Low Battery Every Week

[chessington]

We have a seat Leon, its only a few years old and keeps saying low battery, so we replaced the battery last year, still happening!!! admittedly we don't do many miles but seriously, what do you think could be the problem? TIA

[gness]

Chessington. I had no problem with my Honda Civic for years until I left a light on and flattened the battery. The new battery kept losing charge so I changed it again. The same happened. Car kept in garage but a few days and the battery was flat. I was driving long distances at the time and never locked the car in the garage.
I bought a charger but now the car is on the drive it's a nuisance to keep topping it up, so Dave's been experimenting and seeking advice for a resolution.
The only thing left is to check for a 'parasitic drain' (Dave says) - where something is drawing current even with everything (supposedly) switched off.
When Ireland gets its next dry, sunny day we will work on that.

If it's successful I'll let you know in case it's something you could try.

[bhg481]

I always keep one of these

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

plugged into a socket on the car to check that the voltage from the alternator is sufficient to charge the battery as well as power all the electrical items switched on. Alternators are generally much more powerful than there used to be but it pays to check that there is enough output to keep your battery topped up.

[Hopkirk]

Stop/start isn't about saving fuel.
It's mostly intended to cut pollution while idling in queues.

[choux]

Both our cars suffered the same problem, short journeys for most of the week. Purchased 2 car solar battery chargers of the folding variety which plug into the cars' sockets. Easily stored in the glove compartment when not in use and, more importantly, do not require bright sunshine to keep the batteries charged. A simple and cheap resolution. It quickly became second nature to plug them in once the cars were parked up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=solar+car+battery+charger&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

[sunny-dave]

Does that mean you need a 12V socket somewhere in the car that is 'live' even when the car is switched off, choux?

[bhg481]

If you adopt choux's suggestion make sure that the socket you choose is live when the ignition is off - some aren't.

[chessington]

thanks for all replies, very helpful, we have to park on the road and no garage, have got a charger, hubby will use at weekend, we turned off the dash cam to save battery life too, also have changed battery in fob too a few times. Also it does always start even though it says low battery and sometimes it says very low battery.

[bhg481]

choux's suggestion is very good if you have to leave the car on the road - better than having to take the battery out to charge it every now and again.

[gingejbee]

If the car is starting OK even with the "low battery" message - I think that mjw at 11.34 could be right.
SEAT's do indeed display a "low battery" warning...it's the key fob battery that it refers to...especially if the car has keyless ignition (ie pressing a button to start when the key is in your pocket/bag).

[gingejbee]

Here's a discussion on the subject....as I said, it's the key fob battery that the warning is about, NOT the 12 volt car battery.

https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/key-fob-battery-low.442561/