Apologies if this is not the right place to be posting this. But I'm currently in a dispute with my insurance company.

I have a 2005 Audi A3 (which dearly love!) and I recently dropped my car off to their service centre to get a scratch repaired. At the end of the week when I went to pick my car up the battery was completely dead. They claimed that the battery was already 10 years old and was due to die anyway. However, prior to this I never had any problems with the battery and after giving my car to insurance for a few days it died?

What they've said is that they do keep the keys in the ignition but they don't experience batteries going flat. In the rare case they do, the vehicles are jump started and don't remain flat.

So my question is: Does leaving the key in a 2005 Audi A3 drain the battery even if the key is turned all the way off?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Can't answer your specific question. Would not think just having the key in the ignition and the door closed would drain the battery. But then again, the car knows the key is there as you get an alert or chime when you open the door but think that that sensing starts with the door closed/open sensor.
But, if the battery WAS 10 years old and it failed, well, it gave you many years of service. I think you got more than makers expected life from it.