How many days the battery last without driving the car?
 

Assuming it's all stock and no mods performed, do you think we can leave the car for 3 weeks without driving it and still have enough juice in the battery to start the car?
How many days maximum from your personal experience that you have left the car the longest before starting it fine? Or any bad experience at all?

Reason I'm asking is because I am planning to go away for around 18 days this year and I just want to make sure that the car will start being undriven for 18 days... Thanks

I'd say a week at most but it varies from battery to battery, weather conditions etc. I'll go out on a limb and say that when you return from your trip you won't be able to start your car

I've gone several months in other cars. I would think you'll be fine. I've certainly been gone more than 18 days without my car being started. Worst case scenario, jump or charge it and drive around for a while.

This or unplug the battery it should last more than 18 days.

No issues with two weeks. Started up fine. Time of year might impact if really cold.

If I unplug it, that means I'll have to reset everything, time, sat nav settings, etc..
I'm from Aus, and it's not winter here. So I'm hoping it'll last at least 18 days...

I've done 2 weeks before.

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Mine was left in Eastern Canada for months without being started and it fired up in -20C.

Folks... If you're worried of such things I suggest buying a battery tendor. They're cheap and you'll use it on other vehicles, bikes etc down the road.

You can put the tender on a few hours before you want to start up.

Power is consumed by the immobilized when the car is sitting.

Buy a trickle charger from Amazon like @OICU812 mentioned. Only uses electricity when needed, so it's not like it's consistently draining power from the outlet.

There are some funny ideas in this thread. And by funny, I mean strange.

If the battery is in good condition, a week, 18 days, a month, even 2-3 months is not even worth worrying about. Although at the 1+ month mark, disconnecting the battery or buying a charger is probably something you should consider, just to save potential hassles.

FWIW, I used to put my MX5 away for the winter. After the first year, I never went through the hassles of disconnecting the battery again. It was sitting in storage for 3-4 months every year and started right up, year after year, every time, without fail. Likewise, my parents are snow birds and spend the winter months down south. They leave one car up North and I'll usually make the point of driving it during a few day stretch of good weather, at least once or twice during the winter. But there have been times when I didn't. Last week, I just started my father's 9 year old 5 series BMW (original battery) after it had been sitting in the garage since the end of October. Fired right up, first turn of the key. (I'm more concerned about the gas sitting in the tank for that length of time than I am about the battery). Although at 9 years old, it's probably time to replace the battery anyway. He probably dodged a bullet on that one.

And I put my own FRS away for the winter. Although from late November, I have driven it twice, with the longest shut-down period being about 2 & 1/2 months. No problems starting it up.

And actually, come to think of it, I once owned a 1991 VW GTI. I once had that car put away in storage for almost 9 months. And yes, you guessed it, no dead battery. Although, had I known at the time it was going to be away THAT long, I would have disconnected it and I'm probably lucky in that case. But back in those days, there wasn't much electronic taking a hit on the battery when the car was shut off.

All that said, for 18 days, you will NOT have a problem.

Funny and strange indeed.
I have no idea what you mean by that, but I disagree anyway.

My dad's crappy 10 year old Hyundai, with the original battery, sits in the barn for 6 months every winter, and starts with no problems every spring.
If a car won't start after being parked for a few months I would consider it a problem.
If the battery is very old I'd change it first, otherwise I'd check the car for electrical problems.
Who worries about letting their car stand still for a couple of weeks?

Just got back from a 31 day vacation and had ZERO problems starting my FR-S or my gf's kia.

Completely stock it lasts a fair while. The security stuff etc does draw some juice although minimal. Adding stereo, alarms and stuff in standby mode etc I course accelerates that as well.

My MC with its micro battery can go three months in winter storage and still start.

Mine lasted 3 and a half months in Ontario winter and started up


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lol mine has sat more than a month covered in a foot of snow and start without hesitation

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'd love to know what you have strapped to your car that would drain it in 7 days. Anything other than a flux capacitor and its :bs: for you. :lol:

You'll be fine. I garaged mine the first winter I had it and it never even hesistated when I would start it up. Longest it went without running was about 3 months.

The battery should be fine for months unless there's something wrong with it.

FYI, if you're leaving a car sitting for more than 2 months, you ought to put some gas stabilizer in the tank and run it for 5 minutes before storing it. Gas goes stale if left sitting.

Modern gas has a longer "shelf life" than it used to 20-30 years ago. When I garaged my FR-S last winter I didnt bother with any stabilizer and didn't have any negative effects. Also has to do with the car, as more modern cars have better seals on their fuel tanks and systems. I still use stabilizer on my '73 Corvette more because of the age of the car rather than fears that the gas may "go stale."

That said, stabilizer is fairly cheap, so if you want that peace of mind, go for it.

Most people don't seem to have a problem... however, mine cranked but didn't have enough cold cranking amps to start after sitting for 2 months. Must have been -20° C.

Doesn't hurt to put a trickle charger/maintainer on the battery while it sits. A little 2A one which will keep the battery full no problem is like 40 bucks. Have one now and haven't had a problem. I don't think you'll have a problem for 18 days whatsoever.

I've done two weeks and 4 days on my FRS. The hard thing is to stop myself from opening the doors and sitting in it :lol:

I was getting my driveway redone so my FRS was stuck in the garage.

I was warned about stale gas and advised to empty both my lawn mower and my snow blower after each season, to avoid problems. I've left both with gas in them, every year.
My snow blower stood for about 20 months with half a tank (very little snow one year) and the 250cc Briggs&Stratton fired up just fine. I cranked it slowly at first just to stir the oil around, though.
I guess it's sort of a Zen thing. I don't worry about such minor problems before they actually occur.

My FRS always dies after about a day or so :iono:

47 days in Florida at a parking lot. Fired right up, but I was worried it wouldn't.

Started right up under a foot of snow for 3 weeks.

I started mine about 3 times over winter, while it was in storage.

18 days should be a cakewalk.

2 - 3 months on average.

When I lived in NE Ohio, I would store my 914 4 months during the winter, outside, under a carcover, no battery tender. It always started in the spring, no problem.

Managed 4 weeks with ground disconnected.

I did 18 days this past winter. No issues.

I stored my FRS in an ice freezer for 5 years, with the parking lights on. Started right up.

mine was stored for about 3 months in the winter in a heated underground parking lot. Started perfectly with no issues. The car was fairly brand new btw.

I park on a hill. Not a problem if the battery dies. Pop the clutch and it starts right up.

This. I roll out of my driveway and down my hill at least 3 times a week.