[Snehal Sekhar]

Well, the OEM battery, Exide, on my Indica Vista Safire lasted 6.7 years. The car was mostly used once or twice a month and that too down the road kind of drives. The ODO reading at the time of changing the battery was at 21K. On all my drives, I had the AC and Music on. Never once did it give me any issues, until last year when it decided to stop in bumper to bumper traffic for no apparent reason.
Got a local mechanic to come and try starting it and we managed to get it started after pushing the car a short distance.
Came back home and changed the battery the next day. The replacement battery I got were Amaron (got an exchange offer from Batterybhai dot com).

[whitewing]

Got the battery of our Ritz Diesel, replaced after 5 years (35K on the odo).

Replaced with Exide MRDIN65LH RED, ordered it from batterybhai.com.
Overall service was smooth & good.
They first called up to take an appointment and the the service guy came at the appointed time.
The price was also a few hundred lesser than the local shop nearby.
Since I wanted to check on the manufacturing date, I did not pay at the time of ordering and paid by cheque on delivery.

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

The OEM Amaron in my A-star is completing 6 years this month....
The (replacement) Amaron in my Alto just completed 4.5 years...
The OEM Exide in my Alto conked off in 3 years flat.
Moral of the story: Getting a good battery is like a lottery, and has nothing to do with the brand.

Dad's Alto had an OEM Exide that lasted just above 5 years. We changed it last week, as it started giving trouble in starting the engine. This anyway proves that luck is more important than brand in getting a good battery.

[wildsdi5530]

My Honda Mobilio RS battery is dead in 1 year and 11 months. The car has run 37,000kms. I never drive short trips and atleast 10km would be driven before stopping. 3-4 long trips every year. No running any electricals with engine switched off.
Apparently warranty is only for 1 year. I've been asked to replace it with Amaron pro battery with 5 years warranty. Is it common for the battery to die in such a short time? What can I do? The new battery is ₹7000/- in Honda and ₹5500/- at local shop.

[pgupta]

My XUV is about 40 months old and so is the battery. The OEM battery is still good showing no issues but recently while I was out shopping for an UPS the batterywala mentioned that it is possible to extend the batterylife by regularly topping it up even in case of maintenance free batteries. I am not sure if it's possible to top up or even if then is that the right thing to do. Given the amaron batteries specifically mention no tops up needed. Need expert advice if top ups should be done for these type of battery?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by pgupta

I am not sure if it's possible to top up or even if then is that the right thing to do. Given the amaron batteries specifically mention no tops up needed. Need expert advise if top ups should be done for these type of battery?

Your battery wala is right, it is better if you did some basic maintenance checks on your battery at least once a year. "Maintenance free" is a misnomer used by manufacturers to sell batteries. In reality these are low maintenance not maintenance free.

Wear protective goggles then take off the vent caps/plugs and peer into each cell. Make sure all cells have electrolyte covering the plates. Top off with distilled water up to the bottom of the vent tube. Do not overfill. Install the vent plugs on tightly and you're good to go for another 12 months.

If you are not familiar with the procedure just take it to the battery dealer. Also get the alternator voltage tested to complete the checkup.

As with my previous battery changes a proactive battery replacement was done today. The old Amazon battery was pushing 3 years and 10 months. It could have pulled on indefinitely but I don't like pushing my luck. It was replaced with the same Amaron Pro 45AH model with a 30 + 30 month warranty. Very happy with Amaron and this comes from a car and bike freak who used only Exide for over 2 decades. The Exide Matrix 45 AH is a hundred bucks more expensive, not that it matters.

The new battery was ordered through "car battery expert .com" and the service was prompt. Ordered online at 4 pm and battery was fitted at around 8 pm despite a thunderstorm this evening in Pune. Couldn't help but feel bad for the poor bloke who was delivering batteries riding a scooter in inclement weather.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Your battery wala is right, it is better if you did some basic maintenance checks on your battery at least once a year. "Maintenance free" is a misnomer used by manufacturers to sell batteries. In reality these are low maintenance not maintenance free.

You may be right but most of us don't really maintain battery as we take maintenance free for granted.
Having said that, my Exide battery is running still strong (2013 February bought) without any maintenance. May be I'm just lucky here.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

You may be right but most of us don't really maintain battery as we take maintenance free for granted.
Having said that, my Exide battery is running still strong (2013 February bought) without any maintenance. May be I'm just lucky here.

