I used to buy Bosch all the time, recent experiences over the last number of years have proved things aint what they used to be.

Varta according to some sources i read are the same battery but rebadged but hasten to add i do not know if this is true (comments welcome), i have one on my old Merc doing sterling service which replaced yet another Bosch that failed early.

Where possible i now buy Yuasa batteries, their silver versions coming with a 5 year warranty, whether the latest ones stand the test of time like previous ones have only time will tell.

Low usage might be the problem however and the current (hoho) battery is still ok, modern cars don't fully shutdown like proper cars of yore..:-) and batteries can drain surprisngly quickly with low usage, your answer might be a smart charger/conditioner such as a CTEK connected for extended periods of inactivity to keep the battery up to scratch.

Edited by gordonbennet on 07/12/2015 at 10:46

According to Car Mechanics magazine, Bosch and Varta are the same.

They highly rate the Bosch S5 Silver Plus/ Varta Silver Dynamic.

Have you looked at Europarts:

tinyurl.com/jysycnh

You say you have low usage. Any battery will suffer from this. Get a battery conditioner and hook the car up whenever it's parked up at home. I have to do this with my Saab for the same reason. I have a plug in Draper conditiioner it was about 20 quid.