How much have you paid for a battery replacement

endacl

Batteryworld in Kimmage about a month ago. €50 and free fitting. Focus.

Feck. That would have paid for nearly three batteries for a French car...

Melodeon

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Here's the battery removal for a 3008:

http://ahw308.blogspot.ie/2010/03/diy-removing-battery.html

You'd do well to turn that around in much less than 30mins from tools out to tools away, so no, you weren't ripped off.

I personally find it surprising some places don't charge for battery replacement. When you are, people think they're ripped off. Swapping on a Fiesta may take 10 minutes, something like a 3008 takes longer and is deserving of a charge.

Easily takes me 30 minutes to swap mine in my E66, spare wheel has to be unscrewed and removed from the boot, jack has to be unhitched, tyre chock unscrewed, plastic cover removed and only then can you start the fiddly process of getting at the terminals and exhaust tube, before wiggling 25kg sideways into the wheel well with your back in shambles.

Along with all the above, most modern cars will require the use of a memory saver device of some sort before the old battery is disconnected.
Otherwise, a lot of time will be consumed reprogramming/recoding/resetting stuff like the immobiliser, alarm system, central locking, audio system, electric windows, dash clock, and who knows how much else. Some of these things may require a visit to a main dealer with the correct diagnostic equipment.

Mango Joe

I found some of the responses on this thread so unbelievably irritating.

- Sometimes people assume a certain amount of trust and decency is in place when entering into an agreement with someone.

There is always the option open to the person providing to service to exploit the customers lack of knowledge in an area or profit from their concerns re. their car not starting and worries around this etc.

People should always be fairly paid for their time, expertise and outgoings none of which are ever going to be stretched dropping a battery into an engine bay!!!

If the customer had innocently agreed a fee of €500 upfront cause they thought that was the usual, normal going rate would the retailer here still have no case to answer????????

FWIW I'd never visit this place and I'd tell anyone I ever knew or cared about to avoid it at all costs too.

Jesus wept.

biko

Welcome to capitalism. No-one is going to hold your hand trough life, you need to figure stuff out for yourself.

munchkin_utd

needed a battery in a hurry for the focus (cold weather snap, wife going ballistic) so spent 80 or 90 on the battery.

Picked up a mini rachet set for a tenner and fitted it myself, and now have a handy rachet set that gets more use than I thought it would!

Special Circumstances

Looking at the steps in that link... the labour charge doesn't seem extortionate. Somewhere between reasonable and pricey by my reckoning.
Although I'd say they have a nice margin built into the dagenite 2yr warranty battery at that price!

anothernight

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Looking at the steps in that link... the labour charge doesn't seem extortionate. Somewhere between reasonable and pricey by my reckoning.
Although I'd say they have a nice margin built into the dagenite 2yr warranty battery at that price!

But the steps are all quick "remove this, remove that", which look like it would take a few minutes to do. Half an hour labour for removing five things does seem very pricy, imo. That blog calls it a dozen steps, but the 11th and last one is "11. DONE."! My Ford Focus has these steps, which looks like more work than it actually is, yet it couldn't be more straightforward really. Then again, my old Megane had an even more straightforward battery change... if you didn't take into account the extremely awkward angle the battery had to be inserted at so it would fit. Took ages, just that one step.

If you pay someone to do work for you you're also paying for their expertise. Since they agreed the price beforehand and the OP accepted it, I suppose the price is fair. Steep, but fair.

To answer the OPs question: I think I paid about £50 for my last car battery at Halfords (from memory. I could be wildly wrong!).

jimgoose

Today on "My Two Cents", that labour charge strikes me as a bit saucy but not extortionate. Replacing the battery isn't getting any quicker or simpler on newer cars - even on my old heap it's a slight faff because it's under the boot floor-panel. Mind you I don't pay anyone to do it. :pac:

Special Circumstances

anothernight wrote: »

But the steps are all quick "remove this, remove that", which look like it would take a few minutes to do. Half an hour labour for removing five things does seem very pricy, imo. That blog calls it a dozen steps, but the 11th and last one is "11. DONE."! My Ford Focus has these steps, which looks like more work than it actually is, yet it couldn't be more straightforward really.

