nissan Qashqai and Euro Car Parts recommends the below batteries.

First 2 seem to have the same specs other than the physical size, the more expensive one at the bottom has a CCA of 640 vs 480 on the other 2 (I think current battery has 550). 

Assuming the battery fits in the space is 480 good enough? Is it worth paying the extra for the brand? 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Brie

You might want to check with Halfords.  The last time I had to buy a battery (admittedly a couple of years back) they had an option of buying a higher quality one that included installing it "free of charge".  Essentially as i would have to get them to do this for me anyways it worked out better than buying the cheaper ones and paying for installation.  

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Looks like they charge at our local store £18-£25 unless you are in their motoring club, fortunately it appears straight forward to swap the battery over. 

Halfords have a Yuasa 500 CCA for £87 or 580 for £100.

I understand that's the start up power but no idea what the car actually needs. 

TadleyBaggie

When the battery for my slightly later Qashqai gave up the ghost the new battery (stop/start) had to be configured via the OBD.

shiraz99

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Looks like they charge at our local store £18-£25 unless you are in their motoring club, fortunately it appears straight forward to swap the battery over. 

Halfords have a Yuasa 500 CCA for £87 or 580 for £100.

I understand that's the start up power but no idea what the car actually needs. 

Search on the battery manufacturer websites, Varta, Bosch and places like Tayna.co.uk to see what matches your reg no. Once you know exactly what battery your car requires you can search for it via the battery type code.

shiraz99

TadleyBaggie said:

When the battery for my slightly later Qashqai gave up the ghost the new battery (stop/start) had to be configured via the OBD.

For most cars that run stop/start systems the batteries require registering to tell the onboard systems that you have a new battery. If you get a different battery altogether then they'll usually also require coding.

cymruchris

The 005 and 027 batteries although similar in dimension have a different terminal layout - one is flush - one is raised. Have a look at which one you have fitted to know which one you need to replace it with. Models came out of the factory with either/or depending on the spec/engine size/power requirements. Once you know whether you have the 005 or the 027 - then you can make a better comparison. 

If your car is heavy on electrics with all the toys, bells and whistles, I'd go for a higher spec choice. If you have front electric windows and nothing much else then the regular battery would be a decent option.

Adding to that - it also depends on your driving style. If you make lots of short journeys infrequently - then a better capacity battery will see you through more stops and starts. If you're using the car often for 20 mile plus journeys, then again it's less important. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Thanks for the comments, we do do a lot of shorter journeys so the higher capacity makes sense and it appears to be the 027 we need.

Tayna has a Bosch battery for £80 including delivery which seems reasonable, the only difference is the current battery is 60Ah and the Bosch is 63Ah, as they've recommended this based on the reg I assume that 3Ah difference doesn't matter? 

shiraz99

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Thanks for the comments, we do do a lot of shorter journeys so the higher capacity makes sense and it appears to be the 027 we need.

Tayna has a Bosch battery for £80 including delivery which seems reasonable, the only difference is the current battery is 60Ah and the Bosch is 63Ah, as they've recommended this based on the reg I assume that 3Ah difference doesn't matter? 

Do you have standard or an AGM/EFB battery, ie, does your car have a start/stop system?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Sorry forgot to say no stop/start so it's just a standard battery. 

shiraz99

The 3Ah won't make much difference and that battery has a higher CCA but again probably won't make much difference for you in the real world. Why not just get the 60Ah Bosch or Varta versions which are cheaper.