Battery for a seldom-used car?

[Bogie]

Jen's second car is pretty much the "oh, crap, something bad happened to the good one" vehicle.
 
What's the best sorta battery for something like this? I'm thinking that it has SOMETHING that sucks the life out of the things... New in April, wouldn't start last week, charged, then wouldn't start today...
 

[Manedwolf]

Optima.

[Gewehr98]

Optimas, as wonderful as they are, won't help if something's shorted or causing a drain with the ignition key off. 

Bogie, put an ammeter between a fully charged battery's positive terminal and the disconnected red wire. 

See if there's a draw when the ignition's off/doors closed/etc.   

[Gowen]

Buy a kill switch from Harbor Freight.  It will keep the car from drawing power from the battery.

[cfabe]

There are automatic kill switches available as well. If you're not willing to troubleshoot the drain then go with the kill switch. Keep in mind even a disconnected battery will eventually go dead on its own. Personally I would try to drive the car at least once a month, preferably every two weeks. Just for a trip to the store or something. Sitting for long periods unused really isn't good for a vehicle.

[LAK]

Get a small solar charger that plugs into the cig' lighter and sits on the dash. Start the car and warm it up once or twice a month to drive moisture out of things under the hood. Keep the tank full with alittle stabilizer in the gas as well. Check water level in battery once in awhile too.

[KD5NRH]

Buy a kill switch from Harbor Freight.  It will keep the car from drawing power from the battery.

WalMart has a simple knob disconnect that's cheap and effective.  I've used them on a couple of cars that had lots of equipment that drained the battery.  Any time I parked it for more than 48hrs, I could just pop the hood and back the knob off a couple of turns to unhook the ground side.

[bedlamite]

It doesn't matter what kind of battery you put in the car, the ECU will draw a little continuously and eventually discharge any battery. Get one of these:

http://store.schumachermart.com/sem-1562a.html

It comes with a set of pigtails that you can leave on the battery, then leave it plugged in while it's not in use. I have several of these for my bike, tractor, and VW Beetle, the battery in that is over 10 years old now.

[Jamisjockey]

Manually disconnect the battery if its going to sit more than two weeks.  Drive the car every two weeks.  Maybe intentionally use it for running to the store and such. 

[MillCreek]

I second the recommendation for the Schumacher Battery Maintainer, which costs $ 19.95 at Wally World.  I have the battery pigtails connected to both motorcycles, and keep them hooked up during the winter. 

[Bogie]

Okay... I'm just going to get the cutoff - I'm thinking that there's enough electronics in the thing that they keep it busy... Any likelihood this battery can be salvaged?
 

[Nick1911]

Okay... I'm just going to get the cutoff - I'm thinking that there's enough electronics in the thing that they keep it busy... Any likelihood this battery can be salvaged?
 

If it won't hold a charge for a day... doubtful.

FWIW, my alternator recently cooked my one year old EverStart from walmart... they replaced it for free, with no receipt. 

Historically, I've had very good luck with EverStart batteries.  Had one go 7-8 years before getting sluggish in the winter.

[Thor]

If the battery was new in April, it should be under warranty. Take it back and get a new one. The disconnect is a bad idea if your vehicle has electronics. It will mess up the computer readings. A solar charger or a battery maintainer would be better. I did that with my older Ford truck that I kept as a "spare". I have an Everstart from WalMart in that truck. It's been drained/ recharged a few times.

[Waitone]

Every car needs to be driven weekly or so, with or without battery issues.