28-05-2015, 12:51 PM
You're correct to a point, but the physical size of the battery limits the size of the plates inside and thus a given battery type will usually have broadly similar ratings regardless of manufacturer. Some premium offerings will have higher ratings for a given size, but usually they'll still be lower than a typical budget offering of the next size up.
User care is unquestionable a large issue with battery life, and one of the easiest ways to kill a battery is to leave it in a discharged state - often, they'll never properly recover even if you only discharge it once for a short period. One of the reasons why I think daily used cars that do high miles tend to suffer less battery related woe that occasionally used cars that only pop into town and back.
Ironically, the only batteries I've ever had issues with have been Bosch Silver's - unquestionably a premium offering, but I had three die within the space less than a year and a fourth die on another car that I think was barely a year old. Just about anything else, even unbranded budget batteries, have lasted years and never given a hint of trouble, even on cars that have sat around for months on end.... go figure.
User care is unquestionable a large issue with battery life, and one of the easiest ways to kill a battery is to leave it in a discharged state - often, they'll never properly recover even if you only discharge it once for a short period. One of the reasons why I think daily used cars that do high miles tend to suffer less battery related woe that occasionally used cars that only pop into town and back.
Ironically, the only batteries I've ever had issues with have been Bosch Silver's - unquestionably a premium offering, but I had three die within the space less than a year and a fourth die on another car that I think was barely a year old. Just about anything else, even unbranded budget batteries, have lasted years and never given a hint of trouble, even on cars that have sat around for months on end.... go figure.
1990 Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 // 1991 Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 16v // 1992 Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 // 1999 Peugeot 306 HDi Estate