Finding the best car battery price on a replacement car battery.

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

You can never tell when your car battery will decide it has started your car for the last time. Since this could be any time of the year, auto battery prices can vary based on what incentives or car battery coupons different manufacturers are offering at the time you need one.

I can say just a few years ago you could get a good quality car battery for $50. Well, it looks like those days are gone, the last time I was in Wal-Mart just a few months back the lowest priced car battery I noticed was around $90, and for my 2006 Nissan it was over $100.

Car battery cost has almost doubled in the last five years. You can expect to pay near $100 and maybe a little less if you buy the lower end name brand car battery, which will be fine for most cars we drive on a daily basis. SUV’s and larger trucks can expect to pay more for the low end everyday automotive battery.

If you found this page you more than likely are in need of a new car battery and are looking for the best car battery price. There are a few things that will affect the car battery cost. These include the car batteries size, the brand you choose, (RC) how much reserves capacity it has, how old is the battery or manufacture date, and finally the cold cranking amps or (CCA).

To find the lowest car battery price or maybe even a car battery sale you could check with the major stores like Kmart, Target, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. I am only aware of Wal-Mart installing the new car battery for you. This is only if they have a tire and lube department. Most others do not install the battery for you. Remember to always keep safety in mind if you decide to buy the replacement car battery and install it yourself. Here is a great article on how to replace car battery.

Size:

The size is the actual physical dimensions of the car battery itself and has nothing to do with the batteries capacity. This is sometimes referred to as a group instead of size. This is important because the tray the car battery rests in is for a specific size battery. If you get one too small it could slide around and short, causing more problems than just a dead battery. If it doesn’t have the proper terminals for your application your cables may not reach or the positive and negative terminals may be on the wrong side.

Below are the different group sizes for different car models. This list is not all inclusive and should only be used as a guide. Your best bet is to get all the information from your old car battery when you get ready to research auto battery prices. This will ensure when researching, you are getting your actual car battery price and help eliminate any surprises when it comes time to make the actual purchase.

Common Battery Groups:

Size 75 – General Motors cars.

Size 65 – for big bodies Fords, Lincoln, and Mercury cars.

Size 35 – the latest Honda, Nissan, and Toyota cars.

Size 34 – Chrysler

Size 34/78 – These have 2 sets of terminals which fits some Chrysler and some General Motors models.

Car Battery Brands:

In the U.S. a lot of the major dealers and large chain stores will private label their batteries. For example, Wal-Mart uses Ever Start and Champion, Sears is known for Diehard and Duralast is AutoZone’s private label lead acid car battery. All of these are quality batteries for replacement in your automobile. The difference would be the warranty or life expectancy of the battery. This is why you will normally see the bronze, silver, gold, platinum, titanium, premium, heavy duty, etc. You will notice the car battery price goes up as this scale increases. This is used for differentiating the quality of batteries.

There are brands like Duralast, which build their car batteries based on the region they are sold in. This is probably the closest you can get to a custom made car battery for the climate you live in. This is something most other major brands have not caught on to yet. The Duralast brand is sold exclusively at your local AutoZone stores and is their private label car battery. Most of the major brand name batteries are dependable and they come with whatever warranty type you choose based on the bronze to higher status we talked about earlier in this article. For more information on car battery brands click here.

Reserve Capacity:

What in the world is car battery reserve capacity?

This is a very important rating when looking at auto battery prices. Reserve capacity is a batteries ability to run the entire vehicles electrical system without the support of an alternator. (RC) The rating is the number of minutes, which a fully charged battery, at a temperature of 80 degrees will discharge at a rate of 25 amps until it drops below 10.5 volts.

This is in the event the serpentine belt or alternator belt breaks while you are driving and the alternator is no longer working. This is the power you will need to make it to the next exit on the interstate or home according to the circumstances. If the belt is no longer running the alternator your automobile will be running on battery power only and this is a very limited resource. The higher the reserve capacity number the longer you will have to get somewhere safe before your vehicle will no longer run without power.

This number is listed in minutes and isn’t always printed on the battery. Your sales representative will be able to tell you if you request this information. Keep in mind you shouldn’t just buy a replacement car battery with the highest (RC) rating. It is best practice to consult your car’s owner’s manual for the recommended reserve capacity for your particular car and try to select a car battery with the exact (RC) rating that is recommended by the manufacturer. Always keep in mind, if a belt breaks, it can mean your water pump isn’t circulating your car’s coolant either, which means you do not have long before the vehicle starts to overheat which can cause major engine damage.

Manufacture Date:

The manufacture date will let you know how long the car battery has been sitting on the shelf. When trying to find a car battery sale, remember the fresher the better. The longer a battery sits and has not been recharged the more a chemical process called sulfation build up on the lead plates can occur reducing the life of the car’s battery.

