Leaving a car for a while...

Well the big difference is it will start when you reconnect it.

I think that I would be as concerned about the hand brake/shoes seizing on

Starting it every couple of weeks would just discharge the battery more quickly unless you run it for long enough to replace the used current

I would take off the battery and leave it in gear with the hand brake off and the wheels chocked

Tony

I would just leave it, it will be fine. But if you want to mess about: leave the battery on, you don't want to mess about with radios, immobilisers etc. Get him to leave you the keys and once a month or so go and take it for a drive of a few miles, 10 would be plenty.

Nowt. Just disconnect the battery. I'd make sure there's f*ck all petrol in it as well and pop in a couple of gallons of fresh stuff upon return as it'll start to go off after a couple of months.

I'm willing to bet it won't. Most new cars have a quiescent draw of around

I'd probably just run it at a fast idle until the temp comes up to normal then double that time.

Better to fill it up so there's little air in the tank. And petrol won't go off that quickly anyway, IMHO.

Why not? After my daughter wrecked one on my Minis I left it in the back garden for several months. When I came to move it, having finally decided to break the car, it started up straightaway!

A good modern battery should last a long time if nothing's taking any significant current from it.

The Battery in my father's Diesel A2 is HUGE! At least twice as big as it needs to be to just start the engine reliably.

It takes a while to find under the boot floors, but it easily lasted the

As it's a VAG, there is probably a way of disabling the ultrasonic part of the alarm by keypresses or a button inside somewhere, that might reduce the amount of current it draws? Dunno.

In answer to your original question, never left a modern car without a battery for such a length of time, but I'm not sure the doors on an A2 will lock without electricity. The boot catch is electric and there isn't a keyhole in the passenger door, at least there isn't on my dad's.

Any way you can connect up a wee charger to keep it topped up?

"Dave Plowman (News)" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I'd hazard a guess that it'll be fine, since it's clearly been sat around for five years since production ended.

Battery technology in respect of the amount of charge it will loose when there is no current drain hasn't changed significantly.

What has changed is the amount of current drain that occurs when a modern car is left standing.

The AA are called to jump-start a significant number of relatively new vehicles that have been left for just two weeks; for some reason, these often tend to be VAG.

As others have said, the best option for the OP's friend's car is to get someone to drive it every couple of weeks.

Chris

or stick a solar powered charger in it.

I've not been too impressed with one that is used to provide a small LED light in an outbuilding; I don't think they had the UK in mind when they designed it!

The vehicle in question is going to be left outside the house, in a private road; would the presence of the charger not compromise security?

Chris

If it's not moved for 3 months that'll be rather more obvious.

;-) I did put IIRC - which I obviously didn't. 1.6?

Depending on the age of the Mini it might have no electronics whatsoever that draw current with the ignition off. Can't think of any modern car where this is the case.

But all cars these days do. Even the simplest radio will have a memory that needs power to keep it. Remote locking requires some form of receiver alive at all times. Etc.

"Dave Plowman (News)" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

A3, at a guess...

I don't agree; many folk park in the same place every day, but not many of them leave a solar panel on the roof!

Chris

How does adding a solar panel compromise security any more than not moving it for weeks?

I was actually thinking of leaving it on the parcel shelf or dashboard rather than the roof. Personally I think it is all a waste of time, the battery will be fine for three months, worse way it will need a jump start. Far more expensive long term damage will be done by running it for a few minutes every couple of weeks than the slim chance of damaging the battery (which will still be under guarantee in any case.) Either drive it or leave it.