I've been noticing cranking the engine for the past 2 week wasn't as quick and loud as before. I didn't put much thought into it until we had our first real sub-zero night this past weekend. I went to start the car in the morning and what do you, it would't crank. Long story shorty, I ended up having the battery and electrical system tested, and eventually going home with a brand new battery.

So that got me thinking, is 5yrs 4months considered good for the original battery? What's the longest anyone here had theirs kicking?

You guys will enjoy this for laughs, I called the Jag dealer on my way to Advance Auto and inquired on the cost of the original battery, $350 plus $130 labor if I wanted them to install it. Ha. Ha. Ha.

 

$350 is excessive. I had the dealer replace/install a new battery for me a few months back for $240 all in. Not too bad, they even gave me a loaner car for the day.

 

PS-my battery was the original...so about 6 years old when it died.

 

You're in the DC area as well. Which dealer did you got to?

 

My if you got 5.5 years you got full value from the battery.

Plus the bonus of it giving out at home and not stranding you.

 

14+ years for a private label commercial grade fleet battery. It was still going strong when the car was sold.

 

Rosenthal Jaguar in Tyson's Corner. Have only ever had really great service from them.

 

[Cringe] Are you serious? I almost hired a lawyer to sue that dealership, they are by far the most incompetent dealership (sales & service). Anyway, not the thread to discuss this.

I have a written estimate from their sister dealership in Chantilly for $460 battery installation from this past summer, they noticed a small crack when I had them install the new speedo w/ computer. I called Tyson's yesterday thinking I would get a cheaper price, but no. You got lucky somehow.

 

You ever try the one in Bethesda?

 

how you know how old are your battery ? i recently buy my car and dont know how check this!

 

kalacho, most batteries, the date is put on the sticker by removing the appropriate month and year. Most places will do it for the warrantee.

As for battery life, my factory battery lasted 7 years and I have gotten 9 years 11 months out of the battery for my truck. The trick is knowing how to take care of batteries. For the most part, don't let the battery ever discharge even a small amount except for bi-annual "slight" discharges to clean off some crude from the plates. After that, they will take care of themselves.

 

>bi-annual "slight" discharges to clean off some crude from the plates.

Never heard of doing that before, can you elaborate?
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Jaguar: Grace, Pace, and Space - Sir William Lyons

 

In a different car I was able to get well over a decade out of a Costco (a big warehouse discount store) battery that was branded "Kodak", and almost half that time included living in North Dakota and included time in an unheated garage and -50f temp hits.

It would need a charge every now and then, but the car was a "daily driver" so it was kept pretty well maintained.

I credit the longevity to a little trick an old guy impressed on me: "EVERY TIME you open the hood of the car, WIPE THE TOP OF THE BATTERY OFF!". I think Thermo would agree that such is a recommended habit - a clean battery top prevents "cross-talk" between the battery posts, and the inherit yet miniscule draw-down.

This might not be applicable to the X-Type however; I believe there are enough electronics constantly tugging on the battery to make the point moot. I continue to do it anyway. I think a clean battery is a happy battery.

Regardless, Thermo's post here led me to go to Amazon just now and purchase a temperature compensating Battery Tender. I find since my dear wife Evelyn passed away recently, I haven't been driving the car near enough to keep it fully charged.

She was my navigator, and I get lost driving around without her.

It's Valentine's Day - do something really nice for your Sweetie today folks!

 

So sorry for the loss of your wife

 

I live in Germantown but take my vehicle to Rosenthal at Tyson's Corner or in Chantilly just to avoid going to the one in Bethesda. Sadly disappointed the two times I went in to speak with someone in service department about my vehicle. The only helpful folks were the parts department guys when I went to buy something...but that visit was before the two to the service department.

Have actually been very satisfied with Rosenthal.

 

pab, the "slight" discharges I do are nothing much more than say when you are washing/waxing you car, you have the windows down, playing the stereo at a moderate volume for about an hour. What you are shooting for is a point where the motor will start to rotate over a little slower than normal, but not a point where the motor will not turn over. Then you take the car out for a drive for say 30 minutes to get the battery back up to 100%.

What this is doing is as you are discharging the battery like this, you are burning off the "fingers" (aka, "moss" that builds up inside of a battery). If you don't clean off this moss, it can get bad enough that a negative plate will touch a positive plate, which will lead to the failure of a cell. Once a cell goes dead, the rest of the battery follows very quickly (hence why a battery will tend to be good one day and not the next).

The trick with this is that if you discharge the battery too far, you can damage the battery. The goal is to discharge out about 10 amp-hours of stored power. You want to do it a decent clip, but not a surge like what you get when you start the car. I found using the stereo is a good load to put on the battery and does things nicely.

 

I've never tried that one, I guess its a little out of my way considering I'm in Fairfax City. But will keep it in my mind if and when I need dealer service.

It's so funny we all have difference experiences with Rosenthal. The one in Tyson is where I bought my car new and they're the ones who ripped me off on 5 months of the original warranty cause they made a mistake on the sales date (listed it as sold 5 months before I bought it). Plus, I've never taken it for service there and got the problem sorted the 1st time around. Not to mention, they flat out refused to install a used speedo I bought myself so I can have the computer functionality, claiming it was illegal to alter the mileage of the car. They made me out to be some shady person trying to alter the mileage when the new speedo I got has 4K more than the original. Next weekend I drove to their sister dealership in Chantilly and what do you know, they installed it no questions asked.

If you guys want good and less costly service, check out Top Line Jaguar in Springfield. They're honest and offer free pickup and delivery. Plus, they got no problem you bringing your own new Jag parts.

 

Yes, it's quite interesting how experiences differ so greatly at dealerships.

Not sure how you guys feel about independent shops, but there's a little gem of a garage in Hyattsville, MD just off 295 called 5 Star Auto. A guy named Hamid runs it, and the service has been stellar. They work on mostly european luxury cars, MBs, BMWs, and Jags. They used to be located on New York Ave. If you wanted to save a buck I fully recommend them. Not sure about your experiences in locating a quality shop in DC that you're comfortable with (or that will even work on our cars), but Hamid's been incredibly nice and helpful. His staff are also quite professional. He even shuttled me to/from the metro.

 

You're kidding. I didn't buy my car there, it was bought used from elsewhere. I've been going to Tysons and Chantilly for parts and service for the most part.

The only major gripe I have is the Enterprise loaners there. They don't do a good job at cleaning up the loaners before letting you take it. I had a car that had spilled mulch in the trunk once.