Crown and Trojan Battery Info just received from Crown dealer

[theskyiscrying]

Guys,
As some of you know, I'm a newbie, and just learning here...
I went to a local cart shop today who is a Crown battery dealer now and of course he was trying to sell me Crown's.

He said that he's having to replace Trojan's that are one year old and Trojan is not replacing them. He talks to the Trojan dealer and he says NO.

He also said he had a demonstration done on site with Crown, Trojan and US. Trojan and US reps were there. They unloaded off a tractor trailer a quantity of each battery and weighed each of them. The Trojan's averaged 2 lbs less than spec, the US were over spec by 0.5 lb and the Crown's were 2 lbs over spec.

He said he's not having any issues with Trojan 12v, it's just the 6v batteries.

I know, I know, he's trying to get $565 out of me for Crown 235's, but the demo they did there does make sense and based on what I've heard about the Trojan issues the last year or so, I'm investing my money in Crown's.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

[bigstik40]

Not sure what batteries he's talking about, but some Trojans have more than 1 year warranty on certain models (info. copied from the Trojan website) =

18 months on T-105, T-105 Plus, T875, T-1275, T-1275 Plus and Ranger™ 160; 24 months on
Traveler™ 8V)

RAY

[yurtle]

There's nothing wrong with Crown. However, any "proof" that one battery is better than another should be published. Where was the media for this grand event? If they have factual evidence that theirs "meet" spec, and others don't, why wouldn't they invite independent witnesses and "kill" their competition?

[pete959]

the only time i see bad batts after a year is bad customer care or someone just trying to sell new ones (hint that is why he "can't" get them warrantied)

[bxlt]

Originally Posted by theskyiscrying

I know, I know, he's trying to get $565 out of me for Crown 235's, but the demo they did there does make sense and based on what I've heard about the Trojan issues the last year or so, I'm investing my money in Crown's.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

If it were me I would buy two sets of those crowns if its only $565! That's almost half of what a set of batteries would cost me here!

[MikeWestern400]

Best price I found were crown 235 for $79 each and trojan t105 for $100 each. Both prices include core exchange.

[Doogie1houser]

Anyone tried the "Blackbox" battery. It is made by trojan but does not have the Trojan name. $75 dollars a piece with a 6 month Warranty. Thats $450.00 vs. the best price I could get on Trojan 102's was $125 a piece.

[yurtle]

I have NO experience with this, but...

"Blems" are one thing. If they're batteries that didn't pass a QA/QC check, I probably wouldn't buy them.

I'd want to know why they don't have the "Trojan" name.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Doogie1houser

Anyone tried the "Blackbox" battery. It is made by trojan but does not have the Trojan name. $75 dollars a piece with a 6 month Warranty. Thats $450.00 vs. the best price I could get on Trojan 102's was $125 a piece.

The 6V "Black Box" made by Trojan is a 210AH battery that weighs 58 pounds, which equates to a T-605 rather than a T-105, so you're comparing apples to oranges.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by yurtle

I'd want to know why they don't have the "Trojan" name.

Several battery manufacturers produce batteries that carry the labeling of the retailers.
You might find a "Manufactured by: xxxxxx" is small print someplace, but not always.

Some store brands are fairly decent products sold at a reduced price, while others are inferior products designed to be sold at price they are being sold at, so the savings is nil, or even worse, the total cost over the lifetime of the product, may be greater.

Buying cart batteries is like buying oats.
If you want nice, fresh, clean oats, you must pay a fair price.
However, if you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse: That, comes at a little cheaper price.