Batt Flattery

GaryG · 4 Dec 2006

£27.99 sounds bloody cheap for a battery nowadays, I'm not too sure I would have been that shocked at £57 either... Not saying they're worth it but doesn't sound like daylight robbery either... 🙂

I can sympathise with the battery changing sceanario though... assume you've nicely scraped knucles today? 😀

.g

cAPSLOCK · 4 Dec 2006

I recently bought a new battery for my little Subaru. Here in the US it was about $55 I think, which was a good price for a fairly small battery. I think that is about £25? Larger ones run as much as $70-90 So I'd say you did OK. I also sympathize though.

I think the cost of metals is up a lot with falling currency prices, rising oil prices, war and just normal price rises. I haven't bought significant amounts of audio cables recently, but I bet copper prices are making them rise too.

cAPS

electrogear · 4 Dec 2006

£27.99 sounds bloody cheap for a battery nowadays

My mate paid £15 for a battery for his Capri a few months back, and my old man paid £20 for one from Endyke Tyres just over a year ago.... (OK it's a tyre shop that also sells batteries to save any confusion)

Cheers,

Mike

electrogear · 4 Dec 2006

I recently bought a new battery for my little Subaru. Here in the US it was about $55 I think, which was a good price for a fairly small battery. I think that is about £25? Larger ones run as much as $70-90 So I'd say you did OK.

Mine was a small battery. It was for a Fiat Brava 1.2. I would imagine batteries could be more expensive in the U.S - you've got harsher weather conditions, most cars have air con, and more electricy gadgets in general. The cars are unnecessarily twice the size they need to be, single mothers drive around in 4 litre 4X4s, office workers drive to work in their Hummers across.... completely flat tarmac.... baffles me!

cAPSLOCK · 4 Dec 2006

I used to own a Fiat long ago... don't see them here much anymore. Mine was a 128. What a lovable little piece of crap it was.

As to my countrymen driving large gagety cars... yeah... most of us see cars differently than much of the world. Not transportation so much as status maybe. And we do love gadgets here.

I differ from most here. I would buy a car without power locks, windows, and that sort of thing if I could, but they just don't exist here in the last 15 years. I DO see my car as simple transportation. I want it to get good gas mileage (and I did back in the 90s when gas was cheaper too) and I want it to be reliable. I figure the more gizmos, the more there is to break.

But as to the AC... I live in Texas. Damn straight I want a car with AC. 😉 Our AVERAGE summer temp here is 94.9F (35C), with months where the highs stay over 100 every day. No AC and I arrive in a pool of sweat. 🙂

doug4350 · 5 Dec 2006

I differ from most here. I would buy a car without power locks, windows, and that sort of thing if I could, but they just don't exist here in the last 15 years.

Have you ever driven a loaner when yours is in the shop 🙂 ??? Good Lord how uncomfortable. They're out there, believe me. I'm sure you'll find plenty if you go to those rent-a-car sell offs when they're getting rid of the old to bring in the new. For short & sweet trips to the h/w store or a beer run that suits me fine. In fact, over Thanksgiving weekend I rode in the back of my friends pickup to his family's dinner party. However, my average daily commute in normal rush hour is ~ 1 hour - 1 way. For that kind of commute I don't need a hummer, but gadgets are nice to fiddle with to control the road rage 🙂. It wasn't that long ago when the Army ran into an elevated crosswalk over the expressway. That took me 2-1/2 hours to commute and I was lucky. It took a *LOT* of people 8+ hours to get home! Buses were running out of gas, people were hungry, had to pee (or worse). Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the Army almost had another war on its hands 🙂.

The cars are unnecessarily twice the size they need to be, single mothers drive around in 4 litre 4X4s, office workers drive to work in their Hummers across.... completely flat tarmac.... baffles me!

🙂

I guess I'm lucky. My last battery was covered under warranty. The last one I bought (at Wal-Mart) for my last car ~ 5 yrs ago was around $40. If your car is in the shape mine was, you could always get the £15 one your mate did and a roll of duct tape to hold it in 😀

Aloha, Doug

electrogear · 5 Dec 2006

I used to own a Fiat long ago... don't see them here much anymore. Mine was a 128. What a lovable little piece of crap it was

I couldn't fault my car really. It doesn't pull that great, but then I'm not a boy racer and I like to be efficient on the fuel so I'm not too fussed. I've had it 4 years & the only thing I've had to do to it is replace the Lamdar sensor (after it failed an MOT), replace the battery & the break pads, and I think that's about it... it hasn't lived up to it's "Fix it again tomorrow" name.. it's been great!

As to my countrymen driving large gagety cars... yeah... most of us see cars differently than much of the world. Not transportation so much as status maybe. And we do love gadgets here.

Well there's no wonder global warming is increasing (seemingly exponentially). I love the way scientists are trying to argue that it's a natural cycle (I wonder who they're being payed by?!). Anyway that's a whole different subject....

If your car is in the shape mine was, you could always get the £15 one your mate did and a roll of duct tape to hold it in

His battery was almost identical to mine - I think it was even made by the same manufacturer, except mine had a Halfords sticker on top of it.... so 4 times the price. (At least it would have been if I hadn't had my angry head on)... and I didn't have to "duct tape it in" :P it had a strap! 😉

Cheers,

Mike