Where can you buy car batteries? Which one is the right one, how to install it and what should you pay attention to when buying? All these questions are very important when buying a new car battery (or starter battery), because car batteries are not always car batteries. Especially if you want to run a subwoofer, you should use a high quality battery. Otherwise, it might give up the ghost early or the consumers in the car might not get enough power. Which can lead to flickering headlights, for example.
Where can you buy car batteries?
Since there have been dozens of online shops, you can buy autobatting without leaving home and even save money. I had to buy a new car battery a year ago because mine was no longer charged. I spent some time looking for a solution that suited me. Since I was looking for a high quality battery with a long life span, but which also did not cost several 100 €, the choice was quickly limited. Now the only question I had to ask myself was: Where can I buy car batteries? I found a solution that would cost me 130 € in my workshop (only material, without installation). So I decided to make a price comparison via online shops and discovered huge price differences! In specific online shops for car parts I could save almost 15 €, which is a good start. On eBay 40 € and on Amazon I could save 47 €! That is over 1/3 of the starting price! These things came to my attention during my search:
Now you know where you can buy a car battery. Now you should think about what to look for when you buy it.
What should you look for when buying?
First you should check if your old battery has an ETN (European Type Number). If so, you simply need to buy a car battery with the same ETN.
Before buying, you should take a look at the manual of your car. Because there you will find useful information and sometimes only certain types of batteries may be installed. If there is nothing in the manual, you are free to choose. Besides the type, size, performance figures and price also play a role.
Batterietyp
There are 4 different types of car battery:
- Lead-acid batteriesThe most common type, because of a good price/performance ratioMore expensive types pay off, because the lifetime can increase up to 10 years (normally batteries last around 3 years)Are maintenance-free, but should be checked before every winterUnsuitable for electric cars and motorcycles, because they are too heavy
- AGM batteriesWithstand very low temperatures, therefore they are suitable for motorcycles and cold starts Especially in cars with start-stop systems in useOnly heat resistant up to 55°C, that can lead to problems in the engine compartmentAre suitable for storage as spare battery (e.g. in caravans)
- EFB-BatterySame function and characteristics as AGM-BatteriesBut hardly used
- Gel batteryCan be strongly electrically dischargedSuitable for vehicles that consume a lot of electricity (e.g. wheelchair)
Housing form
The shape of the housing should at best be like the old battery. In terms of size, it can be smaller, but by no means larger. In the worst case it won’t fit into the opening in the car. In any case, you should let the professionals do the modifications in the engine compartment, but even they will look at you crooked if you want to convert the engine compartment because the car battery is too big.
Capacity and cold review current
The capacity is measured in Ah. The more capacity the battery has, the longer it will work without being charged. You can take 10% more Ah than your old battery, but anything beyond that can make a noticeable difference, but in most cases the difference is not noticeable.
The cold review current is particularly important for auto starts on cold days. The higher this value, the more power the battery gives off during car starts. Therefore the value should be high. A high cold review current is especially important for diesel vehicles, as they need more starting current.
It is advisable to know that every common battery model has a cold review current of 200-850 A. For high quality batteries this value is 550-680 A and for the cheaper ones only 360 A. The following capacities should be used for the different vehicles at a nominal voltage of 12 volts:
- Small cars not under 36 Ah
- Compact cars not below 50 Ah
- Middle class cars not below 70 Ah
- And upper class cars not below 90 Ah.
Price and brand
The last important feature is the price and the brand. As so often, there are differences between well-known brands and no-names. You can save money with no-names, but many reviews have shown that they can’t compete with the quality and lifespan of premium brands and are therefore as expensive over a longer period of time as if you were using the same high-quality batteries. Good brands include Banner, Varta and Exide. If you are using an amplifier and a subwoofer, you should make sure that you use a high-quality battery
Prices for car batteries range from €40 to €200, but you are well served with products around €100.
You know where to buy car batteries and what to look out for. Now it’s about putting in the car battery.
Comparing pays off! First clarify where to buy car batteries and above all which ones you want. The installation is easy and quick to do yourself! Rather fall back on higher quality batteries than having to buy a new battery every 1-2 years.