Just checked on my trade account and both those batteries are still available, but about £5 more a year down the line.

Andrew - when I changed mine I ended up taking the entire side trim out (which means removing the black trim around the slam panel too) as it's so much easier to get the battery into the space single handed that way. The far lead on the battery doesn't have much space to work with if you're trying to slot it through the hole!

Prob not worth the fuel to come down here for me to give you a hand, but the offer is there to grab one from Halfords and help fit it if it helps you out +++

Thanks Adrian, I might take you up on that offer; haven't seen you in a while and now you don't have an S8 you're even less visible!

I'm going to monitor the battery over the next week or so, I can think of reasons why it went so low but this time it may not recover!

No worries - am about back end of this week and have the option to work from home when I feel like it :)

Mine went a bit like yours - it lasted a few weeks of seemingly random OK behaviour and the last time i used it before changing it, it only just caught on the starter to fire up!

One thing I did do with my battery change was charged the new one before fitting - I have a decent automatic Ring charger - so if you do decide to pop down I can get the battery ahead of time and get it charged before fitting +++ just means you know it goes in the car with a full charge

Thanks Adrian, I'll PM you later. +++

And this morning I tested it before starting, it was 11.75v but fired up fine and very quickly. :Confused:

Last night I only did 2 very short runs (<1m each way!) in the dark so that won't have done anything useful to the charge.
And right now it's raining hard so I'll leave a charging session until later.

PM coming your way Adrian. :cool:

I'm not using the car much before the annual meet so hopefully can sort it out by then, keeping it going until I get a new battery with occasional recharging.

Contact made. +++
A couple of hours daytime driving yesterday and it's about 12.2V this morning, 60% according to my chart.
That's "probably" on its way out, but I'll see how it goes over the next few days.

No worries Andrew - just drop me a line with a definitive yes when you want me to go ahead and order the battery :D

I'll definitely need it Adrian, the question is when. It was almost dead this morning; on charge now (again). Probably won't use it this weekend though so it can have a good long charge.

OK - if I'm passing Halfords this weekend I'll try and grab one +++

All done, many thanks Adrian and great to see you again, though sad you don't have an S8.

Adrian is a dab hand at whipping out all the trim around the boot and it's certainly easier without that in the way. +++
Two people on the job, also helps; one leaning over the rear wing from outside taking the weight of the battery while the other manipulates the cables.

Minor problem: the vent tube wasn't connected to the old battery (no evidence of overflow thankfully) and can't be connected to the new one. :mad:
It's missing an adapter on the end that plugs into the vent hole on the battery.

Anyone know where they can be sourced, are they a standard VAG part or eBay item?