MiTo-kun Battery replacement

What happened last Sunday.

I decided to get in the car (Alfaromeo MiTo) for the first time in a week to go out after lunch. But I can’t unlock the car. It is an electronic lock. Could this be the battery?

I was able to open it by passing the key through the keyhole even if the electronic lock would not open it. But still, as expected, when I started the engine, it made a squeaking sound and the engine wouldn’t start.

This would be the battery.

So, I called JAF. It was a Sunday afternoon and they said « It’s crowded », but they came to my house in about an hour.

As a result, it was said that it should be replaced. Apparently there is not enough voltage at all when starting. Once the engine starts, it’s fine, but if I turn it off again, the same thing happens, i.e., the engine won’t start.

So, I went to the nearby Autobacs without turning off the engine. Now is there a corresponding battery?

With foreign cars, there is often no flexibility in these situations. But fortunately, there seemed to be a corresponding battery and it was saved. They had just one in stock.

The replacement took about 10 minutes. After that, I drove to the orchestra practice, but there was no problem at all.

By the way, it was said that the clock in the car and the setting of the car navigation system would be initialized when the battery was replaced, but the clock in the car can be adjusted easily and there is no car navigation system, so there is no problem at all.

ただバッテリー交換直後、MiToの特徴である「Alfa Romeo D.N.A.システム」の切り替えができなかったんですけど、これはそのうち復活してきました。これもある程度電力が蓄積されていないと切り替えができないということなのでしょう。

By the way, was this battery replacement cost, price wise, reasonable?

The battery I bought, EXIDE EA530-L1, is 26,871 yen (including tax), and the replacement cost (including tax) is 1,080 yen. As for the replacement cost, I checked the price of this battery on Amazon.

EXIDE [ エキサイド ] 輸入車バッテリー [ EA ] EA530-L1