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[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I think you're over thinking this.   

As said 50 odd notes will see a decent branded battery with a 3 year guarantee land on your doorstep tomorrow if you order it this morning. Job Jobbed! 

Agreed.

Why not date stamp batteries in the same way as tyres?

That way we would know how long it had been gathering dust.

I'm surprised the EU hasn't demanded this already......

Most batteries will have some kind of date code on them - for administration of the warranty if nothing else.

It's the cost of half a tank of petrol these days.. Not really worth over-thinking IMHO.

I can't find anything on my old Omega battery, Kevin.

[The Sheriff]

I think you're over thinking this.   

As said 50 odd notes will see a decent branded battery with a 3 year guarantee land on your doorstep tomorrow if you order it this morning. Job Jobbed! 

Agreed.

Why not date stamp batteries in the same way as tyres?

That way we would know how long it had been gathering dust.

I'm surprised the EU hasn't demanded this already......

Most batteries will have some kind of date code on them - for administration of the warranty if nothing else.

It's the cost of half a tank of petrol these days.. Not really worth over-thinking IMHO.

I can't find anything on my old Omega battery, Kevin.

They only started date stamping thirty years ago.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

 

The old 'Go' battery (the 'good' one that was 'unnecessarily' replaced) that I initially tried using on the V6 is dated as being fitted 2005, December.

The history of the battery is - Bought from Vx Stealer, in regular normal use every day etc..  it was replaced by the previous owner, on the advice of OOFers (poor starting) I would estimate 1 year ago, maybe 2 years. Might be able to find the old thread for an accurate date. Since been charged up once a month, to keep something in it. Reads 12-13v, but that collapses soon as you try and start a car with it.

So I suppose us being near December, that's just under 9 years old. Clearly it was duff after just under 7-8 at a push. And therefore on its way out before then. Hmmm....max of 7 good years, realistically 6 and a bit.. Out of a GM super-duper jobby.

[chrisgixer]

Top brand would be Yuasa as I understand it.

Common on Japanese motorcycles.....or at least that used to be the case.

The pissy little Yuasa battery for my Yamaha RD 250 cost something in the region of £30 way back in 1977/78......

Vibration made short work of it.

Well then it wasn't fitted correctly

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Top brand would be Yuasa as I understand it.

Common on Japanese motorcycles.....or at least that used to be the case.

The pissy little Yuasa battery for my Yamaha RD 250 cost something in the region of £30 way back in 1977/78......

Vibration made short work of it.

Well then it wasn't fitted correctly

Yes it was. It fitted into a tight rubber sleeve. High-tech for 1978.

[Sir Tigger KC]

If GM sold 'Genuine GM Tyres' would we buy them just because they had GM/VX stamped on them? 

That's a whole different can of worms though!!   

You can guarantee if ANYTHING has gm written on it, certain members would definitely buy it purely in that basis. 

You could take the opposite view as well Chris. 

Right. I've got my rubber mallet out now and I'm going to use it to knock some sense into Tiggers thick OPPSING head.

The idea is, (whack) to get the best parts at the best price. (whack) This means (whack) a combination of (whack) gm (whack) and Oe equivelant parts (whack) and sometimes (whack) pattern parts (whack) in order to get the most cost effective options. (whack) It does NOT mean buying purely (whack) pattern (whack) or purely gm (whack) parts. It means (whack) buying (whack) the (whack) best (whack) parts (whack) for (whack) the (whack)best(whack)money.

NOT (whack) THE (whack) CHEAPEST (whack) SHITE (whack) MONEY (whack) CAN (whack)BUY .....TIGGER WHACK

I agree with every whacking word there Chris!    You just don't understand me.....   

[TheBoy]

Top brand would be Yuasa as I understand it.

But then you have to be careful where you buy it from...  ...I've had plenty of "Yuasha" batteries on my Kwaka (which was a problem to start on a good day), and I'd suggest each and every one was fake, and rarely stayed on the bike for more than a few months.

We know egay, amazon marketplace and the like all are full of fake tat (there was a report in the IT channel press last year that 95% of branded goods on egay were counterfeit ). I've heard a few reports now of branded items from EuroShiteParts coming in plain packaging with Made In China on and physically looking sub standard - even little bro, an ECP lover, now buys pattern of egay rather than branded from ECP, because its better quality. We know Autovaux talk 'dangle berries', shifting cheap, nasty parts as "genuine".

So we need to look beyond the brand, but also the supplier...  ...just to make life even more difficult 

[TheBoy]

If GM sold 'Genuine GM Tyres' would we buy them just because they had GM/VX stamped on them? 

That's a whole different can of worms though!!   

You can guarantee if ANYTHING has gm written on it, certain members would definitely buy it purely in that basis. 

You could take the opposite view as well Chris. 

Right. I've got my rubber mallet out now and I'm going to use it to knock some sense into Tiggers thick OPPSING head.

The idea is, (whack) to get the best parts at the best price. (whack) This means (whack) a combination of (whack) gm (whack) and Oe equivelant parts (whack) and sometimes (whack) pattern parts (whack) in order to get the most cost effective options. (whack) It does NOT mean buying purely (whack) pattern (whack) or purely gm (whack) parts. It means (whack) buying (whack) the (whack) best (whack) parts (whack) for (whack) the (whack)best(whack)money.

NOT (whack) THE (whack) CHEAPEST (whack) SHITE (whack) MONEY (whack) CAN (whack)BUY .....TIGGER WHACK

I agree with every whacking word there Chris!    You just don't understand me.....   

