This summer has full of car troubles. Earlier this season we had a blown out tire and now we have a dead car battery. It was a sweltering day on Saturday and all seemed fine after we got lunch, but then we got to an intersection and the lights in the dashboard started to turn on (lights that aren't ever on, like the ABS and e-brakes, which clearly weren't being used.) Mister suggested we restart the car (turn the engine off and back on) and that was the worst idea at that time. The car wouldn't start back up again! It would just click, click, click. This was a very busy intersection and we were in the left turn lane. So naturally when the light turn green and we didn't move, everyone behind us started to honk. And I understand why the other people would honk, but it just makes it a little hard to think of a solution. 

Obviously we needed a jump to the battery. We opened up the hood and turned on the hazard lights and hoped someone would stop to help. We didn't know if anyone would help since if they did stop they would block off the center of the intersection. We have the jumper cables (it was the first thing we got after we got the car), so it was just about waiting for someone to stop. After a few lights someone did drive over and helped us out. She kindly popped her hood and we started the car. At this point we knew that the battery was the problem as the radio and AC were on and off. So we had to get a new battery.

We drove our way to the nearest Costco and I called to make sure they had one of ours in stock. Then we though it's okay to turn off the car at a busy Costco, there should be plenty of people to help if we needed a jump start again. We got the battery and sure enough we needed a jump. This is when things took a turn for the worst. The first car we flagged down had fancy new technology (think ecotech), so after connected the cables, nothing happened. Our battery was still dead. Then a big truck offered his help and we thought it was have been super fast to charge, but after we connected the cables, nothing happened. We waiting another few minutes but still nothing. Then the guy noticed that he placed the cables on the wrong charge and that was the problem. If you didn't know, that was bad. For both cars. It could short either of them. He quickly switched it and our car started up! But our radio and AC were still not working. We knew it wasn't the battery since the lights on the dashboard were fine, but it might be since this is still the old battery. We drove home and switched out the battery. It turns out that old battery was 7 years old! SEVEN! How it lasted that long is beside me. We checked the radio and it was still dead. Mister checked the fuse box and the radio fuse blew. 

I am thankful that this happened while we were just a few minutes from home and even if the battery stopped working at least the car was still fine and running. We needed three jumps from three different people, which is a little crazy to think about! Our luck must be super unlucky to have two simple car problems (tires and battery) to be so hassle-some. I hope this is the end of the summer car troubles and autumn comes soon. 

links: flat tire storytime