[R2D2]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Right, the dealer tells me that it kind of cleared the load test immediately after charging. He said I could 'try to use it'. But it's not retaining a charge over a period of time (days).

Well, I am not someone who can use a battery that is on death row. So it is sayonara to my OEM batt that lasted for 1 year 8 months. Way to go Exide!

Considering either Tata Green and Amaron as replacements. There's not much of a difference in price. I will purchase the battery in the next few days.

This tale takes a new twist. To cut a long story short, TG and Amaron batteries (46B24L or 55B24L) are not available, or are old stock that have been on a shelf for up to 5 months respectively. Not a good sign. The Amaron pit stop at FC Rd has discontinued his dealership and now deals in AC Delco. I reach a dead end.

The Exide dealer in all honesty (a rare quality in dealers, and the same person I have gone to for decades) advises me to keep the battery with him for another 2-3 days till end of the week. He charges it, checks it out and pronounces it as getting weak but still has some life.

I got sick of this running around and purchase a new Exide Matrix (mfred June 2010 with a 5 yr warranty) sealed MF battery from him. Charging systems check out ok. Lets see how this one performs. Case closed.

Cheers!

[Raccoon]

^^^The FC Rd. pit stop has closed down??? Thats news... :(

Well, you could have gone for AC Delco, they seem to have a v good reputation too.

Or you could have had a Base Terminal delivered to you.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

^^^The FC Rd. pit stop has closed down??? Thats news... :(

Well, you could have gone for AC Delco, they seem to have a v good reputation too.

Or you could have had a Base Terminal delivered to you.

Yeah, the man has moved on from Amaron for some reason. Strange for such a high profile dealer. In fact he had some old stock of the Amaron model that I needed but advised me to take AC Delco instead. I know ACDelco is famous in the US but is if I remember correctly OEM on GM cars in India (correct me if wrong). Wasnt very sure of AC-D and thought I'd give it a pass.

Actually the pit stop owner was v helpful and asked me to speak to one of the smaller dealers but cautioned me that the particular batt type that I am asking for wasnt a fast moving item so old stock was to be expected. It is used on Honda Accord/CRV/Civic and the Toyota Camry/Altis.

The TG dealer said the particular type wasnt in stock with him or with the Pune distributor and said he'd scout around for one. I called Base Terminal at Bibwewadi. It was not available and was delivery against order and at least 2-3 days lead time. Sigh! All this hassle for a simple battery.

Well, I am back with Exide for a while. Now time will tell.

Cheers!

[Eddy]

This is almost a battery issue thread so here goes...

Can I replace the Ford Ikon Flair's battery with that of the Swift Diesel ? Maybe as a jugaad only for a few hunders kms

[SirAlec]

check the Ah ratings of both the batteries. and will it fit on the battery holder. and +ive should not touch any metal parts like bonnet etc.

[delhi2009]

Calling Exide Batteries crap would be an understatement . I had long problem with exides in Baleno Indica and Esteem until 1 fine day, Baleno broke down enroute to Jaipur and i had no other option but to buy the only available battery from the nearest dealer which was Amaron. I was'nt sure how long it would last and This happened way back in 2006 and till date, the battery is running ting tong . So guys, Say no to Drugs & Exide and Yes to Amaron !

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by delhi2009

So guys, Say no to Drugs & Exide and Yes to Amaron !

I really liked that statement.

Glad to know someone hates something as much as I do. I'd add Amco to that list though.

[sumeethaldankar]

Dead in 7 months.

Can't believe i am writing this but my new exide purchased on may 23 2010 died today early morning.

I went in to start the car as i do i a startup in the morning before i go for a drive during the day only to find that the battery had gone flat.

Have given it for a charge and will be getting it again tommorrow.

Plan to change it the next time it shows signs of dying.I guess the weather took the toll on the battery and it was showing some signs of weakness, i thought it would hold but it didn't.

[Habanero City]

I have had Exide as OEM battery on my WagonR that lasted for 63 months (5 years and 3 months).
I changed it when the engine did not start at the first crank. Did not want to take any chances with it.
I replaced with another Exide and is up and running for the last 36 months (3 years and 3 months).
So I am unable to understand why there are so many problems for T-bhpians with Exide.
After all if the battery is within warranty you can always get it changed.
Alternatively if there is a basic technical fault with the battery, we can always take it up with the company and get it rectified so that such problems do not occur.
Exide has been in India for several decades and is a reputable company and still being used by several car companies as OEM.
So it is better to understand and analyze the problem for solutions rather than blaming the company as a whole.
My 3 month old ANHC has come with Amaron and so I can have a comparison in the long term experience and will report.

HC

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by Habanero City

I have had Exide as OEM battery on my WagonR that lasted for 63 months (5 years and 3 months).
I changed it when the engine did not start at the first crank. Did not want to take any chances with it.
I replaced with another Exide and is up and running for the last 36 months (3 years and 3 months).

You are lucky, the exide battery of my lancer died in less than 2 years. The entire battery water got drained when i returned from chennai after 1 month of not using the car.

Originally Posted by Habanero City

So I am unable to understand why there are so many problems for T-bhpians with Exide.

Its not just Bhpians, any one can have a problem

Originally Posted by Habanero City

After all if the battery is within warranty you can always get it changed.

Mine was not changed, they gave me weird stories like lancer can take only one model of exide and its out of stock.

