On 10/11/2016 09:52, Brian Reay wrote:

Agreed.

'Sudden death' also seems to be more common these days. It could be my
memory playing tricks but perhaps the newer batteries are more prone to
'sudden death'.

Modern cars are far more busy even when standing parked. If you
regularly leave a car made in recent years unused for more than
a few days the battery will already have significant drain. Ok
in mild weather and a decent battery but fit a cheap battery
and live where the temperature regularly goes below zero and
you are asking for trouble.