# Battery charge life **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** gti, batteries, volkswagen\ **Created:** [May 23, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269 "2010-05-23T21:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jacks004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc79bd/32.png) [@jacks004](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jacks004)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269/1 "2010-05-23T21:00:44Z")
Holding son’s car while he is in NYC. Battery is dead in 12 to 14 days. Dealer says nothing wrong, just that newer model cars (I have a 98 Honda)tend to drain the battery if not driven regularly. I find that hard to believe. Warranty runs out in few months so would like to pursue if problem exists. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269/2 "2010-05-23T21:19:13Z")
Any decent repair shop can perform a parasitic load test and isolate the drain. But there are other factors, How old is the battery? Does the car have an alarm or remote starting? Is it a Honda or VW?? Why not just disconnect the battery and solve it that way…ALL of today’s cars put some drain on the battery… ---
**Author:** ![waterboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/waterboy/32/764_2.png) [@waterboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/waterboy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269/3 "2010-05-23T23:32:18Z")
You could also purchase a battery maintainer. There have been a few posts regarding the issue so I don’t thing it is a unique circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![bobb0815](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@bobb0815](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bobb0815)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269/4 "2010-05-26T02:53:39Z")
Personally, I would try another dealer. Sound like they just don’t want to check. As someone else has already mentioned there are many factors that could cause this problem. But 2 weeks seems too soon to drain a good battery. So, I think a second opinion is in order. Why not just start and run it (or drive it for 15 min every other day or so? /Bob ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269/5 "2010-05-26T03:04:46Z")
Well, how old is the car and what I assume is the original battery? Any add-on accessories? Some cars have a somewhat substantial parasitic draw and a marginal battery can easily be run down in a week or two. I’ve never checked it, but I think the parasitic draw on my Lincoln Mark is over 700 Milliamps for an hour or so before it settles down. Let it sit for several weeks and the odds of it starting are pretty slim. I think some Ford products may even pull 800-900 Milliamps. ---
**Author:** ![euryale1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@euryale1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/euryale1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/battery-charge-life/49269/6 "2010-05-26T03:19:31Z")
As long as the radio does not need a security code you can disconnect the battery. The electronics can draw a bit and if the battery is old and the car is not driven this can happen. You do not say the year and model of your sons car so what kind of answer do you expect? Thats all we can do with the info. If you are storing the car disconnect the battery.