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It says on Halfords website "Most vehicles require this battery to be registered with the on-board computer system. Therefore a professional fitting at a Halfords store or Autocentre garage is strongly recommended".

What is that all about!

Most modern cars are designed to have a 'maintenance free' calcium lead alloy battery - in theory the calcium batteries don't gas as much once charged so don't need to be topped up with water, and have a lower self discharge rate - but as modern cars usually have parasitic loads when parked, the self discharge of the battery itself probably isn't an issue. Calcium batteries should last longer and have better cold starting capability according to the literature. The only thing to be wary of is they don't cope with overcharging as well - turns the grids brittle - so don't put them on very old cars (like 1980's or earlier) with higher charging voltages.

I doubt a 2008 fiesta needs to have it's battery programmed in - but i can't guarantee it - a new beamer, yes, perhaps.

Although you may need the code for the radio.

You could 'cheat' and use jump leads to keep 12v on the car terminals whilst swapping the batteries - but it does greatly increase the risk of exciting short circuits and sparks.

From what I can work out, its generally for more modern cars with stop start technology with an AGM battery which may require a different charge regime over its lifetime. So if you put in a new battery (without registering with the the car that it has a new battery) the car still thinks the old one is in there but the new battery will behave differently as its new. So it will generally work ok but it might throw up some engine management fault codes and put the engine warning light on.

Thanks for your replies. I have had a right good look at my Owner's Handbook. There is not a lot of info about the battery. There is a bit on "using booster cables and how to connect them". There is a bit on how to use "jump leads". There is absolutely nothing about replacing the battery.

I do have the code for the radio. I havent got any jump leads.