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Just had to replace one in my wife's car this week . about 2 weeks ago i had to jump start it . at the time I thought it was do to me screwing up awhile waiting at the cell lot at the airport . I had the key on accessory and radio going and charging my cell phone . the headlights were on and so forth . thought it was my fault for it being dead when i went to start the car. this week it was dead again when i went to start the car . the only time I had a problem with it . it was the 2nd battery in 10 years of owning this 2008 saturn Vue . was i shocked to see the price jump from what I remember battery costing . best price i found was $150.00 most places I looked at local on line wanted over $200 to $250 for a battery that fit her car and proper spec, for her car . the core charge was only $10 at all the places . this was for a 5 year prorated 3 year replacement or less

For that much it better be a Optima yellow top.

Its a tiny high output battery with oddball connections. Welcome to the world of Saturns. Another problem with those things is the alternator is on the very edge of capacity. My lexus is the same way. Im on my 4th alternator in 3 years. Only one company offers a higher output (aftermarket that fits stock brackets) and its in the $500 range....yeah but no. TG for life time warranty at Oriellys.

year ago we just mod a bracket and retro fit a gm alternator on any car and they work fine -back in the day rebuilt gm Alternators cost you around $45-$65 bucks if i remember the price correctly in the mid to upper 80's. we did this to a volvo and a ford pickup I owned at the time . we just do away with the regulators as the GM units had them built right in them . also fan belts were just like 1/2 wide and used a grooved pulley . those day cars didn't have all this computer bs on them.

I can't count the number of times I have used a 3 wire GM on stuff.

The battery for my Challenger costs that much but it's giant and sits in the trunk so it requires an outside vent. I'm 8 years in so I'm anticipating replacing it soon.

In the trunk? Wth drives it?

I always converted the 3 wire to one wire with a diode

I made the mistake on my speeder of hooking the the exciter and ignition wire on the same pole of the ignition switch. Lets just say the engine would not stop when the ignition was off. Had to put a diode between the exciter and ignition switch to fix it.

Look for an Interstate dealer in your area. Frequently, they sell "shelf life" batteries for almost 1/2 the price because they are old stock. I've gotten 5-7 years out of some of the shelf lift batteries I've purchased.