Turns out my otherwise wonderful car has one little design flaw...it has so many electronic doodads on it, it sucks batteries dry like a starving puppy on a skinny mama.
Having replaced a battery just last fall (car was still under warranty and it didn't cost me a cent) now it looks like I have another dead one on my hands. Seriously, I looked on the Internet and found a mess of Acura TL owners with the same problem. It's our little cross to bear.
Sigh.
My neighbors all work and my block turns into a ghost town during the day.
That means I have to:
1. Walk my long-dormant bicycle to the place down the block to have the low tires pumped up.
2. Ride home and get my gear.
3. Ride to the auto parts store a few blocks away. Buy a battery. Put it in the bike basket and ride home.
4. Replace the dead battery with the new one.
Sounds easy enough except for step 4.
Replacing the battery means horrible things, like having to remember which thing went where and trying not to nick, cut or bruise myself with the tools needed to undo and redo the batteries.
I hate chores like this.
I need a husband or big dumb butch to do this kind of crap for me.
7 comments:
Do you know how much those things weigh?? I don't think the bicycle option is viable, it might re-flatten the tires or the basket might break.
That's a serious design flaw IMHO.
Ugh!
Yeah, a battery seems to weigh about 35 pounds or more.
But I have double baskets and a strong center thing over my back wheel.
Good news though...
Turns out my pal Elaine is on vacation this week and she'll be by later to take me to the parts place. In a car.
I think it's a pretty serious design flaw too, Helen. Half the onboard computerized shit goes unused by me as it is.
What about auto-club/AAA?
Julien
Seems like there should be some battery warranty left to apply to the new battery. also, the battery should last more that 1 year if the charging system is working as it should. You would have had warning lites if it wasn't. I suspcet a faulty battery. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks, John.
There probably is a battery waranty left on the old battery but it was dealer installed and I haven't got time to make an appointment and go through all the red tape they'd want.
I went to the nearby auto parts store, got a new one with a 4 year warranty and kept the receipt.
From what I read, Acura TLs are notorious for this kinda thing. No warning lights went off.
And Julien, I don't wanna join AAA--they take about 8 hours to arrive anywhere and that just makes me nuts.
i don't know about there, but there are auto parts stores here that will install the battery for free when you buy one. you might want to ask elaine to jump your battery so you can drive to the auto parts store.
one other thing--you might want to check with your auto insurance company. for something like $7 every 6 months with state farm, i have auto club added on, and i can use any towing company or locksmith or whatevah, and state farm will reimburse me.
Maybe you'll want to invest in a battery charger. They have cables that attach to your battery posts,and connect your battery to a charger (which is plugged into the wall). It does not jump start your car when the battery is dead. It provides a slow charge, kind of like charging the battery in your cell phone overnight. Maybe it will pay for itself over the lifetime of your car.
Post a Comment