Thread: Sticker shock when buying a battery

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Its been years since I last bought a battery and they are starting to go bad so I got sticker shock when I started looking last week,I got lucky and got a free battery to replace one but needed to buy another for my 37 Chevy p/u. Due to some battery box modifications that needed to be done after installing the T-5 I could only use a group 51 battery which is for a Honda,it did not matter on what size the battery is they all were from 90 to 125 dollars at the parts and department stores and I dont think I payed 50 for the battery in the 37 5 years ago. I found a small battery shop and picked one up for 62 dollars so I am going to call them first when needing a battery,I could not believe how much they went up since last buying one.

I just bought a battery for my daughter's car last weekend. 20 bucks. I haven't paid more then that for a battery for years... There is a local battery rebuilder and I get mine from a buddy who is a distributor for them. They are in Flint. Here is their site.
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I almost bought a rebuilt battery for the 37,they were 29 dollars but went with a new one instead. I am going to try a rebuilt battery for the next vehicle that needs a battery and do not have to remove the floor to replace.

It's going to get worse somebody can't pass the gun control that he thinks we need so last mo. he ordered the epa to put about 160 new regulations into effect next year one of them will shut down lead smelting in America there is only one company left and the are about to levy a 250 million dollar fine on them but don't worry the government will have plenty of bullets they have been stock piling them for the last 3 yrs.....ted

I do the rebuilt thing, too. When I had the shop I was an Interstate Battery dealer, became good friends with the driver who later opened his own company.... Good to have friends! He does all kinds of batteries, even rebuilds for the cordless tools and for a few $$$$ more will build a higher output version of them! After using the new series of batteries, doubt I'd ever bother with a lead-acid battery again.....The new stuff is a few more bucks, but worth it IMO.

The last Smelting company will be shut down by the 31st, Ted.

Herculaneum Smelter Update

The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) has issued the following response related to the company’s Herculaneum, Mo., smelter:

On Dec. 31, 2013, The Doe Run Company’s primary lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo., which has operated since 1892, will cease operations. As a result of the smelter’s closure, 145 Doe Run employees, and approximately 73 contractors, will lose their jobs. Seventy-five positions will be retained for closure and limited operations. Although the United States is home to a number of secondary lead smelters, which recycle lead from various sources, the Herculaneum facility is the last primary lead smelter in the United States. (Primary smelters produce lead from mined resources.)

In 2010, Doe Run reached a comprehensive settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Missouri. As part of that settlement, the Company agreed to discontinue its smelting operations in Herculaneum by the end of 2013. Over the operating life of the smelter, the Company spent millions of dollars in environmental and other upgrades. Continuing to upgrade the aging smelter to attempt to meet the increasingly stringent environmental regulations imposed on primary lead smelters was not economically feasible given the many other requirements of our business.* We shared this news in 2010 in a press release available on our website.

The Company had hoped to bring a revolutionary lead metal production technology online prior to the closure of the smelter. This proprietary, new technology (also announced in 2010) uses a wet-chemical, electrowinning process instead of a heat-based smelting process, greatly reducing sulfur dioxide and lead emissions. In 2012, we announced that the cost to build a comparably-sized electrowinning plant was too great for our company, given the present economic conditions and other demands on our operations. We continue to pursue opportunities to bring this technology to commercialization, perhaps on a smaller scale.

This past year, we have worked with our Herculaneum employees to help them transition into new opportunities. Some have taken jobs within other divisions of our company; others have found new careers. Those who remain have been provided skill assessment and training, resume and interviewing skill building, financial counseling and a variety of services. We have a dedicated, hardworking and skilled workforce and we are making every effort to help them transition successfully. As noted above, we expect to keep approximately 75 employees at our Herculaneum facility in 2014 to assist with the continuing operations, including refining and alloying of lead metal, and closure of our site.

More than 80 percent of all lead produced in the U.S. is used in either motive batteries to start vehicles, or in stationary batteries for backup power (particular in military, telecom and medical applications). In the U.S., the recycle rate of these batteries is approximately 98 percent, making lead-based batteries the most highly recycled consumer product. These batteries are recycled at secondary lead smelters. We own such a smelter in southern Missouri.

Lead is used in numerous other products, including ammunition and construction materials, as well as to protect against radiation in medical and military applications. While most applications can use secondary lead, those applications that require primary lead will need to import the lead metal in the future. Any additional demand for lead (above that which can be met through recycling at secondary smelters) will also have to be met through imports.

*In 2008, the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead was reduced from 1.5 µg/m3 (micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air) to 0.15 µg/m3.

'Tis sad what the enviros have done to our economy. We have a customer who makes high-end batteries. I asked them if there was a danger of their product being outsourced to China...they said No because the lead available from the smelter in Missouri was of superior purity.....guess the new EPA rules pee on that campfire.

If there is any thing these guys can do to hurt America and make it a 3rd world country like Kenya they can't wait to do it. ha it's only fair we need to level the playing field with the rest of the world. You now redistribute the wealth ...ted

Yeah, protecting our air so we can continue to breathe.. or protecting our waters.. those bastards!

Gimme a break! If it's to dangerous to manufacture safely, it needs to go the way of asbestos! Or step up and finalize the new technology.

I agree with you on part of that 34_40 it was the most advanced smelting plant in the world.
And if given more time it would be brought up to all the NEW regulation that the government keeps throwing at them every year.
Every time they update then the government come up with some thing new they have to do, that would put anyone out of business.
Now again thousands of Americans will be put out of work, so that we can buy the lead from china who does not follow half the safety regulations as we do here.
We are not supposed to post anything political on here or I would put Allen West's in depth article about what's going on with the closing of the smelting plant.
Once they close down this smelting plant they will put a tax on importation of the lead products such as ammo so that to most folks it will be un affordable.
They are trying to pass a law now where you can be taxed on how many miles you drive on the roads, forced to buy Obama care that a lot of young Americans with family's can't afford.
It's supposed to be cheaper and it's more expensive. Is that going in to a government account like SSI so they can take all the interest and put it in to other programs, like they
do with the SSI. Then that will go belly up to and no one will have insurance. They are supposed to be working for us, but it's looking more like we are working for them, and to support
what ever new laws they want to pass next. But then they will exempt themselves from those new laws to, I am sure. Just saying!!!

Back in 1974, I was talking to a friend about the smog controls being mandated and the future of unleaded gas. He wisely said to me, are the regulations too much or too little, only years will tell. He continued to say, for all good there is bad, and for bad there is good.

He died a few years later from cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He truly was a wise man and missed dearly..

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Please don't bring the politics back on this forum!!! All it does is create hate and discontent, eventually driving people away or having them banned!!!!! As Bill has mentioned any number of times there are many many political web sites on the net, how's about we all just save the bs for those sites and leave this one for cars and Hot Rodding???? Nobody is ever going to change anyone else's mind, anyway! As Hot Rodders let's stick to settling issues on a race track!!!!!!!!

I agree with you completely Dave. I wasn't talking politics, I was talking about maintaining quality of life. For me, you and the children to come.

And with that, I'm outta here!

OK Dave, but expect the price of batteries to escalate.

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and on a lighter note, i just paid $200 for an optima battery for the coupe at Sams club.