Our S40 2.4i had been acting a little weird lately and starting sluggishly, so I got the battery checked. It was definitely weak, not surprising since it was 5 years old.

Over the weekend, I got a new battery from the local Volvo dealer for $125. Swapped out the old battery for new, tried to start the car, nothing happens. No cranking. Perplexed, I cleaned the terminals and double checked the connections. Tried re-starting, still nada.
Put the old battery back in and the car starts fine! I figured that I must have gotten a bad battery.

Monday, I go to another Volvo dealer that's close to my work and get another brand new Volvo battery for $125. I was assured by the parts guy that this was the correct one for my S40. I go home, put it in and try starting, and it still won't crank just like the first one. Now I'm VERY perplexed and annoyed.

Tuesday (today), I take the S40 into the dealer for an oil change. I tell the service guy about my difficulties with the battery and ask them to change it for me, fully expecting them to have the same problem that I did. Fast forward to this afternoon when I picked up the car later today, $140 poorer, with a new battery installed and the car running fine.

I wasn't able to ask the service guy what the secret is to my Volvo's battery replacement. What was I doing wrong??