Hi guys I need to buy a new battery and unsure what kind to buy can u help me out

this link lets you search for the type of battery best for your car

then shop around for a better price / different brand /supplier

plenty of choices online

http://www.marshallbatteries.com.au/search/index.htm?SiteSearchID=-1

not sure if you have Allianz roadside assist but I got mine recently changed from them for $195.
I know its a bit more than for others but it comes with 3 Years of warranty instead of the regular 2 Year and the service was impeccable.

Make sure it is the 630cca
380's need toprate battery

As chrisv says, make sure it's at least 600CCA, as the 380 ECU needs plenty of battery power or else it starts to play up.
Many people recommend Optima batteries, either the Red Top or the Yellow Top.
I put a Red Top in over three years ago and it was a great battery.
They aren't cheap though, generally in the range of $250 to $300, see here: http://www.optima-batteries.com.au/?gclid=CJn6nZW21rsCFcXFpAodIDoAAw
But at least you get free shipping, which is not bad considering how much they weigh.
For a 380 you want a D34.
Get the Red Top if you want plenty of cranking/starting power but you don't run a high powered sound system, get the Yellow Top if you do run a high powered sound system.

The optima are a good battery, but if you know how to maintain a lead acid battery, you should get 6+ years out of them.

While the battery spec for the 380 says 600cca, the battery which came from the factory actually had less than that.

You can get a Century 75d23r, which is their "ultra high performance" range - with 630cca and a three year warranty - for around $135 in Adelaide. And it should last you at least 6 years.

An Optima will probably set you back close on 300... I doubt you will get more than double the life.

The optima are a good battery, but if you know how to maintain a lead acid battery, you should get 6+ years out of them.

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please tell me exactly what to do to get 6+ years from all my lead acid batteries?

TIA

please tell me exactly what to do to get 6+ years from all my lead acid batteries?

TIA

Start off with a quality one, for a starter.
Got 8 years out of the original battery in a VW, 6 from the original battery in a Lancer.
A cheapy from your local parts shop may last 3 years. That's all I can get from them anyway. The cheap one in my TJ is now 3 years and 2 months old, so any day . . . . might need to go upmarket next time.

I'd go with the century. Great battery for a lead acid and Aussie made.

Ditto. Have had at least 4-5 years out of Century batteries.

please tell me exactly what to do to get 6+ years from all my lead acid batteries?

By buying a good quality battery, and by maintaining it well.

Not sure how much you know about lead acid batteries, but they are essentially a series of heavy lead plated suspended in a sulfuric acid solution.

Lead acid batteries in cars invariably fail because lead sulfate is formed, either reducing the ability of the battery to hold charge, or more commonly, causing the weakened plates to fail. They are more prone to fail in hotter climates (like Australia) because evaporation losses mean only the bottom section of the lead plates is submerged in the acid solution.

"Maintenance free" batteries are supposed to be better because they reduce evaporation and don't require any maintenance. The problem is, evaporation still occurs (perhaps at a slightly reduced rate) and the battery can't be maintained by topping up because it is often completely sealed.

By keeping the fluid level up to the top of the plates, you are using the entire surface of lead available and maximising the life of the plates. If you don't maintain the battery fluid, as evaporation occurs, the top half of the plates sit exposed (and doing nothing) while the bottom half of the plates are doing all the work and fatiguing faster. This also increases internal battery resisitance - leading to a hotter battery - which is more prone to failure.

There are a few things you can do to easily get 6 years out of a lead acid battery:

1. Buy the heaviest (densest) battery you can buy. The weight of car batteries is directly related to how big the lead plates are inside. Cheap batteries have thinner, weaker lead plates - prone to early sulfation and physically failing.
Even if two batteries have the same specs (power & CCA ability), if one is 1kg heavier than the other, buy the heavier one.

2. Don't buy a "maintenance free" battery which is completely sealed.

3. Periodically top up the battery fluid. I have never bothered with battery conditioner - just use distilled water from the supermarket. I use the little container which comes with your steam iron for refilling to top up each cell. As you look down into the battery, the liquid should come just to the top of the plates and no higher. Some batteries have markings to indicated where to fill to.
Underfilled batteries will fail early, but be careful not to overfill. Overfilled cells may leak when hot or when accelerating/braking/cornering, causing sulfuric acid to leak out of the vented caps and perhaps damage things/paint in your engine bay.
The cells will most likely not accept a uniform quantity. Some cells are more prone to evaporation than others due to placement of the battery, and heat from other components under the bonnet. Quite often I put 50-80ml in some cells, and zero in others which are still full.

4. Check the battery more often during summer. I check mine every 6 months over winter, but every three months during summer (ie OCT-JAN-APR-OCT).

Simply keeping the fluid levels right in good quality batteries, my family have had:

a) 13 years from the original factory battery in an NG Pajero daily drive (Yuasa brand which are awesome)
b) 8 years and still going strong when I sold it in a daily drive SV21 Camry (Century)
c) Almost 6 years from my original 380 factory battery (can't remember the brand). Was still starting okay, but I felt it was perhaps on its last legs and didn't want to be stranded somewhere so replaced it early. The Century 75D23R I mentioned above is a big, heavy, battery. I expect it to last 8 years +

Thats good info there, battery checking in the 380 is a real pain, considering the need to remove the bracket to check plate coverage, and its easier to remove the strut brace too. Its not that hard, but a lot more time consuming than say a magna... And I looked every in Brisbane for a Century 75D23R or a Yuasa, for the sub $140.00 you have in Adelaide, but I couldn't find one in Qld for that...

please tell me exactly what to do to get 6+ years from all my lead acid batteries?

TIA
I got five and a half years out of the Century in my old TJ. Not sure of the exact model but it wasn't super expensive (around $150 or so). Still worked - I just replaced it as a precaution. Like flyboy mentioned, I topped it up regularly with distilled water, and I was careful not to run the car on accessories often (if at all).

Hi gents, first post here and i'll resurrect this one. My 2007 VRX has been running like an absolute piece of garbage. This is my 2nd 380 - the 1st was a 2008 Platinum that my recent next-ex-wife drove back to Coldtoria - so i had to go buy another car. It needed to be reliable, comfortable and i went for what i've been driving for the last 5 years. The Platinum has a shade under 220K on the clock and was still going strong, but the new-to-me VRX only has 102k and drove like it had 500k. I took it back to the dealer under statutory warranty, got them to look at it and they came back and said the battery was below its CCA reserve and they "recommended replacement of the unit". It was a K-mart special that was rated at 530CCA, so if it was on the way out it would have been WELL below the Mitsu recommended 600CCA. I called up Bursons in Nambour Qld, they had a Century 75d23r delivered by lunch that day and i picked it up that arvo - $177. Took it home, plugged it in and reset everything. Out on the road it made an amazing difference. Flick the key and it starts first time, crisp gear changes, no cd player skipping all over the place, idle settled at just on 600 and smooooooooth.

Thanks to everyone who had input into the numerous battery threads, it's was valuable and informative reading and saved me a bucket load of time.