Just Charge It

I heard the dreaded sound of the slow to crank engine three days before the evening my car failed to start. We were inconveniently parked in the grocery store parking lot. It was 10 p.m. and my husband had just realized it was his turn to cook for Men’s Prayer Breakfast the next day. It was a nice night so I offered to drive him to the store.

While he roamed the meat section, I stayed in the car listening to my audio book. Spotting my husband walking out with his grocery bags I pushed the “Start” button. Nothing. No slow crank sound. No clicks. Silence.

My husband put the bags in the back seat while questioning the wisdom of my using the car power without the engine running. I’ve done it before with no problem, but what was the point of having that conversation. I popped the trunk so he could retrieve the jumper cables , then the hood. We waited for someone to come out and offer assistance.

In just a few minutes a nice young couple parked to our left came out. Noticing the raised hood and my husband with the cables in his hand, the husband offered to give us a jump start. The wife looked sympathetically at me and said, “This just happened to us last week – twice!” She was happy to help someone the way she had been helped. But probably not as happy as I was to know we wouldn’t have to walk home or wait for a tow.

Back at the house we discussed how to park the car so that the AAA man scheduled to arrive at 7:00 am the next morning could access the battery to test it and if necessary replace it. Grateful that we made it home and that I lived in a world where you can schedule car repair at your house and probably not even have to be late for work, I fell asleep.

I’d just gotten out of the shower and dressed when my cell phone rang. It was 6:45 a.m., still dark outside, but the AAA man was in the driveway, ready to get to work. I ran downstairs and got my car key. He asked me to try and start the car first; it started right up. He looked at me with that “thanks for the unnecessary trip” look on his face, but hooked up his mini battery tester anyway. His name was Ali, he couldn’t have been more than 25 years old and demonstrated no personal auto repair knowledge. Between the look, his thick foreign accent and my lack of any coffee, our conversation was minimal. He instructed me to turn off the car, then restart it. There it was – the slow to crank sound. I pointed that out to him, but he just smiled and gave me the look you give a child when he says something ridiculous. He handed me a printout from the mini tester. “Starter good. Battery need charge. You don’t need new battery, you need to drive on the highway for half hour to recharge. You probably left your phone charger plugged in in your car.”

“I don’t use a phone charger in my car,” I said pointedly. “I don’t even leave my lights on Auto, I turn them off.” He just smiled and said, “You need to drive on the highway for half hour to recharge.”

Trying to deflect my rising irritation, I asked politely if this was his first stop of the day. “Oh no,” he replied. “It’s my last. I work the night shift.” Which explained why he told me to drive my car on the highway for half an hour – impossible in this city at this time of day. He left, and I considered where to drive. Either of the major highways close by would already be parking lots already, and school traffic had started. I decided to drive around the neighborhood for a bit, grab some coffee while leaving my car running, and hope for the best. I returned home to finish getting ready for work before getting back in the car. It started right up. So far so good.

My boss, who knows a lot about cars, agreed with my husband that I needed a reliable source to test the battery. Caesar at Auto Zone took 20 seconds with his mega battery tester to announce, “Ma’am, you’ve got a bad battery.” Duh. I bought the Cadillac with the 5 yr warranty, and in 5 minutes Caesar had me up and running. He was a nice young man, friendly and respectful, exuding wisdom about all things automotive. I tried to give him a tip but he refused. As far as the east is from the west from Ali.

Moral of the story: AAA is great when you have a flat tire or need a tow; go to Auto Zone to get your battery tested.