• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Long-Term Parking Can Kill Your Battery.

TheRedSnifit

TheRedSnifit

Member
https://www.wsj.com/articles/long-term-parking-can-kill-your-battery-heres-the-solution-1505426532

While their owners are flying off to visit friends and family, tens of thousands of automobiles will be left waiting in airport parking lots. Some of these travelers will return to discover their cars' batteries are dead. Welcome home. Here's a set of jumper cables.

Why? Modern cars consume electricity even when they are seemingly dormant: GPS systems, proximity sensors, antitheft systems, data links and automatic vehicle-condition ”polling" all draw on the battery. The question: How long can you leave a tech-heavy car parked before the battery dies?

One reader of this column left his 2017 Mercedes-Benz S550 Cabriolet at the airport for nine days. When he returned, the battery was completely dead, not even enough juice to activate the door locks.
Click to expand...
Before he bought the Benz, our correspondent considered purchasing a Ford Expedition and Toyota Sequoia SUV. Out of curiosity, he called the Ford dealer to ask how long one could leave an Expedition parked before the battery died. ”No more than five days, maybe nine if the battery is new," he was told. A Toyota dealer said the Sequoia could go two weeks before the battery goes flat.
Click to expand...
The worst-case scenarios are grim. If the roadside-assistance truck can't get it going again, the car will have to be dragged on locked wheels up a flatbed trailer and unloaded at the service center the same way. And if a lead-acid battery is repeatedly exhausted, it will no longer hold a charge. It will brick.

So be kind to batteries, and be prepared. You have three options: the aforementioned jumper cables, which typically cost under $20; a portable jump starter or battery booster, like the Cobra Jumpack CPP 7500 ($150, cobra.com), which are small enough to fit in a glovebox; or a plug-in trickle charger/conditioner that maintains optimal battery charge while the car is parked, such as a CTEK MUS 4.3 ($120, smartercharger.com).

This fall, give the gift of electrons.
Click to expand...

Keep this in mind next time you go on vacation, guys. Don't be like me!
 
shira

shira

Member
TheRedSnifit said:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/long-term-parking-can-kill-your-battery-heres-the-solution-1505426532
One reader of this column left his 2017 Mercedes-Benz S550 Cabriolet at the airport for nine days. When he returned, the battery was completely dead, not even enough juice to activate the door locks.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S550A
iris

2017 Mercedes-Benz S550 Cabriolet
MSRP $131,000 USD
Click to expand...

.01% problems
 
J

Jarsonot

Member
If you know you're leaving your car that long, pop the hood and disconnect the battery. You'll lose your radio presets, and have to reset the time, but better than alternative. =)

Edit: only really need to disconnect the negative, the black one, and make sure it's safely not going to touch anything.
 
E

EverythingShiny

Member
Yep. Living in DC, there would be times when I wouldn't drive my car for weeks and I'd always have to get a jump start, or worse case scenario, get a whole new battery - but at the time I just assumed something was wrong with my car. Emergency roadside assistance has been good to me.

I drive my car nearly every day now, but I'm especially cognizant of this and it has certainly helped cut down on the number of times I've had to call for a jumpstart.
 
C

clav

Member
Jumper cables don't work if there's no car available.

Better to use a portable battery or keep car connected to a trickle charger.
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
This happened to a friend of mine recently, car just wouldn't start. Luckily it somehow mustered enough juice for the ignition to kick in properly and they had to drive a whole bunch to charge the battery up properly.
 
K

Krakatoa

Member
Never had an issue with my Explorer. I've gone two weeks without starting it.

M understanding is that they run in a very low power mode. If you leave your lights on, or stereo then yes it will kill your battery.
 
T

TyrantII

Member
Just another reason I'm hoping my 2001 civic will hold up untill self driving electric cars are certified.

I'm in a city and it stays parked unless I need to get out of the city. Sometimes weeks depending on what's going on for the weekend. Never an issue, but it be so much nicer to just call for a car.

Or better yet, purchase one that will make me money driving others around while I'm not using it.
 
G

gutter_trash

Banned
Insurance company forced my Dad to have a gps tracker on his car after he got his car stolen

That little thingy saps the battery everytime he came back from vacation to find his car battery dead
 
T

teiresias

Member
Just last week I came home after 7 days to find my Prius dead in the parking lot at the airport. I've left it parked longer so I actually think I left a dome light on by accident when I was leaving the car, but it's the second time it's happened to me this year.

On the Prius what was actually dead was the 12V battery that runs the starter and the smaller systems, not the big batteries that run the electric motor (that would be major bad). I replaced the 12V battery less than a year ago, but always wonder if I should replace the 12V everytime it dies - I'm guessing no, but it's not horrendously expensive.

