Flat battery - best options?

nst68 · 26 Jun 2015 at 14:18

Hi, my car has not been started for about 3 months, I went to start it today and the battery is completely flat, no lights on dashboard when turning the key.

Is the best option to :-

Buy some jump leads
Buy a battery charger
Buy a new battery

The car is a Toyota Estima, 2.3l diesel.

edit - I should add, the MOT is due next so just need to get it to the MOT station and for it to start ok there.

OracIe · 26 Jun 2015 at 14:33

How old is the battery?

In most cases you should be able to get away with a jump but if you do that, you'll need to go for a run for at least 20 minutes for the alternator to put some charge back in the battery.

nst68 · 26 Jun 2015 at 14:35

OracIe said:
How old is the battery?

In most cases you should be able to get away with a jump but if you do that, you'll need to go for a run for at least 20 minutes for the alternator to put some charge back in the battery.

The car is from 1998, the battery is at least 8 years old

OracIe · 26 Jun 2015 at 14:39

Okay, starting to get old then so if your going to keep on leaving the car, the battery wont keep on enjoying being drained and charged.

Do you leave the car a lot? If so it might be worth disconnecting one of the terminals until you need it.

If I were you I'd definitely invest in a charger/booster pack charger.

Finglonga · 26 Jun 2015 at 14:53

OracIe said:
Do you leave the car a lot? If so it might be worth disconnecting one of the terminals until you need it.

Before you do the above check to see if the stereo has a security code and if so that you know what it is.

bledd · 26 Jun 2015 at 15:02

Buy some decent jump leads.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/clarke-cjl30d-professional-jump-leads

At ~8 years, not a bad idea to get a new battery anyway, but it might be ok.

GSXR Gaz Mc · 26 Jun 2015 at 15:17

i bought a new battery....once they start going there goosed...got sick of charging and jumping and when i put a meter on it the amps looked fine till u turn it over and it dropped to 2 amps

£50 new battery from EK brakes and its been good as gold for the past year

ci_newman · 26 Jun 2015 at 15:18

IME, if a battery is left dead for any period of time (opposed to just leaving the lights on overnight), it will almost never recover. Give it a try with jump leads, but I'd budget to replace it

Justintime · 26 Jun 2015 at 15:25

I've had it both ways, flat battery never charging again and one that was left parked for a year working for another 4 years after a jump (old work van with an old work battery

, we parked it due to transmission failure, finally got around to fixing the gearbox after a little over a year, P Reg Transit lol).