New battery.

[boristhespie]

Hi

I need a new battery for my 2003 C5 110 hdi. The prices from main dealers, stores and local factor are scary. So I had a look online and found numerous batteries so am a bit flumoxed. I found one battery company and asked them if the battery they showed for my car (using their registration search facility) was correct. I gave them my reg and vn number and they suggest something completely different which flumoes me even mpre. Can you help? This is their email.

Hi,
Thank you for your email. Based on our information on your vehicle we recommend item 252664405692 which is an 096 case size battery. Please check dimensions before purchase.
Kind regards,

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2664405692

Can you advise me as to whether this is suitable. I just query this as this is down as a battery for a Passat while their site tells me my car needs another.

Thanks
Ps. Has anyone used these guys before?

[wheeler]

All battery catalogues/on line lookups seem to list a standard 096 battery for the mk 2.0 HDi.
This is way to small as the original is 720 cca (EN)
Most decent battery manufacturers do their standard one, a heavier duty one then the EFB & AGM versions of a battery.
I would put in either a heavy duty 096 or a normal 110 battery. Just make sure it is at least 720 cca.
Also don't be tempted by the low price of the euro car parts/ CP4L Lion branded batteries as they are complete rubbish they generally seem to have a lifespan of 6-12 months at best.

[boristhespie]

Thanks. I think my C5 is mark 1.

The current deid battery is a

Varta 12v L3 450/720a(en)

I will be honest, I have no idea what any of that means.

[reef2k]

Bought a Hankook 72 ah type 096 last week for just over £61. Enter your Reg number on the website and it'll do the rest.
Should have arrived the next day,but took 2 days. Reviews a bit mixed for this company,but worth consideration.
https://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/

[myglaren]

Never used them but these people seem to get good reviews:
The Battery Guys

I put a new one in about a year ago when I had a new starter fitted. The bloke that does my work got it from ECP, a Bosch that cost £53+VAT.
I had wanted a Varta same as the previous C5 but they weren't available. Turned out they are the same battery rebadged.
I can't remember what is is but will check in the morning.

[reef2k]

That's a great price if it's a type 096.This Hankook came with 4 yr warranty,but i'd go with Varta given the choice.I bought a varta from my local Scrapyard as a spare (no idea how old it was) to keep in the workshop,but ended up fitting it to my wifes C5 and it was brilliant.When she bought another car,it sat neglected for a couple of months (Jan,Feb) yet started easily when i took it for MOT.

[EDC5]

For what it's worth I'd recommend the Yuasa YBX 5096, its 80Ah, so a little more than most 096 sized batteries and perfect for the power hungry C5. We use them a lot for tractors / plant machinery and they can take a fair bit of abuse and seem to last.

Also don't be tempted by the low price of the euro car parts/ CP4L Lion branded batteries as they are complete rubbish they generally seem to have a lifespan of 6-12 months at best.

Funny that, I replaced a 'Lion' branded battery in my C5 with the Yuasa and found that it cured the constant Economy Mode issue plaguing my car

[GiveMeABreak]

I have to say that despite my earlier ravings about the expensive AGM battery that I fitted to the C5 5 years ago - I have suffered endlessly with economy mode within a minute of switching the car off. Even with a top up charge that only lasts about 5 minutes before it switches off - good old economy mode kicks right back in after 2 minutes.

I think there must be some issue with these fitted to a non-STOP START vehicle, and I suspect that the alternator is not designed to charge an AGM battery correctly. It does the job, but I'm not happy about the lack of post shut down power availability, so will probably be getting it replaced shortly and will probably go for a Yuasa as EDC5 has recommended. So I would advise against fitting an AGM unless you have a Stop Start vehicle with regenerative braking, where the appropriate alternator and AGM battery are fitted as standard.

[reef2k]

i've used small gel-cell Yuasa batteries for various hobby uses over the years and they've always been very reliable,so not surprised their car batteries sound just as good.

[white exec]

One more vote for the Yuasa YBX 5096 - a really good battery. The slightly cheaper YBX 3096 good too - €90 here.

[myglaren]

I have a vague recollection of buying a Yuasa battery but can't remember what for - probably one of the kid's cars - most likely the Rover 75 Diesel.
Had it given less that satisfactory performance I would certainly remember that.

[wheeler]

I'm not finding EFB & AGM batteries to have a very long lifespan at all, even when fitted to stop start cars.
The ones fitted to Nissans & Renaults in particular seem to have a lifespan of 2-3 years max & im finding loads of them failing when still under manufacturers warranty. I'm sure they must source them from the ECP Lion range

A standard 096 is way to small for a mk1 C5 Diesel. It would really need to be an up rated 096 like the Yuasa YBX5096 which is rated at 760 cca (EN). A standard 096 is only around 650 cca.

[boristhespie]

So you wouldn't recommend the battery these guys said I needed here?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2664405692

They all make a big thing about checking rhe dimensions of the battery tray. I couldn't measure this BUT did measure the battery at 26.5cm and 16.5 cm which seems smaller than a lot of the batteries here. What size can the tray in the C5 take?

[EDC5]

So you wouldn't recommend the battery these guys said I needed here?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2664405692

They all make a big thing about checking rhe dimensions of the battery tray. I couldn't measure this BUT did measure the battery at 26.5cm and 16.5 cm which seems smaller than a lot of the batteries here. What size can the tray in the C5 take?

The CCA isn't massive on that battery to be honest. If you can stretch to it https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yuasa-Car-Ba ... SwNMVahNIY

There's also this Varta, again much higher CCA: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Varta-Sil ... Sw61haheMb

Varta also have a good reputation adn are the OEM for a few car manufacturers too.

I'm sure there are others with similar specs always try and get the most powerful battery for the size.

[Gibbo2286]

I have a nephew who works for Yuasa Batteries so maybe a staff discount................................................but he's in Brisbane Australia

Yuasa by the way was Lucas originally I think or maybe they swallowed up Lucas.