My battery has been wearing down steadily and finally died after I didn't drive the car for a couple weeks in the cold weather. I haven't bought a car battery in Switzerland yet, and I'm sure I'm in for yet another price shock. I'm used to being able to get a cheap one in the States for $50, a good one for $75, including the core charge. I'm bracing myself and don't want to hear the ridiculous up charge here where "Mann muss immer die Rechnung gern haben."

Ok lay it on me. I'm sitting down. Be gentle.

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It depends on the engine size/battery size.

As an example: my car takes a 72 to 92Ah battery. For a battery purchased from Coop the cost is around 289CHF. (I think that's a Bosch battery) The same in the UK costs just £80.

You could try ATU or go over the border to Germany/France? For some reason, car batteries are on the 'expensive' list in CH.

Local options would be Migros Do it, Coop Brico and Jumbo as the easiest choices. Just make sure you have the details of the battery. There are normally a couple of qualities/brands in each of these stores.

This was also my experience. The battery in my wife's car died. I did a quick check on the internet and found that the UK replacement cost was around £60 from a number of online suppliers -- this was for a high-quality Varta battery.

Being somewhat lazy, I nipped to our local dealer and asked him to replace the battery, foolishly without asking the cost first. Sure enough, I got stung with a CHF350- bill for the job. Never again.

When the battery in my car died, I called my local dealer for a quote -- CHF450- was the asking price. Instead I crossed the border into France where they were more than happy to supply the same battery, installed, for €90.

If I were you, I'd head over the border into France or Germany.

My Bosch one was 140e in OBI Germany (no-name ones were about 90e). Dealer quoted here 400chf.

I second that.

Changed my car battery for 120 euros, whichs is 2-3 times less than here. Bought mine in Singen A.T.U. They work on saturdays as well!

It looks like the OP is in Luzerne, so getting the battery in Germany would mean spending 100CHF on gasoline. Going to ATU Germany he would still save money, though...

You may want to find out exactly what kind of battery you need, and just order it at ATU, here.

If the OP is in Luzerne it is 250kms round trip to Konstanz so even if they are running a gas guzzler its not a full tank. My car takes around 100CHF to fill and is good for 1000kms so 25CHF - 40CHF maximum cost to drive there

If you can do the job yourself you will get a good deal on Ebay.
Just had a look so if you have your details and can wait a couple of days then have a look!

I got a battery from Bauhaus for my VW T4 van, they had Bosch ones for about 250.00 and their own brand for 109.00! This was last year and they may have been on special offer but you should check there first. There are only 3 in Switzerland, not sure if Schlieren or Bern would be closest to the OP. Addresses here

Just found a Varta Blue on Ricardo for 156Fr. If I can get mine charged up and running for another week I'll just do that one and drop it in.

Thanks everyone for the help! Driving across the border would be an option but I'd have to wait to find the time.

mine died as i was on the highway just outside basel - sparks and smoke started to come from it!

call to the dealer in basel 400chf i went to ATU in weil am rhine they wanted 140€, the toyota dealer nearby was 80€ and 5 year guarentee

make a few phone calls and do a days shopping in germany at the same time.

A few years ago I stoooooopidly left the car lights on, and found my ca 10 year old battery dead as a doorknob. I called the trusty folks at TCS; they tried to jump the battery, but it was a no-go. So the helpful gent whipped round to their depot to get me a new battery and then installed it.

Total time from making the call to hitting the road with my new battery: about 40 minutes.

Cost of the battery: ca. CHF 120-130, IIRC.

For someone who knows nothing about cars, and has no wish to learn, TCS is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

my car takes 120 chf to fill, but I can only drive 500 km with that. But you are right, it is still much less than 100 chf from Luzerne to Konstanz and back again.

Try ATU Switzerland...

To find which one you need ...
or
Try Bosch's battery finder


A online store featuring Varta batteries, reasonable priced
www.msobatt.ch

And for motorcycles, if you forgot to charge(*) it during the winter
http://www.motorradbatterien.ch/ or
http://www.polo-topshop.ch

(*) Not everybody lives in Ticino like st2lemans and can drive its baby daily.

In case you happen to be close to a LANDI, they have their own branded batteries.

Some examples:

55Ah CHF 79
66Ah CHF 99
74Ah CHF 109
100Ah CHF 139

Thats a bargain even in Switzerland.

I love Landi.

I had to get a new battery for our truck... can't remember what size but it was the 2nd biggest they had at Bauhaus. Own brand was 155.00, Bosch was only 185.00... also a bargain

Went on a battery hunt last night.

Landi had only two batteries, price was great (the more expensive of the two was 79chf), but could see no listing for what cars they would fit.

Jumbo has 20% off Varta and Pilot batteries but as usual (checked them last time we needed a battery) they don't have the one we need (Subaru Legacy & Impreza so not anything special).

Coop has 30/33% off at the moment and have at least 3 batteries for the Legacy. Battery we need is 146chf before discount.

Was on the Bike last night so will return tonight with the car to Coop for the battery.