craig001

Well as I previously posted, I was going to get a new to me 95Cab. I got it yesterday afternoon but the path was arduous. Which leads to the title. While I know many are going to the Optima battery I will stick with Sears. Not because of their durability, but rather the replacement policy. Long story short, some of you will laugh, but here I was finished taking off all the extras on my 964 and thinking that I was going to get my 993. The dealer never called Monday so I figured "OK, I will go Tuesday morning after my appointment for blood-drawing." There I am Tuesday morning on the fifth floor of the parking garage, ready to head to the dealer - turn the key - nothing. Just warning lights. Arg! So I push the car out on the ramp and roll down the ramp - pop the clutch - engine turns and dies. So I think, "OK, I wasn't going fast enough." Go down two ramps and pop the clutch - nothing. Security comes by and tries to jump. Nothing. Call a friend and he comes with his pickup truck and we tow it home, I live 10 minutes from the med center. Get home and my charger won't let me use to to start the car, keeps kicking down to 2 amps. So I find my receipt, keeping notebooks on your cars is a really good thing, pull the battery and head to Sears. They put the battery in their tester and viola., it says replace. Check the receipt date, 3/01/2006. Well that's within the 36 month free replacement period. I head over the the dealer and ask if it is ok to put the new Sears battery in my car and they say "Sure, no problem, we know the battery in the car is good." So I swap out and put that battery in the 964 and it fires right up - makes me wonder why am I changing driving it to the dealer - 3 hours later. Go to start the 933 and there's smoke and a burning rubber smell. Then I put the car in gear and it won't move! What's up with that? Well we pop the trunk and try to find the source of smoke and smell. Nothing. So the dealer's guy gets in the car, put's it in gear and it rolls out fine??? I tell him that I will be in Wednesday to discuss splitting charges at a local dealer about the smoke and smell - plus he needs to order replacement hood and trunk lift struts as we agreed and should have been installed before I picked up the car. But back to the battery - the big deal is that I first purchased a DieHard in 2003 for my 944S2. When I traded it in for my 964 in 2004 I swapped it out since it was only a year old. That battery died in 2006, but just past the 36 month free replacement. But I got a good pro-rate. And 29 months later, I have a new to me car with a new battery and a new 36 month free raplacement warranty! Bad news/good new story. Pics to come soon - before/after I change out tires.

AOW162435

Look here





Andreas

Reddy Kilowatt

Snort.

Novice

AFAIK. the replacement battery (replaced under the 36 replacement warranty) doesn't come with another 36-month replacement warranty, but it follows the 1st (original) warranty. It says so on the receipt (for me).

craig001

Well I guess my guy screwed up in my favor then

Mark in Baltimore

My brain is cravin' a heapin' helpin' of paragraphs.

95FL993CAB

LOL

MarkD

I'm not exactly sure what happened but I gather it was a happy ending.
Congrats!

Have we seen pics of your car yet?

Chuck A.

That's a lot of work to save $100. What's your time worth?

Edward

True for you guys that obviously make considerably more jack than I do

As for me, yanking a battery out of the bonnet, going to my neighborhood Sears, and NOT having to spend a C note AND getting a fresh battery is well within my "time well spent" category.

As far as batteries go, I've had two optimas in the past. I will NEVER buy another. Their price vs longevity just doesn't make sense. When a Costco battery of like CCA lasts just as long, I simply see no point in spending more for something that doesn't give me any "more." This has been my experience over many cars (within my extended family), over many batteries, over many years. Regardless of battery make, they ALL seem to last 3 years on average. Maybe snow climates are different, but this is what I've found here in sunny SoCal. All IMHO and IME, of course.

BTW, (further OT), gotta love Sears, eh? They're everywhere, open all the time, are easy going when it comes to replacements ...and why I also own Craftsman. Glad that worked out for you!

Edward

craig001

It was more than saving the cash - I had to change out the battery anyway to know that alternator and voltage regulator were good. Didn't want to stick the dealer with my problems.

Who wouldn't want to put the new battery in the car to be bought?

Interesting comment about the Optima battery though. I was considering getting one if Sears hadn't exchanged batteries for me.

MarkD

Well, as another datapoint, I have had great "luck" with Optima batteries and love the gel cell vs wet.
If a battery lasts 3 years I am a happy camper.
After 3 years I have forgotten I bought it... My memory only lasts about 1.5 years.

Chuck A.

Well you can't be doing too badly. You own 2 Porsches and I only have one

Mark in Baltimore

You should see his 35 foot Donzi!

Chuck A.

It's always the guys who cry "poor" that have all the cool toys. But if I had a 35 foot hole in the water, I guess I'd try to get my battery replaced for free too