No start, dash flickering, remote central locking not working properly

[Walone]

FWIW the battery on my car died a few months back with pretty much the same symptoms. It was also 10 years old. The fitted battery was Exide EFB, so I replaced it with another Exide EFB and coded it myself. No settings for the radio were lost or for anything else. There was no warning of failure for the old battery, it just died. The stop/start may have been a bit less keen to kick in but it still did work until the end. I know conventional wisdom is that the batteries only last 6 years or so, but my experience on this and my previous Leon is that closer to 10 years is possible.

My car will be 10 years old in December, battery still seems fairly good, don't use the car more than twice a week, will probably get a new battery before next winter sets in, assuming mine lasts until then.

 

[Craig.]

The battery is one of the most regularly ignored wear item that is not only critical for car operation but also causes non-specific mayhem when they go bad. Garages chase ghosts all the time in the electrical system and it's the battery causing the issues. It's also the one item that shouldn't be cheaped out on, the cheaper brands like Lion are not worth using as a door stop. Had so many DOA it's just not worth even trying. OEM, Varta or Exide are the only ones I use myself and recommend to customers.

Even Bosch used to be kings of batteries but they've had more than a few squiffy batches in recent years,

They have an expected lifespan of 4-6 years before potential issues start to creep in.