To add insult to injury my jump starter unit decided it no longer wanted to hold a charge so it was dead too. Luckily, airport security will come jump people's cars for free in the lots, so it was just a matter of locating one of the phones in the parking deck.
 
R

rambis

Banned
Jarsonot said:
If you know you're leaving your car that long, pop the hood and disconnect the battery. You'll lose your radio presets, and have to reset the time, but better than alternative. =)

Edit: only really need to disconnect the negative, the black one, and make sure it's safely not going to touch anything.
Click to expand...

This. Takes less than 5 minutes.
 
C

cyress8

Banned
Cheapest option for some would be to just disconnect the negative cable from the battery (Just have the radio code handy) or buy a battery maintainer if you are constantly leaving for weeks on end.

Some cars are fucking horrible with reaching the Battery for disconnecting the cable though. Take a 2015 Camaro, the battery is under the spare tire or most luxury cars like a BMW that have it in a difficult spot in the trunk.
 
N

NumberThree

Member
TyrantII said:
Just another reason I'm hoping my 2001 civic will hold up untill self driving electric cars are certified.

I'm in a city and it stays parked unless I need to get out of the city. Sometimes weeks depending on what's going on for the weekend. Never an issue, but it be so much nicer to just call for a car.

Or better yet, purchase one that will make me money driving others around while I'm not using it.
Click to expand...

Yeah my usage is similar. I have a relatively new car (2014 model), but it's not super "smart" so this hasn't been an issue.
 
R

RedNalgene

Member
I have a portable jump starter in my trunk. It's the size of half a brick and will hold a charge for months. It also can double as a charger for other electronic devices too, like cell phones and tablets. Totally worth the $75 for that peace of mind.

Got stuck once waiting for a friend at an airport. Was sitting in my car with just the radio on for about 25 minutes - dead battery. Apparently if the key is in the ignition then the sensors in the seats are on too, so you aren't supposed to sit in the car like that. Smart design....
 
C

cyress8

Banned
Pagusas said:
Do all electric cars like Tesla's suffer from this too?
Click to expand...

Most likely, but I believe they have an auxiliary battery that handles the smaller stuff like the radio, wifi, etc. I'm just going off what I've known on some hybrid/electric cars. They have regular old batteries just to do minor stuff and leave the big boy to do all the grunt work.
 
F

Frankfurter

Member
Really curious. My parents park at the ariport for two to three weeks like once a year and nothing ever happens, but that's an 06 Audi A4, so probably not enough fancy stuff in there that draws on the battery.

Pagusas said:
Do all electric cars like Tesla's suffer from this too?
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely. I seem to remember that the Tesla can draw like 1% or so of the main battery per day (i.e. the large one, not the one that gasoline powered cars also have).
 
B

bjork

Member
Gonna leave mine at an airport tomorrow, until Saturday night. But it's a 2004 350Z with nothing fancy in it, and I replaced the battery maybe a month ago. So fingers crossed.
 
T

teiresias

Member
Jarsonot said:
If you know you're leaving your car that long, pop the hood and disconnect the battery. You'll lose your radio presets, and have to reset the time, but better than alternative. =)

Edit: only really need to disconnect the negative, the black one, and make sure it's safely not going to touch anything.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, my car's 12V battery is buried in the trunk and you have to pull the trunk bottom and another cover off to get to it.
 
T

Travo

Member
Yep, when my father in law passed, his car sat there for months. We had to replace the battery and starter.
 
Z

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Hmm, my not very tech advanced vw (it only really has is antitheft) I've left for 2 weeks at a time without issue.
 
D

Dazza

Member
Pagusas said:
Do all electric cars like Tesla's suffer from this too?
Click to expand...

They would as far as the current draw amount when off, but they have a far bigger battery to draw from so they won't encounter the problem as frequently.

It's actually pretty annoying thing that car manufacturers do. The more electronics in the car the greater chance of them developing excessive parasitic draws, it was really common in Mercedes with their seat controllers about 15 years ago. Also many cars don't like having the battery disconnected beyond just having to reinput your car stations, there are a whole bunch of other electronics that need resetting and typically require a trip or service from your dealer. It's all a scam and done by a lot of luxury car manufacturers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Locked
How long can your car turned off until the battery dies?
19
26K
99hertz replied
  • Locked
(NYTIMES) Payoff for Efficient Cars Can Take Years
2
82
4K
Jobiensis replied
  • Locked
500 things you (probably) didn't know
2 3 4
162
26K
Santerestil replied
  • Locked
77 year old man, brutally killed randomly on anniversary in parking lot.
13
1K
dabig2 replied
  • Locked
Scientology: The Cult of Greed (1991 Time article)
18
2K
h1nch replied
Top Bottom