Gel batteries

What makes you say that? It’s only a battery.

A gel battery uses an electrolyte that is embedded in a silica gel. These batteries don’t leak even if the case is cracked and are generally sealed up so there are no flammable gases around them. They pass fire code regulations for use in enclosed areas and are mostly used in UPS (uninterruptible power supplies).

AGM or absorbed glass mat batteries use a liquid electrolyte that is soaked into a fiberglass mat. These batteries are still vented as are all regular lead/acid car batteries.

The Optima battery uses spiral wound plates instead of traditional hung plates. Each cell has only two connections where the traditional multi plate battery cell has many connections in each cell. Reducing the number of connections reduces the number of potential failures, but even the Optima batteries can be “killed”. As Dear Abby once said, nothing is fool proof in the hands of a fool.

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It doesn’t matter. Expensive cars are expensive to fix, no matter how old they are.

My wife’s BMWs have had AGM batteries. For us, they’ve lasted about as long as traditional batteries. We prefer to replace our batteries at the dealer (which I know puts me in the minority here), so the replacements have also been AGMs.

I do the same thing with our Volvo. I may be wrong but I just like having someone that is familiar with our vehicle.

I’ve had an optima yellow top in my 2006 Corolla since the end of 2010, when the original bit the dust. I have an audio system that draws a bit of power, so I purchased what I was led to believe was a better battery. Six plus years later, zero issues. Of course now that’s been said, it will fail to crank tomorrow.

Cheaper cars are not ANY cheaper to repair.

You must not have had any foreign cars.

Not sure if original price is related, but some cars are definitely less expensive to repair than others.

Cannot agree with that one. Premium vehicles also demand premium parts prices. And often labor costs as well.

My son learned the hard way. He had two BMWs in past years and replaced the last one with a Scion tC. After a few years with the Scion, he was amazed at the difference in maintenance costs. Everything on the BMW was twice as expensive or more.

Over fifty years ago, my high school vocational agricultural teacher, a WWII vet who went to his grave with Japanese steel, owned a Mercury station wagon. He quickly learned to find the Fort part number because the same part which was sold for Ford was much cheaper than the one marked for Mercury.

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I have owned a VW Rabbit, Porsche 914, and a Honda Accord. The 914 was very expensive to repair, and the others not so much. The parts for the Rabbit and Accord are priced similarly to the Cavalier, Taurus, Windstar, Silhouette, Regal, and toe Cobalts that I have or still do own.