Many things are straightforward when you know how.

OK, it's not rocket science but I wouldn't expect anyone but a peugeot tech to know that sequence off the top of their head. And I wouldn't expect many to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the different procedures for every modern car.

10mm spanner, undo 4 bolts - that's straightforward... and OBVIOUS and QUICK. Which is the crucial difference here I think.

anothernight

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Many things are straightforward when you know how.

Er... that was my point. She paid for expertise, but they told her it was for time. The price was steep imo, but still fair as she didn't know how to do it and it was a pre-agreed price.

Special Circumstances

anothernight wrote: »

But the steps are all quick "remove this, remove that", which look like it would take a few minutes to do. Half an hour labour for removing five things does seem very pricy, imo. That blog calls it a dozen steps, but the 11th and last one is "11. DONE."!
...
...
...
..
.
If you pay someone to do work for you you're also paying for their expertise.

anothernight wrote: »

Er... that was my point. She paid for expertise, but they told her it was for time. The price was steep imo, but still fair as she didn't know how to do it and it was a pre-agreed price.

Ah, I concentrated on the tone and content of the longer first part of your post. Which conveyed a completely different message to the one liner toward the end.

Have you ever considered politics?

Bongalongherb

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Here's the battery removal for a 3008:

http://ahw308.blogspot.ie/2010/03/diy-removing-battery.html

You'd do well to turn that around in much less than 30mins from tools out to tools away, so no, you weren't ripped off.

I personally find it surprising some places don't charge for battery replacement. When you are, people think they're ripped off. Swapping on a Fiesta may take 10 minutes, something like a 3008 takes longer and is deserving of a charge.

Easily takes me 30 minutes to swap mine in my E66, spare wheel has to be unscrewed and removed from the boot, jack has to be unhitched, tyre chock unscrewed, plastic cover removed and only then can you start the fiddly process of getting at the terminals and exhaust tube, before wiggling 25kg sideways into the wheel well with your back in shambles.

I had no idea it would be that much work just to change a car battery. Why do they make those cars so hard to get the battery out ?. In that case I can understand now why they charged so much for the removal and change of the battery.

Voodoomelon

It depends very much on the car.
Many cars still have their batteries right there when you open your bonnet. Undo a clamp and the terminals and you'll have it replaced in under 10 minutes.

But many engine bays now have little spare room and so the battery is positioned underneath other components or in the boot of the car, in which case there is more work required to get at it.

ofcork

Thats a 308 in the blog is the setup the same?

anothernight

Bongalongherb wrote: »

I had no idea it would be that much work just to change a car battery. Why do they make those cars so hard to get the battery out ?. In that case I can understand now why they charged so much for the removal and change of the battery.

Not battery-specific, but a lot of the annoying positioning of things in newer cars happens because they try to cram the car with new features, and yet they still have to comply with stringent regulations and statements of design. Vehicle packaging can be quite challenging in some cases, especially in cars with more advanced heating systems, sound systems, hybrid batteries, etc.

In fairness to whoever the shop/garage is that sold you the battery, 30 minutes isn't unrealistic (nor is €35 per hour for labour).

30 mins to the shop/garage would be most likely having to include the customer approaching and asking price, bringing their car in, figuring out battery size, taking the old one out, replacing, removing car, making sure everything still works and sending them on their way (likely with a receipt etc). All of this has to be done with the expectation of no damage or anything, and most likely the place it was done had lighting, heating, etc. for the OP to wait in relative warmth while the job is done (although I do realise not everywhere is like that).

So whilst i personally think it's a tad steep, based on the amount of, say, Motor Factors, that sell and fit for free, i don't think it's fair to expect everyone to operate the same business model.

If I were the OP i'd probably agree I paid at the higher end of the scale, but I wouldnt feel cheated or conned at all.

Sh1tbag OToole

Asmooh wrote: »

I paid about 200 for the battery in my mx5 or so and installed it myself

I suppose if it lasts the 10 years it will pay for itself. Do you find them good value?