"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
> jmcquown wrote on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:37:27 -0400:
>
>> "brooklyn1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>
>>> I usually don't eat breakfast (I do brunch) but I got out of bed extra
>>> early today because I have an appointent to get a
>>> new battery installed in my car... a 60 month battery lasted me six
>>> years, not bad.
>>> >>
>> We're not all that forgetful. I don't drive my mother's Buick
>> nor do I drive my car every single day. I keep her car on a
>> charger so when I sell it it will start. The battery is only 2 years
>> old. After I sell it, it's caveat emptor.

Most original equipment batteries are are rated for only 24 months, some 36
months at best. Most won't buy more than a 36 month replacement, because
they don't expect to have the car longer or more likely today it's a lease.
Anyway leaving a battery charging all the time will shorten it's life.
You're much better off driving the car once a week, and so everything gets
lubed too, it's not good for the tires letting a car sit in one spot too
long either.

You don't live where the temperature dives to -20º... I got 6 years from a 5
year battery, I did great. This was an exceptionally cold winter, I knew
the battery was on the way out for months by how the starter was sounding
sluggish. The battery dying had nothing to do with being forgetful... a
newer battery becoming discharged because lights were left on could have
been charged to where it left off. I use many rechargeable batteries, most
folks do these days... they last longer when used until fully discharged
before recharging, it's the age of a battery that dictates it's demise, not
how much it's used, that's why car batteries are rated in months, not miles,
like tires.

> Do you need to make an appointment for a new battery?

Why would I want to drive 20 miles to Walmart, Sears (or some such large
auto service emporium) just to find out they don't have a 60 month battery
in stock to fit my Landcruiser... very few service centers stock any common
replacement parts for a Landcruiser, even tires need to be ordered. I know
if I phoned first I'd get some airhead who would automatically and very
confidantly say come in ("we have evreything"), but would never actualy
check. Even a Toyota dealership will be unlikely to have a battery in stock
for a Landcruiser, or many other parts. If I ordered it from the Toyota
dealer I'd pay double, they'd still have to order it so I'd still have to
make an appt, and wait there for hours.... dealerships are notoriously inept
at doing work in a timely fashion.... there's always a more important job
that takes presidence over swapping a battery, adn meanwhile I'd be left
waiting, even over their lunch hour... been there, done that... no more.

It's easier for me to go to the privately owned auto repair shop right in
town, only 7 miles round trip, his prices are the same for the battery as
Walmart, Sears, etc... he had to have the battery sent over with his next
order from NAPA. I have my car work done there because if ever I need an
emergency repair he's only a phone call and less than an hour's wait away,
in fact his head mechanic lives 1/4 mile away on the same road as me... I've
plowed the snow in his driveway when his plow broke down, he's replaced a
heater hose and a fan belt for me on a weekend. In rural areas people
still help each other. I phoned this morning and could have had the battery
late this afternoon but I opted for tomorrow at 1 PM because I have a doctor
appt in town at 11:45 PM, saves me a trip.

> I don't think I ever have but quite often I do the replacement myself.

Why would I want to take the risk driving a car with a weak battery twenty
miles from town over backwoods roads essentially desserted roads to buy a
battery and then hope the car restarts so I can risk driving all the way
back home, and just so I can play grease monkey with an acid filled greasy
battery, and then have to properly dispose of the old battery... not when I
can just drive 3+ miles into town, hand over my keys, have a cup of coffee,
and read a newspaper in a comfortable chair, with a tv too, until like 30
minutes passes and my car is all ready... and if during that 3+ mile drive
into town my weak battery stops my movement I would only have to wait a few
minutes for someone from the repair shop to come get me started or tow me
the short distance to their shop. More likely a half dozen people would be
by who'd recognze my car and stop to offer help, someone would head to the
repair shop to let them know where I was stuck.

It's been like 40 years since I replaced a battery myself. There is no
savings in buying a battery and doing your own labor, plus it's a very messy
job... and then you need to haul that messy old battery to a designated
recyling center, probably end up with acid burns in your clothes and car
upholstery, and pay like $5 for them to take it... you don't happen to live
in the same dumpy trialer park with the sqwartz, where rednecks just toss
trash into their front yard.. that old battery would help prop up the
sqwartz' one legged pink flamingo.

I've long passed that infantile stage where I crawl under cars in my spare
time... maybe for you it's still a "man" thang, for me at this point in my
life it's a *jackass* thang. I can't even change a tire on a Landcruiser
myself, I bet you can't either... it's a major job just to crank the spare
out from underneath, and filthy with years of road grime... and it takes two
strong guys to lift that monster onto the hub. And that's only if I happen
to have a half inch impact wrench so I can pop off those monster lug nuts
that have had nearly 20 years to become frozen in place... nope, out on the
road I call my AmEx road service. I got a flat on that car once, the first
year I owned it (1991), and I noticed the flat in my driveway, I was nearly
20 years younger and thought no biggie, I can do this, NOT! I could have
were I able to loosen those lug nuts, obviously jammed on forever with an
impact wrench. At that time I didn't have a road service policy, but I
phoned the Firestone place down the road where I usually went for routine
service, tune ups, lubes and such... since I was in their computer they sent
a guy must've been early twenties in their tow truck who had an impact
wrench and changed the tire. I still never bought an impact wrench. I
don't do teenage donkey work anymore... with age is supposed to come wisdom,
besides not being so inclined it's not wise to do those kinds of jobs
solo... with age is supposed come the knowledge that "Shit Happens" ain't
just empty woids on a bumper sticker.