Maintenance and Batteries

Maintenance and Batteries: I always press the need for maintenance; however we often forget about the battery.  It seems that most batteries are replaced on the first morning that the car won’t start. In our climate, the average life of a battery in one of our electronic loaded vehicles is about three years. If you are driving around with a battery that is older than that, then you shouldn’t be surprised if you are stranded at the airport parking lot or the shopping center when it is 35 degrees and raining. Batteries don’t give you the slow cranking warning signs that they used to. They seem to be fine until they fail one morning. Why not be proactive and just replace it before it fails?

 That is what preventive maintenance (PM) is all about; looking, checking, and replacing components before they fail. You are probably thinking that PM is too expensive do like I talk about. Just the opposite is true:  would it be more expensive to replace the battery in your car before it strands you, or pay a $175 wrecker fee and a new battery, along with the inconvenience of being stranded? Also, as the battery deteriorates and eventually fails, voltage fluctuations may damage sensitive electronics… and cost you even more money. So it’s the pay me now or pay me a lot more later scenario.

Perhaps PM isn’t a bad idea?