Normally there will be one of two types of codes. One would be the shipping date code the other is the manufacture date code. This code indicates the month and year the car battery was shipped from the manufacturer. It is the first two characters of a four character code when it is the shipping date code. The first will be in A, B, C’s; the second will be a number. The alphabet represents the month. A = January, B = February, all the way until you get to I & J = September, J & K = October, K & L = November, and L & M = December. Then the numbers equal the year 1 = 2001 and so forth.

Some replacement car battery manufacturers use a manufacture date code instead of a shipping date code. This is usually heat stamped in to the batteries case or cover. An example would be 6253CB. This means 6 = 2006 and 253 = the day of the year, so day 253 is = (Sept. 10). You may want to refer to this information when it comes time to replace car battery since it will tell you how long your battery lasted.

Cold Cranking Amps or (CCA):

For starters, cold cranking amps is a very important measurement for car batteries since we depend on it to be able to put out short bursts of large amounts of power to crank our vehicles. This can play a role in the car battery price. The actual definition is the number of amps the battery can deliver at 0 degrees for 30 seconds and not drop any lower than 7.2 volts. If you live in an area with harsh winters, this can be even more important to you. The higher the (CCA) the more ability your replacement car battery has to start your car when the weather is extremely cold.

Warranty:

The differences in the quality of the battery are in direct relationship to the warranty. As you go up the scale, the longer they offer free replacement before they start pro-rating the replacement in the event the battery fails before the warranty ends. It is obvious the car batteries warranty is in the manufacturers favor. Of course the higher the quality the battery the more it will change the car battery price. In my opinion the warranty is for the low percentage of early battery failures due to statistics. This gives the buyer confidence when purchasing a replacement car battery.

In my personal experience, I have always bought the less expensive name brand car battery. Usually from Wal-Mart or a local auto parts store, whoever had the best car battery coupons available or was having a car battery sale. They usually have only a 1 year warranty or so where they will replace it for free. I only expect to get around four or five years out of a new replacement car battery anyway and if I have to replace it before then, hopefully it will be within the warranty time so I can at least get a pro-rated discount and if not, personally I am not that concerned about it since I may not even have the vehicle that long.

Car Battery Coupons:

This is the great thing about the information age of the internet. You can easily type into your favorite search engine “car battery coupons” or “auto battery prices” and find out what kind of specials your local stores are running at the time. There are a lot of things to take into consideration when looking for a car battery sale as mentioned above. However, with a little research and by getting the information from your existing dead car battery, you should be able to get the best deal on the exact car battery to fit your needs.

Cruisin the coast in Biloxi, MS – See thousands of cool cars and cool old cars.

Posted on January 15, 2012 by

Cruisin the coast has been around since 1996 and started basically as a Hot Rod show where folks could show off their cool cars, cool old cars and many cool fast cars most have worked so hard on for years.

I live only 45 minutes away from Biloxi, MS Gulf Coast Coliseum which is at the heart of the cruise. This is a week-long car show, where they have auctions, parades, cruise-ins and more.

The 30 mile stretch of highway 90 mostly runs right down the beach. Cruisin the Coast has won numerous awards for Best Festival/Event of the year among many others.

My wife and I went to Cruisin the Coast in 2002, 2003 and 2004. We had a great time. It is really all about just hanging out with friends on the side of the road, which is what we did. We found us a spot on the side of the road, preferably near a red light and set up shop. We then set up the grill and ice chests, folding chairs and cooked food and had refreshments all day. Of course we have a designated driver and do not drink if we are cruising. The red light thing is because you can talk to the drivers and see if you can talk them into doing a burnout. Fun stuff.

Check out this quick video of all the cool cars at Cruisin the Coast.

In 2002 I had a 76 Chevy Monza with a small block 350. It wasn’t in the best shape, traditional rusty 70′s Chevrolet, but it was in great mechanical shape. The wife and I had a great time doing burnouts and generally just cruising around and seeing all of the hot rods and taking pictures. My Monza didn’t have a leaking radiator, but when idling for long periods with such a small radiator we would have to stop every so often and spray some water in the front of the radiator to cool it down some. You are not going to drive very fast for a long time when on hwy 90 during Cruisin the Coast.

This is us doing a burnout at the light in front of our friends in my 76 Monza. It was dark out so I brightened the pic as best I could.

76 Monza - Cruisin the Coast Burnout

Cruisin the Coast is really all about just getting together with friends and having a good time. There are plenty of casinos on this strip of highway 90 and plenty of things to do. We mostly enjoyed hanging out on the corner at a red light with our friends and watching all the hot rods, cool old cars, and even some really cool sports cars.

The man who rebuilt my 1977 Monza transmission was there and brought his Chevy II. I am not sure of the year but somewhere in the 60’s. At his transmission shop, he had a small strip of asphalt put down just to use for setting up hot rods. He would make adjustments to the ladder bars and suspension to get massive traction and weight shift in cars. His Chevy II had a 383 stroker with NOS and only small cheater slicks on the rear and would almost get the front wheels off the ground with how hard it would hook to the asphalt.

Here are a few pictures of his hot rod Chevy II.

Wish I would have gotten a picture from the front when he launched it but the alternator decided it’s time was up and we had to quickly get it back on the trailer.

