Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, but with the forum title changes, and all, this seemed like as good a place as any to check..

Has anyone had to replace the battery on their convertible yet? I want to - it has gone dead twice now, over a long weekend (3 days) of not using it.
This battery has done me well for the past 2.5 years (bought in sept 04), allowing me to open the top while the car is off with no problems.

I was wondering where people are getting their batteries from - Sears, costco, etc, do not have a fit for the mini.
I would like to get a more powerful battery than the one i have now, but it looks like i'll be lucky to get any battery at all without having to go to the dealer! any suggestions?

 

Replacing a battery in 2.5 years? That seems abnormally short for battery life. Have you talked to your dealership about it to see if it's covered by the warranty?

Since my local dealership have never been too pleased to see me for warranty issues, I was thinking of going with the Braille/Deka lightweight battery when mine fails. Off the top of my head, I know that Helix carries them:
http://www.helix13.com/mini/products/engine-intake
I'm not too sure how many other shops carry these. Search NAM for reviews - overall, it's generally positive, but it's probably too early to tell how reliable these are compared to the OEM.

I don't know how much OEM batteries cost, but these could be cheaper than what the dealer will charge for an OEM replacement. HTH!

 

One dealer had the OEM battery for $120, another had it for like $140. Shop around.

 

well, that's odd, as auto-barn had one for 75$. should i stay away from them?

 

my battery died after i got my vert back from the dealer. for me i had to ship it to a different island to get the top replaced. couldnt even start the car to get it off the barge . sorry for venting. anywho i called the dealer and they told me that the factory battery was covered under warrenty, so i got a free battery. otherwise i would just find a battery that would fit and use that. also lowering and raising the top with the car off ill shorten the batterys life.

 

My car would start sometimes and other times be completely dead. The battery had a shorted in it and it got replaced by the dealer under warranty....had the car for 18 months.

Take your car in and have the dealer test it. It should be covered if it just wears out during the warranty period.

 

I broke down and bought a battery from auto barn for $75. it has twice the CCA that the OEM battery has. Started up no problem. We'll see over the summer if it can handle all the top-down i do while the car is off (OEM battery did fine with this for me)
so yeah, screw the OEM battery.