Screw in tire AND a failing battery to start 2021. Awesome.

No tire shop would do a tire fix today so I ended up plugging the tire myself with the roadside tire kit I keep in the boot. Just as well because it seems the 'experts' at the tire shop always railroad me into a new tire purchase by refusing to put it back on after taking it off. In this case the tire has never been repaired, the screw was far enough away from the shoulder, leak was really slow and tire never went flat. While I would prefer a real patch, this will have to do.
Can't complain much about the battery since it is nearly 8 years old (has 16 13 stamped on post which means it was made the 16th week of 2013 - would make sense given the car's May 2013 build date). Interstate battery from Costco seems to be the best deal for a replacement.

Happy New Year!

 

Your Varta is an AGM type battery. What symptoms do you get?

Mine (mady be Exide) is now more than 10 years in the car and still running everything fine.

 

Hi George,

The car still starts and I could probably nurse it along by recharging it regularly, but I'd rather replace it now rather end up with a no start condition at a bad time. I am getting the service indicator on start up and no services are due. Then, when turning the engine off and listening to the radio, the car shuts off with battery pictogram within just a few seconds. Same if going through the service menu, I can barely get to the first item before the car shuts off with a battery picto. Given the age of the battery and these symptoms, I'm fairly sure the battery is at the end of its life.
The replacement battery is an Interstate AGM, I had to order it.

I had a couple of batteries last longer than this. The one is my 02 330cic which I've had since new lasted 11years; the replacement is now over 7 years old. Then there is our 06 Cooper S, also a car we special ordered and bought new, was sold after 9+ years with its original battery. I don't think the AGM's last as long as the flooded cell batteries, but anything over 6 years is acceptable.

 

Yeah, it does seem to be on the way out. I would have replaced mine, too, if that were the case.

My Mini's battery is in a better condition. I've had the ignition on "on" (not just "accessories") and music playing for more than an hour before the low battery voltage message was displayed (and the battery wasn't even "full" when I started). I'm impressed though with how long your other, conventional batteries lasted!