Quote:
Originally Posted by Overdrive
I realize it's not always an option for everyone depending on where you live and having access to electrical power where you park your car, but if I know my car is going to sit for more than a week without being started, I will hook it up to a battery tender just to be safe, especially since I live in a region where winter is an actual thing. Any battery will last you that much longer if you're able to take care of it. Even an Optima has its limits, and they're not the same batteries they were 15 years ago that gave them the reputation they still have.
My factory Panasonic finally got replaced at around 3 years of ownership (the car was effectively 4 years old by build date). I think because it was the dealer's showroom car it sat with a flat battery for most of the year it was there (in hindsight I should have requested that they put a new battery in it when I bought it because they had to jump it in order for me to test drive it) and that took away a lot of lifespan in combination with living through 4 pretty cold winters with me. Had to jump it twice, though one instance was totally my fault. The other was from the car just sitting in the garage but in cooler weather and for long enough that the battery just drained. This past winter it got to where I didn't trust it to crank on too many more below freezing cold mornings. Replaced it about 6 months ago with a nothing-fancy Duralast from AutoZone and it has been flawless. Even let it sit for about two weeks (no ability to put it on a tender where I had to leave it) right after I replaced it, and when I came back to it it started up just as strong as it sitting overnight. Other than that situation I'll still be practicing my maintaining method if the car has to sit longer than a week.
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They make little solar charger you can just put on the dash just for that purpose.
My Panasonic was 3 years old last month from the delivery date, I forgot the dome light a few times while at the gym this winter, battery didn't mind, I'm curious to see how long it lasts with the 2017+ charging system. The Panasonic in my old RAV4 I replaced after 12 years, it was still starting the truck below -20C.