thats what battery tenders are for= sleeping rides..

 

Every now and then you get a bad battery... and my experience with failures is they have happened during the summer with absolutely no warning. Both my old 99 blazer and my wife's craptastic 99 Alero lost their batteries in the summer of 01. Neither gave any warning. Outside of those two, OEM batteries have fared well for me.

 

Our other car (a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3) we bought new in 2000. 10 years later and with 100,000 miles the original battery is still doing the trick. We might replace it before this winter but then again.....................Hopefully, the battery in the HHR lasts that long.

 

The heat here this summer killed the original battery in the wife's 2003 Olds (120K miles.) Not complaining though->it lasted 7 years.
Just went dead overnight-jumped it, and it ran fine till the next morning.
This time, I smelled Sulphur (battery acid), so we replaced it. She said the kids were complaining a few days before that someone had farted when they were driving.

 

My battery went belly up after approximately 2.5 years on my 2007. I helped kill it by running it down to nothing a couple of times by listening to the stereo while working nearby and not having it running. The Premium Sound System eats up power rather quickly with the extra amp in the rear. I replaced the Delco with an Optima and expect to get many years of service from it. I've used Optima batteries in the past and have had them last as long as 8 years and as little as 3 years. This is the first vehicle I've owned that the battery is inside, so would expect it to last a bit longer being away from engine heat and vibrations. I live in Mesa, AZ and the "Dry" heat really can shorten the life of a convention lead acid battery especially if you don't keep a close eye on the level of electrolyte in each cell. Just my two cents worth

 

So... in everyone's experience, whats the best battery to replace the stock one with?

I usually go for optima, but it looks like they dont make one for HHR yet.

any suggestions? my car died today when i left the radio on while filling up... I usually have a solar charger on it while its parked to make sure it will start, but that failed me at 3:30 this morning...

 

Well hear is my tale. Bought car in 2009 from widowed wife. victory red with gray leather. Had 26,000 on then . I use it for vending business in central fl. (mighty hot) car now has 93,000. Dont know how long the oem battery will last but I think its on borrowed time. bought a duracell from sams today. $89.oo
3 yr replacement and 8 yrs prorated. Oh by the way for rumors sake yes a back seat and belt harness bolt right in.

 

The battery in my 06 (bought new) just died suddenly April 2011. The heat in Florida will kill batteries. I had some 81K miles on the car at the time.

 

My factory battery in my 08 SS puked out on me in the spring of 2011, had a dead cell in it. Normally you see at least 10 years out of a factory battery( at least my 95 GP lasted that long).

 

The battery in our 06 (also bought new) is stll good after roughly 68K.