I remember reading in Car and Driver or one of those magazines, a year or two ago. At any rate the guy was trying a new car out with the new brake system, out in the middle of no where in Wyoming or someplace. On the Interstate, no one around and all of a sudden the car slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching halt. Whatever it saw it didn’t like but the sense then was the system was not ready for prime time. All of this fancy stuff put on cars now to help distracted drivers may not be the answer yet and I would not use it. I do like blind spot monitors but really this stuff should only be supplemental. Yeah batteries can go dead pretty quickly and I don’t think the standard batteries are all that powerful anyway.
bing - i recall hearing something about that too, although i thought even longer than that, and would’ve hoped by now they’ve made the system much better. it’s man made so it’s going to not be perfect and i don’t expect perfect, but if they sell it, i want it to work as advertised, and more than just it “usually” works. but true, some things are a supplement and i try keeping that in mind too, so when it takes over my driving to decelerate pretty harshly for no obvious reason, i take issue. as for powerful standard batteries, that could very well be true, gotta cut corners to make more profit (and their higher prices to build), even when consumers are paying higher prices for higher trim levels.
Better idea: Read the manual. If it doesn’t say not to jump start the car, and does have instructions on how to jump start the car, then it’s on them if jump starting inherently damages the car.
Asking the dealership requires 1) whoever you talk to knows what he’s talking about, and since it will probably be a service advisor at best and a salesman at worst, that’s a big leap, and 2) that the dealership is honest.
Ask them if something’s gonna damage your car, they say no, you do it, damage the car, and then… You think they’ll just own up to what they told you? “No man, I never said that. Never even saw this guy. No idea what he’s talking about.”
based on battery test (voltage,CCA), it does not look like the battery is on its last leg
I would still try measuring exact power draw when in ACC position, only to make sure you know vs. guessing
Ok, so the wipers, I’ve been fiddling with the intermittent setting and, knock on wood, it’s been auto-behaving in an expected way. It’s not a sensitivity setting as was suggested somewhere, according to the manual. But crossing fingers it’ll keep up.
I forget if one of the things I was recently finding is the “BRAKE” beep sound without the visual and for no discernible reason. I found a setting on the car that states whenever a car gets into “sight”, it’ll give that beep. I don’t know how or why that setting suddenly changed, and I didn’t see the pattern of that beep with the usual car icon on the dash, but changing the setting has gotten rid of that beep.
George and shadowfax, the manual talks about how to jump a battery, connecting the positive first and negative second, etc., but doesn’t state doing so is at my own risk or voids warranties or anything. And since they describe how to jump it tells me jumping is acceptable. Shadowfax, I agree with the asking the dealership, both of which requires me to trust their answer, which is what brought me here in the first place - I’m confident they know what they’re doing, and for business reasons trying to keep their costs in check, and sometimes that means saying things to appease customers opposed to trying to find elusive problems.
greendrag0n (and all), i still want to set aside an afternoon to do many tests, including now that the USB charger i had in the accessory slot doesn’t work and wondering if that was faulty.
I’ll try to keep posted here, in case others run into similar snags or questions… thanks for everyone’s input! 
That sounds like a correct interpretation to me. While you are covered by the new-car warranty anyway, and you follow the owner’s manual instructions, you should be ok should jump-starting cause any problems.
To clarify, I think that implies that having your car jump started is OK, but it says nothing about damage to the other car. Nor does it say you can jump start another car from your car. At least that is my interpretation.
Me, I just stay away from jump starting period.
Me also stay away . Why take a chance on causing an expensive repair .
I don’t carry jumper cables and won’t use my car for jump starting someone else. That’s what tow trucks are for. I do have a portable power pack though just in case. For $50 it’s not a bad idea if its worrisome but does take up some space in the trunk.