I took my car to my local Interstate Battery Dealer today because the damn Mercedes battery, part # 04 541 02 01 in my car has died overnight for the past three days.

Well, friends, the sad story is that the old MB battery ist kaput undt todt! There's no reviving the old fellow, so I'm afraid that I had to replace him with a brand spankin' new Interstate MTP-93 weighing in at an impressive 52 Lbs, in a case measuring 14 & 3/8" x 6 & 7/8" x 6 & 7/8", with 850 CCA and 1065 cranking amps, a 155 minute reserve and a 72 month warranty with the first year and a half being free replacement time!

Well, the MSRP is $103.95 + tax & core, but I was wise enough to ask if they had a "blem" or "pre-install", so I was able to get a "pre-installed" one for $75.02 out of the door, tax included AND with the original warranty!

The alternatives were a new Mercedes battery (made for them by Interstate) for $109.00 + tax, or an Exide NASCAR for anywhere from $81.32 to $126.54 that had 750/940 to 850/1000, and 60 Mo warranties max.

Find a local Interstate dealer, and ask for a "pre-installed" battery, it'll save you money, comes with the same warranty (from date of purchase) and will work just as well as "new".

BTW, the dead battery was a July '97 model... And the wrong size for this car, which I am sure contributed to the early demise, but I didn't put it in, I bought it this way!

__________________

Scott Longston
Northern California Wine Country...
"Turbos whistle, grapes wine..."