Maintenance - was Re: <VV> batteries NO CORVAIR

[FrankCB@aol.com]

Harry,
       Gee, I'm still using the original factory battery that came with my 
DustBuster Minivan in January 1995.  That makes it 9-1/2 years old!  Of course 
if it's not going to be run for a while, I keep it hooked up to my Battery 
Tender Plus which keeps a 13.5 volt charge on it.  How much more life do you think 
it has in it??
       In general, this has been a very low maintenance vehicle.  In the 
first 100,000 miles I've had it, I had to spend $50 at the dealer to get an 
exhaust gasket replaced.  Oil, filter and coolant and sparkplug changes have been 
done by me.  I finally had to have brakes replaced after 104,000 miles when the 
brake wear indicated started making noise.  Maybe I should complain to GM?
       Oh, yes.  I did have to spend around $50 to buy some special tools so 
I could increase the clearance slightly for the A/C clutch plate when it 
started dragging a bit.  The GM dealer refused to repair it, but simply wanted to 
exhaust the 134A, replace the ENTIRE A/C compressor with a NEW one, evacuate 
the system and reinstall the 134A.  Imagine what that would have cost!!!  
Needless to say, that dealer won't be doing any A/C work for me anytime soon.
       Regards,
       Frank Burkhard  
         

In a message dated 7/2/04 9:11:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
hyarnell1@earthlink.net writes:

> What experience do you all have with longevity. I've been buying Exide's 
> for
> some time,mainly because my wholesaler carries them, and they're relitively
> cheap ($40-50) for a 60 month.
> I've got a Deka in my coupe de ville that's 7 years old, and still has a
> decent charge.
> Somewhere I thought I remember hearing that there was only 3-4 battery
> manufactures left, and they slap anybodys name on them that wants to sell
> batteries. Is this true, and how do you tell who really made the battery?
> 
> Harry Yarnell