[ankan]

thanks. the battery is tata green and comes with a one and a half year warranty. cost- rs. 2600.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by janitha

Then, I am wondering why my Tata Vista came equipped with Exide Freedom battery!

...because it costs Ratan-babu MORE to fit a TG battery into the Vista than to fit an Exide battery. He'd rather SELL that TG battery to ankan at Rs.2600, buy an Exide at Rs.2300 and put it into janitha's Vista, and make a neat Rs.300 profit.

[manujkansal]

well exide batteries are the cheapest and the best option with a long life. totally VFM.

[janitha]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

...because it costs Ratan-babu MORE to fit a TG battery into the Vista than to fit an Exide battery. He'd rather SELL that TG battery to ankan at Rs.2600, buy an Exide at Rs.2300 and put it into janitha's Vista, and make a neat Rs.300 profit.

Probably, but IIRC, Exide Freedom is a premium battery which used to come with 3 year warranty. But the battery warranty I received was 6 months. (It is written as OEM warranty). Perhaps they are getting factory seconds from Exide at very cheap rates. BTW, the same battery received with my Uno in 1999 lasted more than 4 years.

[wolfinstein]

Please advise what is the OEM size for a Mitsubishi Lancer SFXi

Approx Price for Exide-Sealed

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by wolfinstein

Please advise what is the OEM size for a Mitsubishi Lancer SFXi

Approx Price for Exide-Sealed

I think your car will take the 38B20L (Exide ATB MF) or MA35L (Exide Matrix sealed MF) battery. These are 35AH batteries and cost about 4200 and 4800 respectively after rebate for the old batt.

These are the prices abt 6 months ago in Aug '08 & could have changed by now. Best to check with an Exide dealer for the exact batt model and price.

Hope this helps.

Rgds,

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by manujkansal

well exide batteries are the cheapest and the best option with a long life. totally VFM.

I agree...but a large majority on TBHP think Exide is terrible.

Rgds,

[Silver Knight]

Exide is good, but Amaron is the best.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by R2D2

I agree...but a large majority on TBHP think Exide is terrible.

It is a matter of the heart vs the mind.
People are free to believe what they want to; that by itself changes nothing.
The facts remain what they are and till there is substantiated evidence to refute them, it remains personal opinions that endorse or reject a brand.

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

It is a matter of the heart vs the mind.
People are free to believe what they want to; that by itself changes nothing.
The facts remain what they are and till there is substantiated evidence to refute them, it remains personal opinions that endorse or reject a brand.

I used to use only exide. Then I had a string of failures. Within a few months of buying them, one or other of the cells would go kaput forcing me to consign the battery to the dustbin. This happened to 3 batteries in two cars. That is when I decided to move away from Exide. I was very reluctant to try Amaron, who were a totally unkown brand at that time. My mechanic (bless him) convinced me to try it. I did and, was most pleasantly surprised.

This prompted me to do a little research on Amaron, I learnt that the manufacturer - Amar Raja Batteries Ltd. has been making special purpose batteries for quite some time and that they have a collaboration with Johnson Controls Inc. of USA.

Cheers,

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

I used to use only exide. Then I had a string of failures. Within a few months of buying them, one or other of the cells would go kaput forcing me to consign the battery to the dustbin. This happened to 3 batteries in two cars. That is when I decided to move away from Exide. I was very reluctant to try Amaron, who were a totally unkown brand at that time. My mechanic (bless him) convinced me to try it. I did and, was most pleasantly surprised.

This prompted me to do a little research on Amaron, I learnt that the manufacturer - Amar Raja Batteries Ltd. has been making special purpose batteries for quite some time and that they have a collaboration with Johnson Controls Inc. of USA. Cheers,

Maybe I am one of the exceptionally lucky ones. Not a single dud in almost 20 years of using Exide (OEM and aftermarket) in cars & bikes. I prefer Amco Yuasa for bikes and Exide for cars.

My car came with an OEM Exide Freedom. I'll be happy if it lasts about 2.5-3 years. Time will tell. But given the feedback on Exide here at TBHP, I am keeping a close watch on it. OEMs batts have only a 12 month warranty and my car wll be 5 months old a week from today.

Rgds,

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

This happened to 3 batteries in two cars. That is when I decided to move away from Exide.

And for me, five OEM Exide batteries gave me service of minimum four & a half years each! I'm talking about a period of 15 years!

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

This prompted me to do a little research on Amaron, I learnt that the manufacturer - Amar Raja Batteries Ltd. has been making special purpose batteries for quite some time and that they have a collaboration with Johnson Controls Inc. of USA.

And in doing my research I found out that Exide are made in collaboration with the global giant Union Carbide!!!
Isn't Johnson best known for their Baby Oil or Baby Soap?!


Does any of this change what I said before?

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

It is a matter of the heart vs the mind.
People are free to believe what they want to; that by itself changes nothing.
The facts remain what they are and till there is substantiated evidence to refute them, it remains personal opinions that endorse or reject a brand.

My post was in response to your above post, I was merely pointing out that I moved away from Exide (never had a problem with them before) after I had bad experiences with them and my view is not a mere opinion but is based on my personal experience (not hearsay). I do not for a moment disbelieve either you or R2D2 when you say that you have had and, continue to have good experiences with Exide. If every battery made by Exide was a dud, they would have had to close down by now.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

......
And in doing my research I found out that Exide are made in collaboration with the global giant Union Carbide!!!
Isn't Johnson best known for their Baby Oil or Baby Soap?!


Does any of this change what I said before?

You are thinking about Johnson & Johnson who make surgical equipment, pharmaceuticals and yes, band-aid and the baby products.

AFAIK Union Carbide is now a subsidary of the Dow Chemicals co. They are associated with the Eveready and Energizer brand of dry cells. I do not know if Exide India Ltd. has a technical collaboration with Union Carbide. I do know that the old name of the Exide company was Chloride India Ltd. and that it was originally a British Company. Exide Technologies is an American company who are the worlds second largest supplier of lead acid batteries, who bought over some British assets. I presume that Exide India is related to or a subsidary of Exide Technologies. I will have to look up the Union Carbide connection.


I was referring to Johnson Controls, who make various components for the automotive industry. In India they make automotive seating. Johnson Controls are reputed to be the world's largest supplier of lead-acid batteries, 'Optima', 'Varta', 'Heliar' and 'LTH' are some of the brand names used by them. Johnson Controls are also involved in making lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electrical vehicles.

Cheers,

[revtech]

Originally Posted by manujkansal

well exide batteries are the cheapest and the best option with a long life. totally VFM.

well a lot of members wont agree with you on this.VFM maybe but definitely not reliable and i say this out of experience both in my cars as well as bike.

the wierd part of exide is it starts giving problems just a few days after the warranty expires.

Originally Posted by Silver Knight

Exide is good, but Amaron is the best.

well i dont know about best. but amaron is good.ive been using it in my zen for 2 years now but sometimes it gets drained out completely even though the car is used.


rev

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by revtech

sometimes it gets drained out completely even though the car is used.

Please check your car's electrics to see if a mild short or current leakage exists. Switch off all equipment using power, including the central locking system. Remove the (+) terminal, connect a sensitive ammeter (capable of reading from 100 mA) across the terminal and battery lead, and check if there is current drainage. If there is, something is wrong somewhere. Even a 500 mA drainage will make the battery flat in a few days if the car is not started. Zens, esp. pre-2002 ones, are notorious for such current leakage which is very difficult to detect and stop.