2008 Chrysler Sebring - new battery estimate

How much should a battery cost tor my car. I took it to a Chrylser dealorship and they told me it would cost me $400 to get a new one.

if you go to most auto parts stores you can get one for half that cost and they will install it for free.

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If you are in the US you can go online and see what Walmart - Autozone - Batteries Plus will charge .

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If you ask the dealer they will probably say $150. I don’t know what is included in the $400 estimate, is there corrosion damage to the cables? You will need to ask what is included.

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Battery is probably less than $150, the rest is labor/shop time.
Battery replacement on a Sebring is a PIA. You might find a shop that will replace it for free if you are lucky.

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OMG.

The Sebring. Reminds me of when my wife and I took a Sebring Convertible for a road test in 2008. Compared to the other convertibles we drove (VW Eos, Mustang, Toyota Solara), it was expensive, underpowered, loud, and the top took over the entire trunk when down. After seeing this, I understand why the Sebring was the worst car and I can believe that the dealer is charging you $450. What a design.

Chrysler manufactured millions of cars with the battery inside the front fender, they are not damaged by engine heat in that location.

The first step in replacing the battery is to disconnect the negative cable from the left spring tower, not shown in the video.

Removing the wheel can make the job easier if you have a jack, jack stand and impact gun handy but it is not necessary, the battery can be accessed by turning the front wheels to the right.

image

Chrysler paid 12 minutes labor to replace batteries located in the engine compartment, 18 minutes for batteries inside the fender.

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Well isn’t that nice you don’t have to remove the tire. Has anyone tried to actually do this and still see what they are doing with a tire in the way? Seriously a trained Chrysler mechanic who does 6 a week, in a nice climate controlled garage, might find it easy, but I doubt I would. Good God, what about the next statement: “You will never have to add water nor is periodic maintenance required”. That’s also great, but for the fact that OEM “maintenance free” batterys are the cheapest things car companies can find and generally don’t last more than 3 upstate NY winters. Plus the battery posts need to be kept clean even if the battery itself won’t take water. I find it interesting that while Chrysler thought hiding the battery in front of the left front wheel in a CAR was a great idea, they didn’t do this in any of the off road or heavy duty trucks I’ve owned that were made by them (2 Jeeps, 1 Durango, a Dodge and now Ram truck). The last thing I want to be doing is cleaning off battery posts and/or pulling a possibly faulty battery out of the fender of a car in January. Not in upstate NY or Canada. Nope. Just thinking of having to clean the frozen slab of salt, slush and ice that forms in a wheel well around here in winter, then having to remove several fiddly little plastic pop off fasteners and then a couple of screws, so that I can clean the battery posts and/or replace it in the freezing cold, gets my blood boiling. Playing find the battery is not a fun game in 6 months of the year where I live. Are they still doing this???

I have owned a Dodge Stratus for 20 years, never added water to a maintenance free battery (OEM battery had the caps glued on) and never had to clean the posts, most batteries don’t leak acid.

I can remove the battery in 5 minutes, demonstrated this to my son while parked on gravel. If I had to tolerate snow storms and had a worn out battery, I would jump start the engine and park inside a building to replace the battery.

Full size Chryslers have the battery located in the trunk since 2005, cost more to have a long battery cable but these are not economy cars.

And you live where?

Amherst, NY. Can’t you tell from my screen name?

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Wife bought a new Dodge Stratus new in March of 2000 battery was inside left front fender never had any problem with the battery until November 2009 needed a jump to start one day same day replaced with a new Interstate battery that took about 15 minutes to change and lasted until car was totaled six years later I believe the original Mopar battery was over ten years old.

I spray the battery posts and connectors with a terminal protector. it helps keep the corrosion off the posts.