What do you reckon? 
Cash as always is tight, as am I  , and I've seen a Bosch S3 063 for less than £40 which seems a fair price. Would it be a false economy to save £10 on a non-brand battery? £10 doesn't seem much but if I spend an extra 30% on everything it all tots up.
Any thoughts welcome.
Ta.

Have a word with your local motor factors, they will probably stock a preferred range of batteries under a brand name that you have never heard of anyway.

Most factors do an 063 for around £29 + vat these days for a perfectly servicable one, but £40 (if that's with the vat) sounds great for a Bosch one. For the daily driver I'd go for the Bosch but for a limited use vehicle I'd go cheaper.

Most factors do an 063 for around £29 + vat these days for a perfectly servicable one, but £40 (if that's with the vat) sounds great for a Bosch one. For the daily driver I'd go for the Bosch but for a limited use vehicle I'd go cheaper.

I understand the need for a good battery on a daily but on a limited use wouldn't a better one be better as your asking the battery to hold the charge for longer periods between use?

For some (step forward Clem) £40 is less than they spend on polish for a season, I would rather spend it on a battery than polish.  Gets me home and its less work (IMHO of course - now wheres the naughty step)

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£40 on Polish?


Is that all? 

Trouble is, how do you know that companies like Bosch aren`t just slapping their badges on someone elses bit of kit these days ? Its not as clear cut as it used to be, and brand loyalty is under question with so many manufacturers cutting costs and quality.

Bosch car stereos for instance are not all from the Bosch factory, and the build quality on some of the more modern ones is certainly not as good as it once was. It was once said that if you cut my arm off, that I would have SONY runing through my veins, like a stick of rock, and nowadays, you won`t find any Sony in the house at all, and that is because of their increasingly poor quality now.

Whilst I am all for a branded battery, I would be just as happy with a reputable brand that others had heard of and I hadn`t, rather than just going for a very big name that is now a bit meaningless, but for me, I`d go with the biggest capacity battery I could afford, as even the cheapie ones come with a  decent warranty these days

I'm off to buy a new battery on Thursday and I'll simply ask for the cheapest.

The one I currently have has been sat in the garage for the best part of 10 years and now doesn't appear to want to charge up again.

What Dave says exactly!

It tickles me when people wax lyrical about Bosch Blue Coils. The last one I got I peeled the sticker off and it was a Lucas one underneath, bog standard at that!

IIRC the last battery I got from a scrap yard for a tenner, lasted for years and years...

Last one I got for a tenner from a scrappy and hasn't lasted long enough to fit to the buggy.....has taken a while to put together.  But did weigh it in for scrap and got a fiver!

I'm off to buy a new battery on Thursday and I'll simply ask for the cheapest.

The one I currently have has been sat in the garage for the best part of 10 years and now doesn't appear to want to charge up again.

Probably cos you asked for 'the cheapest' 10 yrs ago...........

  more abuse    Yes guilty as charged 

Some things are worth paying extra for, like Coke and Hellman's mayonnaise - but baked beans and car batteries . . . .nah!   

Baked beans, gotta be Heinz, the others are all pale and watery

Baked beans, gotta be Heinz, the others are all pale and watery

From car batteries to bake beans in about 10 posts. Now how did that happen