Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Car Battery

Today my car battery finally died.  I had left the flashers on for probably an hour because we were parked in a red zone while unloading stuff, and I think that's what took up the last of the battery juice.  When I tried to start the car, it did nothing.  Not one sound except a faint humming.

Thank God for AAA.  They are truly a lifesaver.  They came within half an hour, determined that my battery did indeed need to be replaced, determined that the alternator was good, and jumped the car.  Since it started easily with the jump, it wasn't the starter, so I was very happy.  A battery is not free (boo) but at least it's an easy fix.  I had called ahead to the place we take our cars to see if they had the correct battery in stock, and they did, so after the jump I took it straight there and was able to wait for it for only an hour or so while they fixed it.  $137 later I was back in business.  Then I put gas in it.  By 3 pm today my car was a happy camper.

I was basically waiting for the battery to die.  It was still the original battery and was 4.5 years old.  I've been nervous about my car not starting in the morning on the way to work for a while now.  In the end, I was glad it happened today when I had time to deal with it.  I wasn't thrilled with shelling out money, but that's why I have savings: buffer money for the unexpected like this.  Having just signed a lease and needing to buy lots of stuff makes it especially bad timing.

But oh well.  $137 isn't very much to spend on a car repair so I can't really complain.

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