Sooner or later we all will need a New Battery! For me, living in Northern Louisiana, the time was now, in the middle of our annual 3-5 days of winter. The weather men call these episodes a Polar Vortex.
After a balmy beginning to the New Year in January the cold moved in on a Sunday by Monday night it was down to 12 degrees! Tuesday it couldn’t reach above freezing. That later afternoon I went out to go somewhere. To tell the truth I don’t remember where or why. Perhaps to get gas for an early morning business trip the next day.
I got in the truck. Put my foot on the break. Pushed the start button. (Why do they even bother with a key?) All I heard was a very week click, click, click.
Since denial is my first line of defense in about every problem situation I did that again, and again, and once more. Of course, again proving my insanity, got the same result.
My second choice was to go inside where it was warm and call AAA. They were very prompt as usual and promised a tow company would call soon. Happily Tow Masters did call in only a few minutes. They said they were all backed up because of the storm and could not possibly ,get to me until the next morning. I explained that would not be good enough I had to be on the road by 8:00 AM.
“No problem,” she explained. “One of our guys lives in Minden. He will be on the job by 5:30 and to you by 6:00.”
So I set my alarm for 4:30 and eagerly waited, though not patiently I called at 6.
“We are so sorry,” she said. “We are backed way up. Perhaps by one o’clock ?”
One became two. Meanwhile my stepson and family arrived. They had a burst pipe and needed to do laundry and take showers. I enlisted his help to try and jump start the truck with his Honda Fit.
The truck was face into the carport. I tried to put it into neutral so we could roll it back to make the battery more accessible. This was not possible without a charge. So he did his best to drive in next to the truck so his jumper cables would reach. It took several tries because the driveway was iced over and there is a slight up slope. Eventually he was able to get just close enough to reach. Eagerly we connected the cables. Unfortunately the little battery in the Fit didn’t have enough juice for the job.
However has we put away his cables in frustration my phone rang. It was Tow Masters saying they were on the way. It was by now 4:20. He arrive in a plain small pickup. I thought, “this better work cause he’s not towing g anything with that!” However, he had a battery pack of some kind slung over his shoulder and had the truck running in less that a minute!
He was unable to tell me if I needed battery. So I called my friendly Nissan dealer to talk, with Joe my service advisor. He devised that I should have it checked. However they were leaving early due to the weather. As there was no way I could get there by 5 I called Firestone.
Happily they were to be open until 7. So I hoped in the truck put it in 4 Wheel drive and headed to town. I have a long history with this Firestone store and have always found them to be professional and trustworthy. They have worked on several of my vehicles since 2000. When they tested the battery the printout said “Poor needs a replacement.” $288 later I drove home with a new battery and feeling secure in my vehicle.
But when did batteries get so expensive! Didn’t they used to cost more like $40? I had asked the manager “Did the face I already have 89000 miles on the truck cause it to fail so soon?” His answer, “No, they only last 2 or 3 years.”
So if you want to miss this adventure in you cold weather future and your battery is more than 2 years old you might consider having it checked the next time you get your oil changed.