UPDATED BELOW.....
I'm mourning a death today. It wasn't unexpected, just not as timely as I had hoped. My 17 year old car gave up the ghost in the drive-through line at Bojangles. A nice delivery man offered to push me put of the way pf the drive-through (Bless him!!) and AAA came to the rescue. My daughter and a granddaughter tried to jump the battery, but it was having none of it. Naturally, I had a car full of groceries.
The car was towed to my local repair place, but I have not heard from them yet, and it may be Monday before they can get to it. Luckily, I have no place I need to be for a while.
They called this morning, and the financial damage is not as bad as I feared. The battery terminals were badly corroded and needed to be replaced. I will pick up the car later today.
See: there was a silver lining after all.
On the way home, the battery light came on and stayed on. I needed to take it back to the repair shop, but my family was afraid for me to drive it, fearing it might stall out again. I had it towed to the shop. They said the alternator was not working well enough to keep the battery charged and they replaced it...at a cost of more than $500. Added to the charge for the battery terminals, I have now spent more than the van is worth (probably). BOOOOOOO! But, at least it runs now.
That's a relief, glad your auto is back in service. My 2004 van did a similar thing last summer at the grocery with a load of food. Luckily it was in an end parking spot. It was the battery, dead as can be, youngest son came and rescued me and the food and then replaced the battery for me. It was 109°, he's a good guy.
ReplyDeleteThat scared me a bit. I have a 2003 Toyota that has never given me a minutes trouble. That it could possibly just die never crossed my mind. That yours was such a simple fix reinforced my desire to keep going with mine. May both of ours keep chugging along.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got it running--it doesn't seem this is the time to buy a car with the limited stockpile driving up prices (but it might be the time to sell a used car)
ReplyDeleteI have to ask if you got the groceries out of the car. LOL It is not a happy day when car repairs hit our pocket books.
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