Has lockdown killed your car's battery?

[unobeat]

So far have not had any battery issues.

I have a battery charger that gets plugged in to charge for +- 6 hours to charge up, if the car stands for over 4 days without being driven.

 

[marco79]

I had my cars battery replaced just before lockdown, so I had it stand without any issues. I however drove my wifes car for the last few weeks for fear her battery would go.

 

[Foxhound5366]

All the talk of chargers on here has got me thinking about buying a charger. Is this one any good? OptiMATE 5 Battery Charger - Stop & Start

Takealot

www.takealot.com

 

["D"]

All the talk of chargers on here has got me thinking about buying a charger. Is this one any good? OptiMATE 5 Battery Charger

I love that particular one because it has the desulphating feature, it is not as pricey as the OptiMATE 6, and it is not overpriced like the CTEK chargers. From time to time, you can find it cheaper at Makro, compared to Takealot. However, you will probably always find it cheaper at Philtron branches, if they have stock.

 

[BTTB]

My 7-year old bakkie's battery died of old age, replaced it just before Level 4 began.

 

[HumanShield]

The battery was old anyway. It was fine until the second week of lockdown. Didn't start it for a week and that pushed it over the edge.

 

[waynehooper]

Had to replace the battery on my 2017 Opel Astra. Only problem is that it was a 80Ah AGM battery ( for stop start ) and set me back R 3200.

 

[Smugs]

All the talk of chargers on here has got me thinking about buying a charger. Is this one any good? OptiMATE 5 Battery Charger - Stop & Start

Takealot

www.takealot.com

For that money rather get a National Luna. More versatile and has a 5 year warranty.

 

[Superman-7]

Polo battery died after about three weeks of no driving. Given, it was going on 5 years of use, so wasn't too surprised.

VW would charge us around R2k to leave the car overnight and determine if the battery needed replacing, after which they'd probably advise us to buy a battery that I'd guess would cost another R2k.

We drove across the road to Best Drive who determined free of charge in about ten minutes after we got there that the battery was indeed on its last legs, and replaced it for R1, 300 all inclusive.

Dealerships are the worst.

 

[Neuk_]

Polo battery died after about three weeks of no driving. Given, it was going on 5 years of use, so wasn't too surprised.

VW would charge us around R2k to leave the car overnight and determine if the battery needed replacing, after which they'd probably advise us to buy a battery that I'd guess would cost another R2k.

We drove across the road to Best Drive who determined free of charge in about ten minutes after we got there that the battery was indeed on its last legs, and replaced it for R1, 300 all inclusive.

Dealerships are the worst.

R2k for an overnight battery test? Just buy a maintainer like an Optimate or Ctek for less than R2k and do it yourself with the added benefit of then having a battery maintainer for times when your car will stand for a while.

 

[Mr Smooth]

All the talk of chargers on here has got me thinking about buying a charger. Is this one any good? OptiMATE 5 Battery Charger - Stop & Start

Takealot

www.takealot.com

I’ve got the Optimate6 and it’s been flawless for the 5 years or so. Paid around R1300 from Takealot.

There are other chargers that’s ‘better’ but the 6 serves my needs.

 

[Superman-7]

R2k for an overnight battery test? Just buy a maintainer like an Optimate or Ctek for less than R2k and do it yourself with the added benefit of then having a battery maintainer for times when your car will stand for a while.

I get your point, but I had the test done for free, and this is only the second time in ten years I've had to worry about a car battery.

My point was more how dealerships overcharge you for something that you can get for much cheaper literally across the road.

 

[Neuk_]

I’ve got the Optimate6 and it’s been flawless for the 5 years or so. Paid around R1300 from Takealot.

There are other chargers that’s ‘better’ but the 6 serves my needs.

I have a little Optimate 4 that I use on my MkI VW Golf and have even used it to float charge my VW Touareg battery and my girlfriends Audi Q3 battery.

 

[ThatGuy_ZA]

I replaced my battery just before lockdown so, knock on wood, it has been okay.

That said, we've had 4 flat batteries in my block of 21 flats...

 

[Mr Smooth]

I have a little Optimate 4 that I use on my MkI VW Golf and have even used it to float charge my VW Touareg battery and my girlfriends Audi Q3 battery.

They decent chargers. Just check your amps on your batteries vs what your charger is capable of.

 

[gregmcc]

Battery was probably on the way out but lockdown tilted it over the edge. Had to replace.

 

[Foxhound5366]

Battery was probably on the way out but lockdown tilted it over the edge. Had to replace.

Ouch, that's 80 new car batteries already just in this small sample size. I'm guessing the battery manufacturers are all going to have a wonderful Christmas this year lol.

 

[Neuk_]

They decent chargers. Just check your amps on your batteries vs what your charger is capable of.

The Optimate 4 is fine for my MkI Golf in terms of charging amperage but it won't handle a full charge of the Touareg or Q3 batteries, so I use it simply to maintain them.

 

[dadecoza]

yay today was my turn ... R1.4k

My wife goes to the shop once a week and the shop is less than 2km from our home. I suspect the battery are not able to charge in that short distance. I had to go jump her twice before (a couple of weeks apart) and every time afterwards I had put the battery on trickle charge. This morning before she left it again struggled to start even though not being driven after the trickle charge. I told her to drive directly to the battery shop and get it replaced.

 

[konfab]

Both our cars had new batteries before the lockdown (Fun time of the year when both cars need it done at roughly the same time ). Both of them needed help starting before level 3 started and we could justify driving them to the beach every day for our exercise.

Fortunately my little car is parked on a slight slop, so I always have a gravity assisted bump start ready to go.