Originally Posted by Habanero City

Alternatively if there is a basic technical fault with the battery, we can always take it up with the company and get it rectified so that such problems do not occur.

I took my batt to the exide shop near by and they didn't fix the issue they charged me 100 Bucks for charging the battery overnight and they also put an allegation that i tampered the dates on the warranty card, i have finally decided to forget the whole incidence

Originally Posted by Habanero City

Exide has been in India for several decades and is a reputable company and still being used by several car companies as OEM.

I hope "they" remember that more than "us", after all it takes a lot to build a brand than to destroy it

Originally Posted by Habanero City

So it is better to understand and analyze the problem for solutions rather than blaming the company as a whole.

HC

14 Pages and 205 posts is not analysis enough? I have replaced my excide with bosch and things have been fine ever since, this battery is cheap (at 3k) has 18 months of replacement warranty, which is much better than 5k for Excide at 36 months warranty out of which it can be replaced only in the first 1 year rest is discount.

Pramod

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Habanero City

I have had Exide as OEM battery on my WagonR that lasted for 63 months (5 years and 3 months).

Exide has been in India for several decades and is a reputable company and still being used by several car companies as OEM.

I had no problems with Exide for over 2 decades of use in cars and bikes. BUT I guess all good things must come to an end.

My car's Exide OEM battery started failing after 20 months. I wanted to shift to another brand (Amaron/Tata Green) but unfortunately the Amaron units that were available were of old stock >5-6 months and TG had no stock. I had no choice but to go back to Exide. Purchased an Exide Matrix in June 10. I have my fingers crossed..although it has a 30 month replacement warranty (+ 30 month rebate). Given their production volumes and share of the OEM and replacement market you would find more people complaining about Exide than Amaron/TG/Bosch.

Now let me tell you about my experience with Exide Powersafe SMF UPS batteries - The batteries died in 11 months. I misplaced the warranty cards and had to go in for new ones. I chose Amaron Quanta this time around. Amaron has provided complete tech data on their web site. It is very helpful unlike Exide which doesnt publish detailed tech data about their batteries. Also, I have a home inverter mated to an Exide Invatubular battery..I just hope it doesnt give problems.

My experience tells me that that Exide's quality is inconsistent.

Regards,

[blackfire_9]

My car (Alto) came with an exide as stock battery & it ran almost 4 years before I got it changed. Even then the battery wasn't dead but the fear of getting stranded got me to get it changed.

Presently, the car's running on SF brand (which comes under Exide only) & it has been doing well enough for the past more than 2 years. I am hoping it would last another 2 years before I need any change. But seeing so many bad experiences, I will keep my fingers crossed.

Drive safe.

[Habanero City]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Given their production volumes and share of the OEM and replacement market you would find more people complaining about Exide than Amaron/TG/Bosch.

Now let me tell you about my experience with Exide Powersafe SMF UPS batteries - The batteries died in 11 months. I misplaced the warranty cards and had to go in for new ones. I chose Amaron Quanta this time around. Amaron has provided complete tech data on their web site. It is very helpful unlike Exide which doesnt publish detailed tech data about their batteries. Also, I have a home inverter mated to an Exide Invatubular battery..I just hope it doesnt give problems.

My experience tells me that that Exide's quality is inconsistent.

Regards,

@R2D2
Yes I agree with you with regard to the inconsistent quality of the Exide SMF batteries that are used for the Computer UPS.
In my experience there are more duplicates than original. Further there are several brands among Exide such as "powersafe", "safepower", "Chloride" etc.,
So the last time I purchased the UPS battery, I tried to check the originality and surprisingly, I could not verify the date of manufacture.
I think the market is flooded with lot of counterfeit Exide batteries than the original ones and the company is not doing enough to protect their reputation and protect the Customers.
In my opinion, similar things are happening in the Exide automotive batteries which is why there are several complaints and unresolved problems.

HC

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Habanero City

So the last time I purchased the UPS battery, I tried to check the originality and surprisingly, I could not verify the date of manufacture. I think the market is flooded with lot of counterfeit Exide batteries than the original ones and the company is not doing enough to protect their reputation and protect the Customers.
In my opinion, similar things are happening in the Exide automotive batteries which is why there are several complaints and unresolved problems.
HC

Yes while there may be a large number of fakes floating around, I still believe it is inconsistent quality that makes an Exide purchase rather iffy experience.

By the way, I make sure that my batteries are purchased from authorised dealers with a bill and factory warranty card. That included the SMF UPS batteries, inverter battery & various car batteries referred to in my earlier post.

I have not had an experience with Exide's warranty replacement but my dad's palio had a Standard Furukawa which died after 2 years but was replaced without a fuss. The warranty replacement worked for 3 years before giving up last week. He bought a DIN55 Exide Matrix from the Exide authorised dealer that we have been visiting for decades. Fingers crossed.

Cheers!

[sumeethaldankar]

Hi guys ,
My exide battery purchased in may last year is on its way out. I had earlier mentioned in my post that the i had to recharge the battery on 1st jan as it had lost it's juice.I am thinking of switching back to AC delco which previously had lasted 4 years.

what i wanted to know how much can i expect for the exide battery in resale value if i were to try selling it. Will the dealer be able to give some decent discount in exchange of the battery or will i get the same standard 100-300 bucks for the old battery.

The battery is still under warranty (18 months) and just needs a vehicle which is in use daily which is not the case with my 800.
thanks