OK this is just a general post about 500X battery replacement.

For 500X with Start/Stop then the battery can be very expensive to replace. Even more so if you need roadside replacement as the roadside agent or even a local garage will by default want to fit a Heavy Duty Start/Stop AGM battery. These can cost £250 or more at full retail.

I've just replaced my original fit Fiat/Mopar 2015 battery as I'm off to Europe so as the battery is 4 years old there is the possibility that I could need a replacement whilst abroad.

So I did a little research and compared this to my 500X usage.

A Start/Stop Battery is supposed to handle some 200,000+ start/stop cycles. I don't use Start/Stop by default and when turned on often it never works because the stringent rules that body computer applies inhibit it anyway.

So rightly or wrongly I've chosen to go for a normal Yuasa 62Ah, 620A cold cranking current, 5 Year Warranted battery which exceeds the original fit Exide 63Ah and 450A battery. Cost me £88 trade. For reference a Halfords retails Start/Stop battery is £150 (£99 trade)

So depending on if you use start/stop, what suppliers you use, etc. then you may find that going for a good quality "standard" battery will save some precious pounds.

Final really technical point/information. The 500X does not require (according to my friendly Fiat Master Tech) and battery change to be programmed into the body computer. However the body computer Start/Stop operating parameters are quite complex with full technical details not really disclosed. So when replacing the battery it is better to NOT use a battery saver alternate supply to maintain system power but instead to just let the system die on battery removal. When the new battery is fitted then any? "battery change"/power disconnect" management functions of the body computer will do what they do.

I've disconnected my battery quite a few times and all I've lost is Date/Time, Trip A and Trip B. For extra measure I also cycle the windows for "pinch point" learning but the car has never ever asked for this unlike my Croma 2005.

Did you test your original Battery output? Even with Stop-Start I would have expected it to have lasted more than 4 years. My Delta 3 is now 8 years old and still on the OE battery with no issues....................(same 1.4 MA engine)

Batteries can still be read a healthy voltage, even when knackered. It took 7 trips to 3 garages for them to actually bother to test all aspects of the battery. One of the reasons I had to get shot of my Fiat was the dealers. I now physically need my car to get to work, so having to take it to the garage every few weeks/months to get fobbed off over so many known issues was the last straw. Hats off to Bishops Guildford though. They found it first time!

Just back from 3 weeks hols in EU hance my late replay.

Batteries need proper kit to test and not just a simple voltage / load test.

There is a small history / track record of 500X batteries requiring replacement so it is possible that my original 500X battery is still perfectly OK. It will be put to good use is so.

What I wanted to avoid was a power/battery issue whilst 3 weeks abroad on an old 4 year battery.