On delivery the salesman told me I should use the supplied Aston battery tender a lot, as in leave it connected all the time if I'm not driving the car every day. He said the battery was a deep-cycle type that doesn't recharge as well on driving as a normal battery. Not that it's a big deal to keep it plugged in but it doesn seem a bit much for a modern car. Anyone have any experience/info on this to share?

 

mine is still brand new in box. never been used. i wouldn't sweat it too much.

 

What kind of non-driving gaps do you have? I brought the car home Wed afternoon and it hasn't moved since. I'm hoping for tomorrow or Sunday for sure but there are times in the winter where 1-2 weeks can add up. I always used my Porsche tender in the dead of winter when it was really cold and managed to get 5 years out of the OEM battery, which wasn't known to be that good. I guess it would be nice if I read the owner's manual

 

I was told not to use it unless the car sat for over a week.

 

i have had my car sit for over a couple of weeks at a time with no issues.

 

Same here as above. My car has sat for a long time and no issues.

Adam

 

I recently left my car for 4 weeks and had no problems with starting it up.

 

I go 7-10 days all the time w/ no issues ... w/o long drives afterwards ... feel it could go longer sitting with no issues too. I think your salesman might be a little overboard ... needs to re-read service manual. I have had my car 1 1/2 years ... so some history to give you an idea ... and I did not buy the charger !

 

Deep-cycle batteries are able to drain down more fully, say to 20% of their maximum charge. I'm not sure of the point he was trying to make, except that maybe when you recharge them, they never go back to 100%. There must be something to it because Aston must be the only manufacturer to give you a charger and have the battery disconnect button in the trunk, which reduces the drain while parked from 4 systems to only one. I'm going to use it if the car will sit for a week or longer, or if the outside temp is near zero and then my garage usually hovers at 40 or below.

 

Hi everyone, Just came back from a 2 week business trip, and found my car dead.. will jump start it today, I know where the + goes, where should I put the -? any specific place?

 

If you have a choice I'd recommend you put the battery on charge for 24 hours, rather than jump start it - much kinder to all those electronics. Its fine to charge it whilst connected to the car

Incidentally, in the UK, a 'battery conditioner' (battery tender over there?) is an optional extra. Generally people seem to recommend using one if the car is likely to be left for 2 weeks or more, but I usually connect up my weekend cars every night, because I'm never sure when I'll next drive them. Most lead acid batteries get damaged if they are fully discharged, so it doesn't seem worth the risk.