My Aug 2013 Amaron battery was replaced today not because it died but because I don't want to get stranded someplace.

I could have pulled on for a several months but decided to stick to to my normal replacement schedule which kicks in when the battery is between 3-4 years old or even sooner if it displays symptoms of impending failure.

Well, in this near 4 year span the battery water was topped off twice during an annual checkup; once in 2015 and early 2017. That's why I call them low maintenance. The only automotive batteries that are truly maintenance free are the sealed AGM SLI batteries that are commonly used in some luxury EU marques and even motorcycles.

[suresh_gs]

My car battery, Amaron lasted for 5 years. The car was idle for about a month and a half as a result of which the battery drained fully.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by R2D2

My Aug 2013 Amaron battery was replaced today not because it died but because I don't want to get stranded someplace.

Yes, that's another way to look at it too. My 13 years old car is running with its third battery.
Maybe I'll do the same this time after I get back to BLR.

[bhp_maniac]

A question to the battery gurus. How reliable is the battery health indicator on an Amaron battery? I replaced my Swift D's battery in early 2013 with an Amaron, almost 4.5 years now. My OEM battery only lasted 2.5 years. The battery health indicator on the current Amaron shows "Green" which according to them doesn't indicate an imminent failure. However, I don't want to get stranded out in no where. Any fool proof method of making sure of it's health would be highly appreciated.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by bhp_maniac

A question to the battery gurus. How reliable is the battery health indicator on an Amaron battery? I replaced my Swift D's battery in early 2013 with an Amaron, almost 4.5 years now. My OEM battery only lasted 2.5 years. The battery health indicator on the current Amaron shows "Green" which according to them doesn't indicate an imminent failure. However, I don't want to get stranded out in no where. Any fool proof method of making sure of it's health would be highly appreciated.

The only foolproof method is to test each cell with a "High Discharge" meter. As modern batteries do not give you access to each cell, and as each cell deteriorates at a different rate, it is not possible to test the health conclusively.

One method is to check the voltage while cranking.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...a2074/4221215/
https://www.knowyourparts.com/techni...ries-starters/

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by bhp_maniac

A question to the battery gurus. How reliable is the battery health indicator on an Amaron battery? I replaced my Swift D's battery in early 2013 with an Amaron, almost 4.5 years now. My OEM battery only lasted 2.5 years. The battery health indicator on the current Amaron shows "Green" which according to them doesn't indicate an imminent failure. However, I don't want to get stranded out in no where. Any fool proof method of making sure of it's health would be highly appreciated.

The health indicator or the 'magic eye' as it is commonly referred to indicates the health of only 1 of 6 cells in the battery. The only relatively sure way of testing your battery is to get it fully charged and then load tested.

Batteries have a varied but finite lifespan. Some can last only 2 years but some go on for 6+ years. As mentioned earlier in this thread I just replaced my nearly 4 year old Amaron battery yesterday prior to it failing on me.

Based on a previous experience I don't particularly relish the thought of being stranded or the car not starting when I need it to. The cost of a new battery (representing some 1 & 1/3rd tanks full of petrol in my vehicle) is averaged out over 3-5 years. It is an acceptable component of the cost of ownership.

[hangover]

I bought one from an online shop - batterybhai. It was an Amaron. I do not remember the model number.

I have driven 40,000 kilometers on this one.

It is going strong even though it drained out completely twice as I sometimes forget to turn off the head lights when I slink into the house with the morning paper.

After a jump start and a short drive of 5-6 km, the battery was back to normal both times.

I check the water levels of each cell each weekend and make sure the terminals are clean and lightly white greased.

Every 6 months or so, I remove the metal clasp and terminals and remove the battery out of the car. I clean the battery and its base-plate (the thing upon which it rests) with a light baking soda solution.

It is a lucky battery for sure.

[noopster]

In a cruel twist of fate, I lost both my cars' batteries on the same day last week. The Vento's "check alternator" light came on as I was driving to work so I took it straight to the ASS instead. By the time I got there the battery was completely and irretrievably gone. Had to replace the entire alternator assembly as well. Exide battery that lasted 3 and a half years. Will be replaced by VW OE battery since they don't allow me to buy aftermarket one and install it for me.

Swift conked off in the home parking itself and was replaced by friendly neighbourhood garage guy. 4 and a half years for this one. Replaced it with Amaron.