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Finally the O.E.battery in my Swift VDi died today... 2 years and 16 days after buying the car. Bought an Amaron Pro DIN 74 for Rs.9300/- in Kochi.

Going by the general concensus on this forum, replaced the SF battery in my Corolla with Amaron FLO with 24+24 months warranty. It is a 35 AH battery. Cost me 3700/- INR after exchange with old one.

Yesterday my Verna CRDI 2008 stock battery died after 4 years and 2 months. Stock battery was Exide Freedom. Dealer gave me two options, Exide Express with 3 years warranty for Rs.5700/- and Exide Matrix wit 5 years warranty for Rs.8400/-. I went for later as Matrix requires no maintainence and I have no plans of selling my car for another half a decade.:)

My three year old exide MATRIX battery died yesterday. I Lost the warranty card and the manufacturing date clearly tells it only 3 years old. it has 5 year pro-rata warranty and the exide guy says without warranty card he will not honor warranty in spite of seeing the manufacturing date as its only 3 years old. I lost the confidence in that brand called EXIDE. Maintenance free batteries still need some cleanups and corrections in practice. I think the good old water-filling type batteries are way better and will give 5+ years life. Are they available still?

The water-filling type batteries that you have mentioned are still available but are notorious for spilling battery acid around, corroding the engine bay and the battery compartments and most of all, requiring constant top ups and upkeep.

You want a really good battery? Go for the Cummins VRLA type batteries. Lighter, completely dry and very reliable. I ve been using one for the past 3 years and have been completely satisfied.

Ooops! Uh oh..I too use an Exide Matrix since Jun '10. So far no issues. It comes sealed but that has its own disadvantages including the battery dying if it runs low on water for any reason. I hope this battery lasts for at least 3 years, which is what my other batteries have lasted me.

Maintenance free (sealed) batteries such as the Matrix and VRLA batteries are severely impacted by hot weather. Every 10 deg C rise over 25-27 deg C halves battery life. That's why batteries last for 5-7 years in colder countries. It is also the reason why battery mfrs in India do not give replacement warranties after 3 years. They do not expect the battery to last beyond that and the pro rata warranty is a joke - you pay for that warranty cover as it is already included in the price of the battery. That's why batteries with longer warranties cost more.

As for warranty replacement I am afraid there's nothing the dealer can do - Exide will not give a replacement battery without a warranty card. Any battery mfr will require the card to initiate a warranty replacement. You may want to email Exide's customer care with your complaint.

Not entirely true. The only batteries that I have seen that spill acid around are Exides and Amco. And that statement is truer when it comes to Exide 2 wheeler batteries; though I'v seen it happen with their 4 wheeler batts too.

Further, you have mixed up VRLA with other battery types. The former are totally sealed. But you don't need to go for these. You can get "Zero Maintainence" batteries that have filler caps, but you almost never need to open them. Most are rated to go upto 100,000 km without needing a top up. But if its required for some reason, like upon overcharging, you can always top them up. IIRC Amaron says the battery in my car should never need topping-up in its lifetime. Its about 3 years old now, and it hasn't, despite being discharged (below starting capacity) at least thrice.

So please don't discourage people from buying these kind of batteries. :) Rather discourage them from buying Exide. :D Non-VRLA types may even be a better option over the sealed ones, in the Indian context, at least.

What exactly were the signs of weakness ?

thanks

I agree to Raccoon's point on Exide batteries. They do spill acid. Its true for SF also.

My Zen OEM battery was an exide and after around 2-3 years it used to spill acid with a complete whitish deposit all around it. Ditto for SF.

I've gone for Amaron Flo just about 1 month back. The Flo comes with 24 + 24 months pro-rated warranty and the dealer was very optimistic about its performance. I checked with at-least 3 dealers and none of them were keen on selling Bosch Silver batteries quoting support and reliability (the new ones have issues).

As far as Exide batteries go, I have observed that the moment the warranty period is over, the batteries generally tend to conk-off within 2-3 months. They are made so precisely :deadhorse

I am using Amaron on my 2007 Santro as a replacement battery for about 2 years. I am very satisfied. The dealer also offered me lifetime free checkups. Its performing well. No complaints.

Its not like they only leak acid. They even leak corrosive fumes which will damage metal around and on top. The damage it has caused to my bike has made me a rabid Exide hater. Have seen the same on several other vehicles too.

The Amarons and Base Terminal I'v used have not leaked one drop of acid or fumed gas that has caused bit of damage anywhere. None of them were/are VRLA sealed batteries.

SF being an Exide product, it would be less than surprising if it causes similar damage.

And before anybody comments, let me mention that this happens even when electrolyte is maintained below the max. mark.

I had three type of indications:

1. I get the specific-gravity checked by a friendly battery-dealer who visits my home once in two months (to mainly check my UPS battery). One day he warned that one cell was getting weak and I need to buy a new one as soon as possible. (A week later the battery died, so he was right).

2. The OEM SF make kept spilling its acid over the top-vents after long drives. This was again a warning that its life will end soon.

3. The day before it died, the cranking noise was a bit different, like it was struggling. So I had decided to buy a new one in the next day, but alas I was stranded.

So nowadays whenever I start the car after a long gap, I listen carefully for the cranking noise to detect any tell-tale signs.

The OEM SF lasted for 2 years and 9 months only.

My present Amaron PRO appears more better and is now 2 years and 6 months old. (Hopefully) I expect this to last me for at-least 4 years.

I need a new battery for my Innova. Confused between Exide and Amaron. Personally I am more inclined towards Amaron. How is the Amaron GO battery? It comes with 18+18 months of warranty.

I installed a Amaron Go battery on my Santro in Sept 2009 after the OEM Exide showed continued signs of weakness after 4.5 years. The Amaron was still working perfectly when I sold the car in May this year. I had no problems whatsoever and would recommend it.

Amaron and Amaron go are equally good. I think you get 5 years warranty with Amaron. The "exclusive" dealer at chennai gave me lifetime free checkups & top-ups and also gave me 500 for the old battery.

Go for Amaron - its pretty good