Dead Battery - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Dead Battery - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

This morning our long-term 2005 Mercedes CL65 AMG had a dead battery.

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emajor

Oh, it's the car's fault all right. It's just reminding you of what it is like to have it dead on the driveway. Preparing you for the inevitable variety of problems that no battery charge can rectify.

Incidentally, what is it with Edmunds editors now hyperlinking the hotel websites where they are wined and dined at manufacturer's expense for their jobs? Is Edmunds getting a kickback from the hotels or is this an underhanded way of bragging about the perks of being an automotive journalist?

allthingshonda

On my Acura and my girl's Hyundai even if the switch is in the "On" position and not "Auto" they still have Auto Off capability and turn off after 30 seconds.

desmolicious

That red Vette looks better than the green one they had.

mercedesfan

Scott, I still don't understand how you left them on. Turning the car off and leaving the headlights on results in a whole lot of loud chiming from the instrument panel.

@allthingshonda,

Most Japanese cars are that way, but you will never find a European car with that. There are parking situations in European driving codes (particularly German) where your headlights and or side-lights need to be left on if a car is momentarily stopped. I have also personally found times where I want the headlights on, but not the car running (locking up a Tahoe cabin at night so you want illumination, but the car is up the drive so you don't want it left unattended). I actually like that with German and American cars you get the option.

kirkhilles1

I guess it must be an option on a $200k to have the lights shutoff automatically before the battery is dead. Are there legitimate situations where you need to have you lights on for hours without the car running? I couldn't imagine there is. That'd be very hard on the alternator.

allthingshonda

@mercedesfan,

The auto off timer can be extended if you need to leave the lights on. Turning the ignition off then turning the lights off and back on will extend the auto off time from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. Plenty of time to lock up the cabin. And I know that most GM cars have a battery saver feature that will automatically turn off electrical accessories (radio, lights etc) if the battery is drained below a certain point.

mercedesfan

@allthingshonda,

Now see, that GM feature makes a lot of sense! Honda's still doesn't. The car shouldn't be determining how long the lights are on unless it is creating an issue for the battery. Just different philosophies. Generally, I disagree with the Japanese automaker philosophy that the driver is always a moron and needs to be protected from themselves.

quadricycle

mercedesfan said:

Generally, I disagree with the Japanese automaker philosophy that the driver is always a moron and needs to be protected from themselves.

I feel the same way. It's far more accurate to say that the driver is quite often a moron.

On a more serious note, I do get frustrated by what sometimes seems to be overbearing safeguards, but sit outside a parking lot sometime and you'll see so many people distracted as they get in or out that it does become hard to argue against such a philosophy.