[jgarry]

Battery tested weak. Any recommendations for a new battery?

There's a Batteries+ near my house that has done good for me on other cars (like, keeping all settings on everything), but bug is in Irvine. I see there is one near there, just about at the limit for my lunch hour.

I think the dealer quoted me $260, but that seemed so out of line I'm not even sure that's what was said. A quick poke at the autozone shows a Duralast at $155.

2001 2.0L

(I saw http://newbeetle.org/forums/technic...attery-replacement-how-discussion-thread.html ).

All advice appreciated.
TIA

 

[jfoj]

Do not need to go to the dealer for a battery. Too expensive.

Battery is not so hard to install, its a bit tricky if you have the power steering reservoir connected to it.

The plastic covering, upper fuse box and clamp can be a bit tedious of you are short on time, but its all possible.

 

[Smileybug]

I had a Duralast in my Beetle. Came with the car, and I had it for 5 years before it died. If it was brand new, I got 5 years out of it. If not, well, it had a good life then for sure. Put in another Duralast after that.

 

[jfoj]

AutoZone and Advance batteries have been good to me.

Check online if you can buy it online, many times they offer discounts, then you pick it up in the store.

This is what I did with my last purchase and saved like 15%?

 

[D2Beetle]

The last that I bought for my sons '99 was a "Ray-o-Vac" from Batteries Plus; cost me $140 plus tax.

 

[jgarry]

Thanks all! I haven't even checked how old this one is, I've had the car 5.5 years. Not doing it myself, logistics of a station car just make it too inconvenient.

 

[Round cars]

Vw 2001 GLS BATTERIES

Here's what I found at ORIELLYS
Which ever battery you decide on be sure to go with AT LEAST the Minimum cold cranking amp 600 (CCA) recommended for our new beetles.

List: Battery - Automotive - 2001 Volkswagen Beetle | O'Reilly Auto Parts



I found a HOW-TO VIDEO on YouTube also.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lBzvAYoP2mw

Hope this helps you.

 

[jgarry]

In the end, I went to Batteries Plus, and they had one battery listed, SLI47H5M Battery 2000 to 2002 L4 2.0L 480CCA Beetle Procell Gold Plus. I don't know what the 480CCA means, it's a 600 CCA according to the link.

It was kind of entertaining, when they looked it up on their computer it told them Do Not Install, way too complicated. The guy looked at it, said he didn't see any reason for such a warning. I didn't tell him what interesting stories I had seen here I didn't have a bad feeling about it, those guys do plenty of installs.

In the end, it took 1 hour, while I had a nice salad at the Chipotle next door, no problems with radio resets or check engine lights. The clock was 11 minutes slow. $156 out the door.

Then I autobahnburned up the 5; well, I put cruise on 80, got passed by a couple of riceburners going at least 30mph faster, right past the motocop who had pulled over a bimmer, who didn't even notice.

I'm a Happy Bugger.

 

[jfoj]

Install is not bad for anyone who has some skills, should have been like 30 minutes at most, but the guy likely had to find tools, answer the phone, help customers, guess on how the get the plastic cover reconnected to the battery tray and so on.

Much cheaper and likely much quicker than the dealer!