It may be obvious to you, Richard! But surely not all batteries are mission critical, as it were? Can't the Master Technicians out there be left alone to make decisions about whether a (high-price) OEM battery is called for, as against a (cheaper) third-party equivalent? smile

What's pretty obvious to me is that "certain" manufacturers are simply scare-mongering people into buying over-priced batteries from their own catalogues (as Chris suggests). At the end of the day, a battery of such-and-such a rating, capacity etc., is just that.

MHRA guidelines? What use are they, without compulsion?

If you don't inspect ... don't expect.