Hi,
We are in Thalwil area and have a dead battery. Is this something that we call our insurance with or do we call a local garage ? Trying to avoid getting charged for it if we don't have to.

Thanks.

Are you a member of TCS? or some other car insurance with roadside assistance?

It has only happened to me once, we are with Zurich Roadside Assist, we phoned them and they arrived very quickly, they started the car and off we went. I don't remember ever being billed for it.

Otherwise, if you have a nice neighbour and some jumper leads it is easy to do yourself. Once you have started it just drive around for an hour or so to charge the battery.

Consider

a) remove the battery, take indoors and recharge it (assuming you have a charger)

b) if you know the battery is on it's last legs (ie has been trouble before) pop down to your nearest e.g. jumbo, Migros Do It, coop bau+hobby etc. and buy a replacement

I think if you really need to you can call TCS (even if not a member) but you will pay a much higher price. Frankly, expecting a local swissy to help out with jump leads might be pushing your luck a little, but you never know you might find a freindly immigrant....

I think we have Zurich insurance. Do you think it comes with road side assistance ?

Did the battery die suddenly (overnight) or over a period of time (eg. harder to get the car started in the morning). I had the former a few weeks ago which turned out to be an electrical fault which drained the battery, so definitely needed a visit from the garage for them to take the car away. If it's the second, try to find a neighbor who can help you jumpstart the car. You'll probably need a new battery soon in this case. I don't think the insurance company is needed for this.

Why not call their help point and just ask if you are covered 0800 80 80 80 ?

I'll bet you a Coke you are covered. When I signed on with Allianz it was part of the deal already and costs essentially nothing. They did give me a little card with the emergency number on it to keep in my wallet though, did you not get something like that? Just give Zurich a ring.

I keep jumper cables in the car as I've always driven old cars and you just never know... but since I've been here I've only ever used them to jump other people- who seemed astonished that such an act could be performed by someone other than a TCS guy .

If you are close a coop bau+hobby, you can go in there and borrow jumper cables, then ask a driver for a jump start. Or you may have jumper cables.

Not necessarily, it is not something we tend to add automatically, depends on the agency. Unfortunately I'm not near the system or I could tell from your reg number... jaudi has the best idea, call help point and ask

True if you have a damaged cell it will never recover and hold charge

could just be that it has been standing to long. is it a manual? got a bit of a hill? then do a push start and charge that battery back up. you need to drive more than 30 min at over 30kph I believe to get a good charge going. Even a new battery needs to be driven before it is completely charged

My little car is over 10 years old and still has the original battery.
I suppose I've been very lucky and hope I'm not 'tempting providence' posting this.

As others have said, breakdown insurance in included in many policies here. I had coverage provided as standard in my AXA policy (for Switzerland) and was able to upgrade to all-of-Europe coverage for about CHF60- more.

If you manage to get your car started, it is far cheaper to drive over the border to get a battery. My wife had her (small) battery replaced here in Switzerland and the dealer charged her CHF380-. At which point, I nearly had a heart attack, because I'd priced the same battery at EUR65 across the border in France. I don't know what the battery for my car would have cost, but it's a lot bigger than the one in my wife's car and it only set me back EUR120, installed, in France. German prices are similar.

They can change the battery while you wait, so as long as you call ahead to ensure they have stock, why not make a day trip out of it and save yourself a few hundred Swissies?

WOW!!! Ten years is fab!!! 'specially with cold weather involved!

I Agree with VI just go into france if you can and get a replacement.

Just get a mate to drive you to the nearest car parts shop and buy a new battery - if it's now a dud. Replacing it yourself takes about 5 minutes.

Unless replacing car batteries is a capital offence in Zürich of course.

Cheers,
Nick

Those suggesting changing the battery DIY, bear in mind that most people haven't the faintest idea what's involved. While not complicated from a car repair perspective, it's not changing out a couple of AAAs in a remote control (which challenges some folks already ).

I'm sure the OP has his (her?) situation sorted already, but just some points to consider when working with car batteries.

- The voltage is low but the available 'power' is immense. When changing a battery on almost any car made since the 60s the negative side (-) is the ground and is effectively attached to the car body/frame/ and motor. To be safe, detach this battery cable first. The reason is, if your wrench strikes a metallic part of the car during removal, you are jumping ground to ground, which is fine and dandy. If you remove the positive (+) side first, and strike a metallic part of the car while the wrench is engaged with the battery cable, you will short the battery out, which will make some serious sparks at the very least, perhaps weld your wrench to the metallic object if you are (un)lucky, and in a worst case scenario cause the battery to explode. Once the negative cable is removed, the battery is out of circuit and you are safe to work on the positive side. (Just don't short one battery terminal to the other at this point!)

- Batteries are full of sulfuric acid. Many batteries in use now are 'sealed', but many may still have vents on the top. When removing and moving a battery, be slow (it's heavy anyway), and keep it upright. If you do get battery acid on you, a good long rinse in water with some baking soda will take care of it. If you don't have baking soda, just soap (which 99% of the time is slightly alkaline) will be fine. You won't be instantly maimed, just get to running water as fast as you can. If you don't have running water handy, I recommend having some baking soda on hand and a jug of water. The two are handy anyway, with an old toothbrush, to clean up deposits on the clamp of the battery cable prior to installation.

- You'll need some tools. A 10mm wrench is fairly standard on modern cars when working with battery cable clamps. A pair of pliers is handy as well, in case the bolt spins when you undo the nut. A small hammer may be needed to knock the clamp free- light taps, eh? No banging around. And remember- negative first, then positive, and keep your tools away from the other battery terminal! The clamp that holds the battery in place is usually at the bottom of the battery, on one end. Usually a 10mm job as well. Space may be tight, you might need a ratchet with extension and socket- look before you start. If you see that there's no way to get the battery out with the tools you have, don't even start messing with the clamps. Get the right tools, or suck it up and go to a garage.

That's the gist of it. Safety is the major concern. Famous words that fall on deaf ears prior to blindness- wear safety glasses, if you're stubborn at least wear some sort of glasses.

Very good points. I would add one for VAG cars (at least), it's recommended to to a throttle body alignment after replacing the battery (http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/throttlebody.html). For this reason it might be a good idea to have it changed at some garage where they should do it automatically themselves.

Good point! Also depending on the car a whole load of stuff might need resetting..

Smoking Kills, nothing new!

The amounts are negligible, no need for concern.

Tom