Oh, we're supposed to understand you two? I thought it was a male bonding thing you two had going

[TheBoy]

It pains me to say, I have to agree with Gixer's sentiments about choosing the "best" spares for the car. The "best" may not necessarily be the best quality, cheapest, branded, Genuine etc.

As (probably) the biggest Omega-B community in the Universe, we should be well placed to be able to ascertain what are the best options.

The best options are likely to be a blend of Genuine, branded and unbranded pattern, depending on the part concerned. For example, I'd only use Genuine cam cover gaskets, personally I prefer branded tyres such as Dunlop, and bulbs are usually Halfords tat (for convenience - my dealer won't deliver just a handful of bulbs ).


For a battery, I have no brand loyalty. I've had reasonable success with GO batteries. I've yet to find a battery that lasts as well as the one fitted in the factory, which usually lasts 10yrs.  I'd personally try a Tradeclub one, or buy branded one from a reputatable supplier with a decent warranty. Keep the receipt, as this is a convenient way for the supplier/manufacturer not to honour the warranty of shite batteries...  ...they can offer a 100yr warranty, but not have to honour it as they know the vast majority will loose the receipt.

[chrisgixer]

Which is why I (we used to) keep banging on about trade club. If you can't guarantee a parts supply line through a dealer we really are in trouble. That's not to say we should stuffer some of their prices though. £235 a side for wishbone? And HT leads, £110 a side are they? Outrageous. I'd never pay that.

  But then there's steering idlers. £110 retail. Rediculous price. But we know nothing else works. Same as cam cover gaskets. Expensive for what they are. But NOTHING else works as far as we know, therefor, not as expensive as you might think. And certainly not as expensive as pattern ones, which are cheaper, but cause more damage when they fail early.

But then again, People want to buy the cheapest shite parts possible, and to make things doubly bad the want to get those cheap shite parts from ebay. Just throw the money out the window and save the agro of dealing with that poxy website.

....but each to their own. You can lead a stubborn mule to water....you can even whack it with a rubber mallet.....

[Andy H]

Just a thought - in terms of 'fast-moving stock' what about one on a brand-new Vauxhall? Safe to say the batteries on them don't hang around in the factory long, not with tens of thousands of cars rolling out a week. I know that's a case of 'well where are you going to get one of them from?' Do any OOFers work at Vx Garage/Ellesmere Port that could acquire one - and I mean legitimately, by the way! 

The only name I know is Andy at Drive, I don't know the chap personally, just heard his name mentioned favourably many times

I bought my Tradeclub battery from Evans Hallshaw in Plymouth. Like most things for the Omega they had to order it from Luton. I believe that got me a recently manufactured battery 

Andy C (Andy Clear) used to be able to offer tradeclub deals by mail order but IIRC Drive - Bury St Edmunds (where Andy C works) don't do tradeclub any more 

[VXL V6]

But then again, People want to buy the cheapest shite parts possible, and to make things doubly bad the want to get those cheap shite parts from ebay. Just throw the money out the window and save the agro of dealing with that poxy website.

Thing is, apart from a fair majority of owners on here, those on the Polish forum and a few on Autobahnstormers, everyone else will be just buying there parts as cheaply as possible, the cars are worthless to most and any repair over say £200 would mean scrapping it.

As the genuine parts supply starts to dry up our options are going to become severely limited and that's where the enthusiasts (like those running older vehicles on Autobahnstormers) have to look at companies who will make parts for a small production run.

I now regret the pairs of genuine wishbones I've junked, hindsight now tells me I should have re-furbed them. If I snap one of the LSC springs on my 2.6 then it's game over, there are no more new ones. I'm looking for a set of mint Elite Leather seats and steering wheel for the 2.6 due to the usual wear, will I ever find them? It's not looking likely to be honest.

[chrisgixer]

But then again, People want to buy the cheapest shite parts possible, and to make things doubly bad the want to get those cheap shite parts from ebay. Just throw the money out the window and save the agro of dealing with that poxy website.

Thing is, apart from a fair majority of owners on here, those on the Polish forum and a few on Autobahnstormers, everyone else will be just buying there parts as cheaply as possible, the cars are worthless to most and any repair over say £200 would mean scrapping it.

As the genuine parts supply starts to dry up our options are going to become severely limited and that's where the enthusiasts (like those running older vehicles on Autobahnstormers) have to look at companies who will make parts for a small production run.

I now regret the pairs of genuine wishbones I've junked, hindsight now tells me I should have re-furbed them. If I snap one of the LSC springs on my 2.6 then it's game over, there are no more new ones. I'm looking for a set of mint Elite Leather seats and steering wheel for the 2.6 due to the usual wear, will I ever find them? It's not looking likely to be honest.

Quite so. The problem I have with that approach is when they pipe on here and recommend that shite to others as if it's a silk purse for the price of a sows ear.

Conti tech wheel bearings for example. Numerous members banging on about how "good" they are on here. I ask as mine are opposed. Same bearing recommended, I get some and within 3months both new bearings have more play than the ones they replaced.

Ffs! While I appreciate we need to try alternatives as dealer supply tales off or is too expensive, why present shite unproven parts to others? Some here even go out of their way to do so thinking it's funny to stitch others up with crap! ..... there was a time when opinions could be trusted on here. No more sadly. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Some here even go out of their way to do so thinking it's funny to stitch others up with crap! .....

Really? 

[chrisgixer]

Some here even go out of their way to do so thinking it's funny to stitch others up with crap! .....

Really? 

Yeah. Recommend me some windscreen wipers Tig