vroom: what I meant was that a lot of people leave their lights, radio, fogs, etc., turned on when they shut off the car. Then when they go to start the car, they don't always turn the key to 'crank' right away, so with the key in the 'II' position, all of those items are drawing power off of a non-running car, drawing down the battery. I prefer to turn everything OFF before exiting the car, so that when I go to re-start, there are no 'draws' until after the car is running, THEN I turn stuff ON. I have heard, don't know if it's true, that leaving some components ON , then cranking, can subject them to 'spikes,' so, it just became a habit of mine to "shut 'er down" when finished driving...if nothing else, I know (I read the instructions...perhaps an unmanly thing to do, but...) that the charger for the cell phone, plugged into the ciggy lighter, SHOULD be unplugged before shutting off. Perhaps not definitive, but I rest my case. As always, continued success in your hunt for The UnderHood Gremlin.--PD.