ok i have a 05 tc (got the car sept 04), with the original panasonic battery still.. i have 108K, the battery seems to be running fine... but was thinking maybe i should look into getting another one of these awesome batteries... how much do these panasonic batteries cost? and what are the specs of the original battery.. like CCA; maybe another brand is equal to it?

thanks

 

Yeah those batteries are incredible. I'm right at 100,000 miles and I just had to change mine after 6 faithful years of service.....it would have probably lasted longer but I moved from Florida 3 years ago to 7000 feet above sea level here in New Mexico and it has had to endure some harsh winter exposure at high altitude, and finally gave out.

So I bought the $200 Optima (red top) battery from Autozone 2 months ago. It's fully sealed which means it's a little bit better protected from the elements (and you could mount it upside down if you wanted lol.) I like it so far but only time will tell if it's as good as those Panasonic stock batteries. If you can find one I say go for it, but other than the Stealership, I don't know where else you could find one, and they are probably really expensive (think around $300) since they are OE equipment.

 

yes panasonic makes awesome batteries! but here's the problem, you won't find one in the united states! they are strictly a japanese thing. if you replace it with one from the dealer you won't get panasonic. You're buying a battery made by Johnson Controls, not panasonic. Johson Controls makes good quality batteries, they also make the optima brand in the post mentioned above mine.

The brands johnson controls makes the batteries for are, toyota, honda, autozone, to name a few. the website where the company lists it, is here
http://www.autobatteries.com/brands/index.aspx

the CCA was 580 or 585 for the stock battery, I believe. the one I looked up at autozone (duralast is their brand), just the regular one was 600cca. when you do get a battery take a multimeter/voltmeter with you to check the voltage, anything below 12.6v i wouldn't buy, not good. If it checks out to be 12.7 and above, it's a good battery. That's my rule I go by.

you can also have your stock battery load tested at the dealer, they can give you a printout from the handheld tester to show you what it tests out at. There is a "state of charge" (soc) i think i remember seeing it.. it shows the quality of the battery on a bar chart. that's really good to see. some dealers do a test like that as a courtesy.. might wanna see where yours is testing out at, if the dealer would give one to you for free.. but for me i wouldn't spend over $100 for a dealer battery, you can get one for cheaper elsewhere, and it's the same exact quality.. if you do need a new one.

 

im currently fine still with my battery and im at 109k, but that stinks that i cant get another panasonic battery from the dealer, i wonder why that is?

 

Don't waste money replacing unless you need to. And any brand battery with a decent warranty will work. Sears brand is great.

 

yeah, stock battery here from Nov 2004. 92k miles on it. I'm amazed it is still holding out. especially because last year I hardly even drove the car.

 

Same here as well, 04 and at 80k. With some cold temps this winter it cranked just a little slower but never ever gave out. Even though it is a "maintenance free" battery I topped off the water ( distilled of course ) level since it was getting too close to the low level mark. It made no difference but for $3.00 worth of water Its good insurance.