SOLD: BAD used battery, but everything worked out!

SOLD: Used X2 Power (rebranded Northstar) 27F AGM battery.

Priced at $100. In-person only / cash / as-is. Located in SoCal/SGV. I would propose meeting at an auto parts store that offers free battery testing. I'm not trying to sell a dead or dying battery here.


I purchased this battery new in July 2019, so it’s ~40 months old. Before you conclude that I'm delusional or greedy selling a 40-month old battery for $100, please read the Northstar 27F AGM upgrade thread. This is a US-made AGM battery, generally regarded as the highest-quality, largest-capacity, and longest-lasting battery that will fit* the stock location in these trucks (aside from lithium, which I’ve never tried). A new X2 27F currently costs around $410 after promotions, taxes, and fees in SoCal.


The battery works perfectly, is in good (used) condition, and has never been fully discharged. Furthermore, whenever I'm not out adventuring, I generally keep the truck plugged in to a modern battery maintainer while parked in my driveway. I thus believe the battery to be in excellent condition for its age. This of course is something I can’t guarantee, and a risk you’ll assume in purchasing it. But as a point of reference, these batteries come with 48-month free-replacement warranties (not transferrable – repeat – you do not get a warranty on this used battery, not from me, and not from Batteries Plus). And as of last month, it can power my fridge through two days of sweltering heat, then still crank the engine harder than my last non-AGM battery did brand-new.


Why am I offering it for sale? I camp in extremely remote places, alone, and I don't run a dual-battery setup. I run a fridge, lights, gadgets, and whatever else I need at camp, all night, and need 100% reliability when it comes to cranking the engine the next day. So it’s worth it to me to pre-emptively replace it long before it actually wears out.


To get the maximal reliability from a single-battery setup, you should probably buy one brand new. But if you don’t need or can’t afford a brand-new one, here’s a 40-month-old, well-maintained one; of superior chemistry and construction for deep-cycling applications, and which offers ~2x more capacity than a stock battery; with admittedly uncertain but likely substantial remaining life, at what I believe to be a reasonable price.


*Important: Going to a 27F AGM battery isn’t a trivial upgrade. While this battery physically fits in the stock location, it is larger than stock batteries, weighs nearly 70 lbs, and requires modifications to your charging system to keep it properly charged. I'm also not sure if the stock battery clamp will secure this battery--I never tried--I bought an aftermarket clamp as part of my original upgrade. Please do yourself a favor and read the Northstar 27F upgrade thread before considering this battery.

 

Bump. Dropped price as I decided to go ahead and just buy a new one to swap in after I'm done with the current repair. I'm not sure how many more battery swaps my back can endure!

This one remains off the truck and ready to sell.

 

Bump. I still think this is a pretty reasonable deal, but I'll throw in a free high-five to sweeten it. Just paid nearly 2x as much to replace the regular-ass lead-acid battery in my commuter. (Sadly this one wouldn't fit--I tried!)

 

$100 is a fair price imo.. glws

 

Update: I met with a perspective buyer the other day to complete the sale. I showed up 15 mins late, and then, the parts store tester said BAD BATTERY!!!

It was an unmitigated disaster and I feel like a complete jerk.

Here is the follow up message I wrote to the perspective buyer:

So to summarize:
1. I am a jerk who will show up 15 minutes late to sell you a bad battery.
2. I stubbornly still believe the battery is good, so am leaving the for-sale post up.

 

If anything I appreciate your transparency and honesty from this post. Good read. Free bump and GLWS!

 

OK, to conclude the saga here...

The battery tested bad at Batteries Plus!!! I couldn't believe it. But low and behold, I wound up driving home with a brand-new 27F battery in my trunk, for the second time in as many months.

Then, the buyer still insisted in paying me well above my original asking price -- thanks dude!

So in the end, I might be a complete idiot, but it worked out. Buyer got a great deal on a new AGM battery, and I got a lesson in assumptions vs. reality.

Cheers y'all!

 

The transparency and updates speak well of your character.

 

Hey, if I can't earn points for intellect, I'll at least take them for character. Thanks man!

And to the buyer, should you ever read this: I genuinely appreciate your insisting to pay for the battery. Really cast the whole situation in a positive light for me, even though I was stubbornly wrong the whole entire time.


Update: I just spent the money buying new suspension components, to replace the brutally abused worn-out parts on my truck. In the likely event you see me posting photos from future adventures here on TW, without losing control and crashing on the way there... well, you can thank the guy who bought this battery!

 

Was the battery fully charged before tested? I have seen many fail when at low capacity.