Hello,
One of the courtesy lights my S40 Volvo was left on for several days. Of course, I'm concerned that the battery may be drained. It's strange that the light stayed on, even though the engine was off. I switched off the light, and then locked the doors remotely & activated the alarm (so at least the battery isn't entirely drained). My question is, should I assume the battery needs to be charged or that I might need a new one?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

Pull the battery and have it tested and charged at your local auto parts shop. They will be able to tell you if it is still good.

 

Don't worry about it. If you can start the car the battery isn't drained and it will charge back up during your drive.

If the kids turn on the light manually, it won't go off after locking the vehicle. We've had ours on for days with short drives during the period until I started checking that they were off.

It gets dark and the kids turn them on to see the electronic game or book. Then when you arrive home they don't turn them off before the doors open turning all the lights on. After locking the vehicle you have to wait for the lights to go out then check to ensure they are off.