So I replaced my battery yesterday with AAA roadside service. He quoted me $250 but I would have to go to the dealership to do my car electronic settings. $280 and my settings would be saved. I was in a rush and didn’t want to haggle. I am in Southern California and things are more expensive here but I feel I was ripped off. What do you guys think?

by Anonymous

reply 16

November 4, 2020 8:19 PM

You were !!!!1!

I usually only spend $10 for a pack of AAA batteries.

by Anonymous

reply 1

November 3, 2020 6:24 PM

But R1, I gauge that you would need exactly 4,370 of them to run my Buick. OP clearly got a deal.

🙄

by Anonymous

reply 2

November 3, 2020 6:27 PM

I don't know the exact price for a battery for your car.

My experience with AAA has been good - you may pay a small premium, but your car wouldn't move - they brought the battery to you, installed, and go you on your way.

I actually had a AAA driver about 6 months who understand all the batteries in my hybrid Prius and gave me great advice when my local garage said they couldn't help be.

by Anonymous

reply 3

November 3, 2020 6:28 PM

Triple A responded when I called Acura Roadside Service for a dead battery. After the guy charged it, he said he could sell me a replacement battery for $100 so it wouldn’t happen again. My battery was 3 yrs old. I said ok, but then he realized I wasn’t a Triple A member. He said he couldn’t sell me a battery. I asked where I should take the car to get a new battery and he replied, “Aw, you probably don’t need one!” As it turned out, I didn’t. He was definitely going to rip me off!

by Anonymous

reply 4

November 3, 2020 6:37 PM

How did he show up after you called? They ask for your membership number to see if it's valid.

by Anonymous

reply 5

November 3, 2020 6:42 PM

My car was sitting in the garage for a month during COVID. When I tried to start it, one sunday, the battery seemed dead. I called AAA and they recharged it. Because in my zip code AAA doesn't sell and replace batteries, I had to wait until the gas station was open, the next day.

I drove my car around to charge up the battery, but the next day it was dead again. Then I thought that if I change the battery now, it would just sit in the garage again because I wasn't going anywhere during COVID.

Instead, I bought a battery charger on Amazon. You hook these devices up from your electric socket to the battery overnight and it replenishes seemingly dead batteries!

Worked like a charm.

Ive actually started driving more than I expected and the old battery works just fine.

by Anonymous

reply 6

November 3, 2020 6:43 PM

I forgot about AAA selling their own brand of batteries. OP, the price sounds OK. You maybe paid for the convenience. Don't beat yourself up about it.

by Anonymous

reply 7

November 3, 2020 6:44 PM

OP here. Thank you for the responses. I called a local mechanic and he said AAA batteries are crap. A lot of them are refurbished. Also that people have problems with them and they need to be replaced with a better battery. He said he would’ve sold me a much better battery and installed it for around $220. Oh well lesson learned!

by Anonymous

reply 8

November 3, 2020 6:55 PM

Advanced Auto Parts says the price range for a new battery is $150 to $350 for a brand new battery, different vehicles take different sizes and types of batteries. Without knowing what you would pay for the same battery in an auto parts store, there is no way we could know.

by Anonymous

reply 9

November 3, 2020 6:56 PM

You’re going to pay $80-100 for any professional to come out to your place nowadays so it sounds about right.

by Anonymous

reply 10

November 3, 2020 7:03 PM

What type of vehicle are you driving, OP? Triple-A changed the battery on my Honda CR-V a month ago and charged me $150. And the car saved all my electronic settings even though the old battery was dead (it has an internal back-up battery for that purpose).

by Anonymous

reply 11

November 3, 2020 8:33 PM

R11, I have a Jeep Renegade that requires an H6 battery. I looked online for prices and they are about $160.

by Anonymous

reply 12

November 3, 2020 8:35 PM

@r6, you did the right thing. I bought a small trickle charger at Walmart for $20 and mounted it to my battery. Whenever I'm not using my car for awhile or when it's especially cold out I just plug the charger in and forget about it. When I need the car the battery is completely charged and ready to go

To the OP, a decent battery from a big box store shouldn't run more the $150, but not everyone has access to discount stores, so what you paid isn't off the charts

by Anonymous

reply 13

November 3, 2020 8:37 PM

R5 Triple A was answering calls for Acura. I didn’t call Triple A. I called Acura.

by Anonymous

reply 14

November 3, 2020 9:05 PM

R13, could you please post that trickle charger from Walmart? They talked about it on Car Talk and it sounds interesting.

by Anonymous

reply 15

November 3, 2020 9:29 PM

In general, after about five years doesn’t your car battery need replacing?

by Anonymous

reply 16

November 4, 2020 8:19 PM