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3 points
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It would be interesting to hear some takes on this.

I have a car that is going to be 20 years old next year. No longer a teenager. In July, the battery died. My mum’s hypothesis was that vacuuming the car and having the doors open for an extended period was what caused it, because we had changed the battery only a year prior.

A couple of weeks ago, I vacuumed the car. Then I didn’t drive it for a few days. It wouldn’t start. Dad says something about “phantom amps” and suggests that the Bluetooth FM transmitter plugged into the cigarette lighter could be causing it. Car has been jump-started and battery will hopefully be okay.

Both parents say it’s an old car that’s never been amazing with batteries. Or we’ve just had a run with shit batteries.

I’m just perplexed.

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2 points

The alternator could be failing. You could get an auto elec to check it. Or consider one of the solar trickle chargers that go in the window to keep it topped up.

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2 points

You’ve just got a shit battery. They only last about 3 years.

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2 points

Possibly a battery problem, or it could be an issue with the alternator not charging it properly. Worth getting them both checked.

You don’t want to be like me and have the alternator completely die suddenly while you are driving home from work and end up stranded on the side of the road for hours on a stupidly hot and humid day in the middle of a thunderstorm, on a Friday evening so that nothing can be fixed until the next week and you have to wait hours longer for a tow truck.

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2 points

Take it for a good run. 100kmh for at least a half an hour. Short trips will kill a battery quickly.

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