Car Batteries

The right car battery keeps your fleet on the road and you in business
By Donna Harvey For your business fleet of vehicles, knowing where to buy and what to look for in car batteries will keep you rolling. Remember, batteries only have about a five year service life, so if a car in your fleet is older than that, it is probably due for a fresh battery.

Key things to consider when choosing new vehicle batteries are:

1. Look in operator’s manuals to find information on car batteries. Note the cold cranking amp (CCA) and reserve capacity requirements.
2. Check the date codes on the auto batteries available at your dealer to buy the most recently charged one.
3. Consider warranties on automobile batteries. Typically, there is a free replacement period followed by an adjustment period.

Gather information about your cars and the automobile batteries you need

Most battery manufacturer's websites have an interactive area where you can enter your car's make, model, class and engine data, then get a list of recommended auto batteries to fit that car.
Try:  A tough battery with a great warranty is ACDelco. Their website has interactive areas that will give you a list of products and help you locate a dealer. They also offer maintenance planning and reminder service on their site.

Choose maintenance-free car batteries for less hassle

Yesterday's automobile batteries required periodic checking, filling with distilled water, and recharging. Today most batteries are maintenance-free. To prevent leakage, some are entirely sealed.
Try:  Optima Batteries manufactures zero maintenance completely encapsulated lead acid batteries that come with a great warranty and good CCA's. Use the "Find a Battery" tool along with the "Find a Retailer" section of their website. For a Superflex maintenance free battery, Superior Battery has an interactive website to help you compare car batteries and locate a dealer in your area.

Look for a nationwide vehicle battery replacement program for cars that travel great distances

Your car wouldn't start in Billings, Montana, one cold morning, so you bought a new vehicle battery. A week later, you are in Phoenix, Arizona, and your car is starting sluggishly. Hopefully, your new battery has a nationwide replacement program.
Try:  The best nationwide replacement program is on Interstate batteries and they are opening new franchises every day. Interstate also makes the best car battery around. Find the local dealer using the interactive tool on their website.

Get hard-to-find car batteries for specialty and collector cars.

If you are in the business of restoring antique cars or you own one, you might need a source for specialty batteries for these vehicles.
Try:  New Castle Battery Mfg offers new reproduction vehicle batteries to fit most collector cars. They offer online ordering, ship the batteries dry, and then you fill them with sulphuric acid and apply a charge.

• Drive the car to the dealer so they can look at the installed battery to get a perfect match, or measure the height, width, and depth of the vehicle battery and note whether it uses side or top terminals.
• Save some money replacing your battery when you know you will be replacing a car soon. Compare car batteries to find one with a lesser warranty. Batteries come warranted for a period of anywhere between 18 months to seven years.
• Select the highest cold cranking amps possible if you live in a cold weather area for faster starts. You'll find these ratings from 500 to 900 CCA. Ensure you aren't looking at the warm cranking amps; those are higher because your car starts more easily when warm.