A battery that will not start the car is not always the battery. We test the whole charging system before selling you one.
A flat battery is a symptom. Sometimes the battery is genuinely worn out, which is normal after a few years in Adelaide heat. Sometimes the battery is fine. The alternator may not be charging it properly. Something on the car may be drawing current while it sits overnight.
Selling you a battery is the quick answer. If the real fault is the charging system you will be back within a fortnight with the same problem and a lighter wallet, so we test before we sell.
Slow cranking on a cold morning is the usual first sign. Headlights that dim noticeably at idle, a dashboard warning light or needing a jump start more than once are all worth getting checked.
Modern cars with stop start systems use a specific battery type. Fitting an ordinary battery to one of those causes problems later, so the right battery matters as much as a working one.
On a lot of newer cars a replacement battery has to be registered to the vehicle so the charging system knows it is dealing with a new one. Skip that step and the car undercharges the new battery and shortens its life. We do it as part of the job.
It varies with use and heat. Adelaide summers are hard on batteries. A car that only does short trips will not fully recharge between them either, which shortens battery life. Rather than guess from age, we test it under load and tell you what it is actually doing.
Yes. Plenty of batteries we test turn out to be fine, with the fault elsewhere in the charging system. We would rather tell you that than sell you a battery you do not need.
Not necessarily. That pattern often points to something on the car drawing current while it is parked. Finding it is a diagnostic job rather than a parts job. That is one we do.
Yes. Those cars need a specific battery type and usually need the new battery registered to the vehicle so the charging system treats it correctly. Both are part of the job.
Tell us what is going on and we will give you a straight answer on what it needs and what it costs.
