My buddy has an 07 vantage that has a dead battery (been dead for about 3 months). He can't get the hood open but he thought about buying a cig lighter trickle charger. Will this work? I read that if the cig lighter has no power once you pull out the key, the trickle charger won't work

Edwin

 

The hood (bonnet) release is by cable actuation, so if you can't get it open, that particular problem is not related to a dead battery. If you can get the hood open, you can access the (+) jumper terminal and a ground point and go from there.

FYI, with a dead battery, you won't be able to access the glove box or the trunk (boot) where the normal battery tender connection is.

I just checked my '07 Vantage power port in the center console and it has 12 volts available with no key.

 

Thanks Don. Stupid question but where is the cig lighter in the vantage (ie. can I get to it with the battery dead?)

edwin

 

Cig later is immediately behind the shifter on a manual car (same spot on sport shift but there's no stick, obviously).

 

If the battery is original, its 8/9 years old by now and most probably won't hold a charge; a replacement would be a better solution. The "bonnet" release lever location is in the same place on a LHD vehicle.
You can try to get it going by just opening the hood and following the "jump starting" procedure.