battery options
 

I wanna replace the battery in my car. Its the original factory battery and needs to be changed before one day it leaves me stranded on the side of a road. I guess what im getting at is due to my lack of knowledge of battery's, what should i be looking for. Ive notice in the past when i bought batterys the only thing i was asked is do i want a better battery with more cold cranking amps. I always went ahead and bought the better battery but is it really worth the extra money? I mean once the car is running everything runs off the alternator anyways to say the least. Then agian theres always the gel pac ones which im clueless on.
All in all is there a good brand? Whats worth the extra buck?
Anyones .02$ would be helpful

RE: battery options
 

IMO.. a notch above stock is good enough because the stock battery is probably one areas where theycan be"cost effective". - is it for your 2005 camry?.. if it is- don't you think its rather early because these batteries last 5 years. I have my OEM battery that came with the car. HAHAHA! i know its bad.

Energizer or Diehard are my choices just cuz i've used them and they are pretty good bang for the buck.
optimas are waaaaay overated, unless you're grabbing a yellow top..

ummm.. i had an incident w/my car going dead on the fwy because one of my battery terminals came off and my car died. flashers, no power steering/brakes/windows to use hand signals.. yeah it was pretty bad.

RE: battery options
 

dont worry about replacement of ur battery till u are 4 years into owning ur vehicle.
costco kirkland car batteries do an awesome job and have a nearly untoppable warranty.
i currently use DURALAST!!!!ohhhyeah baby. haha
I have the Duralast Gold battery (yellow top) which is basically the top of the line from autozone with an awesome warranty, free jumps, and high cca/battery reserve. I have a sound system so its nice to have a good battery like that, i can leave my stereo on, etc for a while without worrying about it running out of power.

if you have a completely stock car, you can just get the basics.

RE: battery options
 

You're living on borrowed time if your car battery is over 4 years old. Today's cars use much more power than cars from a decade ago. The battery acts like a water tower, putting out power when the alternator can't keep up (like at idle when you're running the A/C blower on high). The other killer is heat. (See this article--bundling up your battery:http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogs...r-battery.html)

That same water tower analogy is the reason you should buy the best battery you can afford. Buying a cheap battery will always come back to bite you.