Expected battery life? - 55plate TD4

Ok, so I collected my 55plate TD4 Freelander on 13th Jan, and today had to have the battery replaced, as the old one was dead as a Dodo..

Admittedly, the car had been standing for 4 days without use, but surely it's reasonable for the battery to keep charge for that long!? No, NO lights left on, before you ask! It's not that i've only done short stop-start journey's in it either, as the day before it was parked up, it had been on an approx 100mile round trip..

I'm hoping that it is just due to age, as it looks like the original battery. The car's only on 26k miles.. how long would you expect a battery to last??

Usually about three years on average. If that's a 4-5 year old original its done well. Good ones usually have a three year warranty and treated well should last a good four or five. £20 wonder buys usually last about a year. They get put in during the bad weather and work well for a short time then through the summer when power demand is low then conk out again come Christmas.

Keep an eye on things though as you could have a drain especially if you've only had the car a couple of weeks.