Warning to those with newer cars and a dead battery

OK - I thought I would just post this warning because I just went through this experience last week, and thought others might benefit from the warning. If you have a newer car (mine is a 2002 Solara) and your battery dies, do not get a jump and try to drive it to your mechanic or the local auto parts store.

Long story short, my car battery died at work. We eventually got the car started with a booster cable jump, but the car would not retain a charge after turning off the engine. OK, no problem. I got my stuff packed up, got the car jumped again, and went on my way to my mechanic to get a new battery.

Well . . .

Newer cars have so many electrical components now a days that if a battery is really drained, the battery cannot support the car after a few minutes of driving. So, the car went dead, like a rock, on the 10 freeway in Los Angeles. No power at all, no hazards, no lights, no nothing. I had always be told that once the car started, it would be fine until it stopped. Well, that is not the case. I was luckily able to coast to find a median to pull over on and call for a tow, but man, it could have been ugly.

So, if your battery goes dead, don't risk trying to get a jump and drive to the mechanic. Either bring the battery to the car, or call AAA.

OK - back to our regularly schedule programming.

I originally thought it was the alternator or charging system, but apparently not, which is why I bothered with the post.

Because the car's power just stopped, I decided to go to the dealer rather than my mechanic. I had 3.5 years on a 4 year battery. The dealer is the one that told me it was the battery, and that the some current car's electronics cannot be supported if the battery is drained, even after you start running it. Allegedly, there is more power being taken then generated when the battery is that weak. I did not believe it either so I called my mechanic and asked if that seemed possible, and he said yes, if the battery was really really low.

Now, it is always possible that the dealer was fibbing, but when I pulled in on a flatbed, after having been there just two weeks before for a normal service call, they said that they had seen this happen before when the battery was really low. Ended up costing me much more than it should have for just a battery.

If I need another battery in six months, well, then the dealer was fibbing. If so, this will be one pissed Toyota owner.

Updated On: 8/28/05 at 04:29 PM