XKR Catches Terminal 5 disease

[GR1FF1F]

It's not just the baggage they have trouble with at Heathrow's new terminal. Flew out of T5 for the first time last week and took advantage of what appeared to be a reasonable price for valet parking. When I got back they directed me to the car which was in a car park opposite the terminal exit, but when I went to start it the battery was flat as a pancake.

Suffice to say I was not happy, having just got off an overnight flight after a week away, but they brought out the booster and got the car going so I was soon on my way. Trouble is, after an hour's drive (50 miles) the battery was dead again when I tried to start it, so they must have killed it good and proper. It's now at the garage having a new battery fitted and rest assured I will be submitting a claim to BAA/NCP or whoever.

I'd stress that I've left the car at LHR Terminal 4 for 10 individual weeks in the last six months and it never showed any reluctance to start when I returned to it. Difference this time is that I entrusted it to the valet service.

So what can they have done to it ? Could they have killed the battery by just leaving the car unlocked, or would they have had to leave the keys in the ignition ? Surely if they'd kept starting it and moving it then they'd have noticed it getting progressively weaker.

Back to Long Term car park next time I think.

[Stedman]

My only guess it that they left the keys in the ignition for the safety (il get to it in a mo!) of your car. I say safety, i mean the case of a fire, they can easily move your car away etc etc.

Good luck anyway.

[a8hex]

It is possible for batteries to fail like this. The one time I've had to replace the battery in my X300 it was in at the new Jaguar main dealer that had opened in the area (ie not at Lancaster Reading which is where I usually took it for service). On the day I was due to collect it they called me up to say the battery had died. It had never given me the slightest problem, it had always immediately leapt into life the moment you turned a key. I wasn't happy. But it turned out a cell had died.

[GR1FF1F]

So could just be the curse of Terminal 5. Mine's at Lancasters so I'll ask them for a diagnosis before I go to war with the car park.

Cheers for the anecdotal evidence. Still seems bizarre that this can just spontaneously happen, and even more so that these unexplained phenomena occur when the car is not under our own TLC. Maybe I'm just a paranoid, sceptic.

[GR1FF1F]

Stedman said:

i mean the case of a fire, they can easily move your car away etc etc.

I can detect one small but obvious flaw in that strategy. Guess I'm lucky there wasn't a fire

[fatboy b]

Well, in future, I'd be happy to look after it for you - full valet service of course.

[Triple7]

So apart from that did they ding the bodywork?!

G

[Phoenix Red]

Triple7 said:

So apart from that did they ding the bodywork?!

G

Hi Gazzer, Nice to see you back on the scene.

Dave G

[Targarama]

Your car had a flat battery. It happens. How old is the battery? Ever had it replaced? Thats a big engine to crank over so will only really want to start with a good battery. st happens, you can't prove the car parking people did anything.

[Triple7]

Phoenix Red said:

Triple7 said:

So apart from that did they ding the bodywork?!

G

Hi Gazzer, Nice to see you back on the scene.

Dave G

I've never been away!

So when you getting the DB9???

[GR1FF1F]

Targarama said:

Your car had a flat battery. It happens. How old is the battery? Ever had it replaced? Thats a big engine to crank over so will only really want to start with a good battery. st happens, you can't prove the car parking people did anything.

Wo, wo. All I'm saying is that the car is regularly left for a week with no problem whatsoever. I have them park it and not only is the battery flat, it's so flat it can't even be recharged. I had the dealership replace the battery yesterday and they said it had been subjected to a prolonged, persistent drain so as to kill it completely. So I guess I'll find out in a couple of days if there's still a problem and it kills the new one.

Sorry Targa, didn't check your profile, are you a car park attendant ?

[sliced bread]

Key left in ignition would be my bet - that'd be guaranteed to leave it flatter than flat inside a week.

[Cecil]

I am not sure if the XK has the open boot button on the key fob like the XJ (x308) does, if the boot gets opened, and the light is on, instead of the car being locked it would do this, i have even seen mine drain on the glove box not being properly shut.

Cecil

[GR1FF1F]

Thanks, it does have the boot, and the headlight button. Boot and glovebox were both shut but the car was unlocked when I got there. At the end of the day there are any number of ways the battery can have been flattened, but then there are a couple of very simple ways to stop it, the easiest being to park the car, lock it and walk away. Reckon that's what I'll do next time.