I've been putting off the inevitable long enough. Time for a new battery.

The best deal I've found is PepBoys running a promotion with 30% off. Bosch group 49 AGM battery for $156, plus $40 in rewards points, looks like I'll be out the door for $115.

Any other better deals floating around? Or advice for/against the battery?

https://www.pepboys.com/product/deta...05.0L%2520DOHC

 

Two other value-oriented options
1. hold up the store
2. Take a new Jaguar for a test drive.

you can get the battery for less but not worth it.
last time I looked 2 years ago, pepboys had the longest free exchange on AGM.
So it works out to $25 a year, or $2 a month

 

Your basic #49 battery cost is about $160 more or less. Batteries Plus offers a "Duracell Ultra Gold" for this amount. It is a good battery. Mine lasted 3.5 years with mostly short city trips.
Batteries Plus also offers a larger/taller #49 "Duracell Ultra Platinum" for $220, which is my replacement. It fits nicely despite taller height of less than 1".
Battery tip: Batteries usually sit on retailers/wholesalers shelves for months after manufacturer, and are not fully charged when delivered to the consumer. Their charge is usually sufficient to start the car, and the car's system hopefully will bring it to full charge. A better course, if time permits, is to fully charge a new battery on a trickle charger before installation. In my case, the new battery took eleven hours on a Battery Tender.

 

Also, about 98% of all car batteries sold in the USA are made by Johnson Controls and labeled for different sellers.

 

I ended up with the AGM battery for $115, so a decent price. Install went smooth despite being really heavy. I put it on the trickle charger, and in the garage.

Next up, tires!