Fast Chevy II

Awsome Chevy II - NOS

I have been a fan of the H-Body cars by Chevy for a long time and have owned four H-Bodies in my life. My first car was a 1974 Chevrolet Vega that my dad helped me build.

We put in a small block 327 and did all of the bodywork and prep. My father had a friend who owned a paint and body shop and he taught me how to paint a car. I was young and didn’t have much money so I didn’t put frame connectors on it and of course twisted the body and had a lot of problems with it. I sold it when I found a 1976 Chevrolet Monza and drove it all through high school and eventually traded it in on a new car. I will have to scan those pictures one day and I will post them up, this was before the digital camera age. When I got older I wanted another and bought a 1977 Monza that I just sold back in October of 2011.

Here are a few pictures of some H-Body cars that were at Cruisin the Coast and two I have owned over the years. I love the look of the hatchback Monza. Too small and too much motor was why they appealed to me.

Early 70's Vega

77 CHEVY MONZA

If you are interested in coming down to Biloxi, Mississippi for this year’s Cruisin the Coast 2012 it will begin on October 7^th and run through October 14^th 2012.

There are some campgrounds in the area where you can reserve a spot or stay at one of the many hotels in the area. Remember, there are a lot of Casino’s around there which means plenty of hotels. If looking for somewhere more economical to stay, there are other cities in the area that are within a one hour drive. You will be able to get a much more reasonable rate if you are not so close to all of the action, although that has it’s drawbacks also, since it is called Cruisin the Coast, traffic is very slow on Highway 90 for miles and miles. Go to Cruisin the Coasts official website for more information.

Her are a few more videos I found. They have a flamethrower competition and here is the winner.

Then just another video that I liked. Check it out.

What are my options if I have a radiator leak?

Posted on November 12, 2011 by

When asked the question how to fix a leaking radiator there are a few things we need to consider.

How old is the radiator?

Can you remove and re-install it yourself?

The reason these questions are important is if the radiator is getting pretty old, the radiator leak could be from corrosion happening inside the radiator. Older radiators were usually made completely of copper or brass and could be easily soldered to fix a leak if excessive corrosion was not the issue. If corrosion is the cause, when trying to fix the leaking radiator you may just cause more leaks. You normally can tell if this is the case by simply looking inside the radiator with the cap off. If it is rusty and scaly inside, you may be better off simply replacing it.
If it is a newer car radiator leaking, these are not made of all metal like the older ones. They now mostly use aluminum and plastic. The aluminum is the core of the radiator or the fins you see on front and rear and the tanks are made from plastic, which make up the sides of the radiator. Aluminum is much more difficult for a do it yourselfer to repair than the older copper and brass type. If this is the type radiator you have you may be better off calling a radiator shop and asking for pricing and price a new and used one. Explore all of your cost options so you can make an educated decision. Have it repaired, buy a used one or buy a new one and install it yourself.

The next question is can you remove and reinstall it after the radiator leak repair. If you feel like this is something you can handle it is a good idea to go ahead and drain and remove the radiator from the car. Once we have it out of the car, it will be much easier to work on. You can buy a radiator pressure testing pump at your local auto parts store; plug the outlets which the test kit should have instruction on how to do. Then put a little pressure in it and submerge it under water so you can spot exactly where the leak is located. This is mostly for the older type you can solder. On the newer ones, there isn’t much you can do yourself to repair it, especially if it is located where the tanks and the radiator core are connected. You will save some money by removing it yourself and either finding a used one or searching places like e-bay and such. Of course this is all dependent on how quickly you need it repaired.

When it comes to fast fix sealants and just pour this in and your radiator leak problems will simply disappear. All of these products are just temporary fixes and can cause a multitude of other problems down the road. Our advice would be DO NOT USE THEM. You can do a quick internet search and find many stories of people having to replace clogged heater cores, sometimes more than one in a single year since it seems to settle in the engine block and just move at random.
To fix your radiator where it will not cause you more problems would be to fix it correctly or replace it with a new or quality used one. If you can remove it and re-install it yourself, you will save money by not paying the expensive labor charges. Removing a leaking radiator from a car is not a difficult task. You do need a few tools and a little patience. I love the age of the digital camera since we can take pictures before we ever get started and if you get confused when trying to put it back together just go to your computer, upload the pics and you can see exactly how everything goes back together. Personally, I do this when taking anything apart for the first time.

To help prevent leaks in your cooling system from occurring, it is a good idea to flush the entire cooling system on a regular basis per your manufacturer’s recommendations. This keeps the cooling system clean and flowing smooth. The coolant, over an extended period of time without maintenance, can actually become corrosive and cause leaks.
With a little patience and some work on your part, you can save a significant amount of money by removing the radiator yourself and either repairing it yourself or replacing it. You will still save money even if you have to take it in to a radiator repair shop since you will not have to pay those expensive labor charges to remove and replace it.

Author: Dan

Meet the author here

talkinaboutcars.com

All about cars.