One of the most common parts to fail in a car is the battery. It is, after all, a consumable and most are not expected to last more than five years, although depending on the use, the way you store your car and your climate, there is no real reason why it could not last for longer.
Sometimes there are waning sings that the battery is on its last legs, for example your gauge cluster goes dark at start-up while it would’ve usually stayed on, the windows move slower than usual while the engine is off, or the car will take a couple of tries to start, but most times it will be sudden death, where you will try to restart your car after parking it somewhere and you will not be able to.
Usually, a dead battery is a very good excuse to be late, but sometimes one does not have the time to call the insurance company, wait for a tow truck to be dispatched with a new battery, have it changed and be on your merry way. Or even worse, have the tow truck take the car to a licensed mechanic approved by the insurance company and wait to have the battery changed there.
And while car sharing apps like Uber or Lyft may solve your initial problem, you may still need to use your car to get around and may not have the time to deal with the issue at that time. In fact, depending on coverage, it might be easier and cheaper to change the battery yourself or take it to a Costco location to get it done at a fraction of the cost.
What can you do to minimize a dead battery inconveniencing you
While this might be more useful if you just forgot to turn off your lights all night than if your battery is done for, it is still advisable to have a set of jumper wires if you have a second car on the driveway to jumpstart your car, but if the battery has shorted-out, any need to restart your engine will leave you again on square 1, with a dead engine and battery.
One solution that has become ever more prevalent and convenient is to have a jumper pack, or a jumper box depending on the size of your engine, always ready to go, charged and either in your trunk or an accessible place so that when your battery dies, you have a way to start your engine and worry about your battery later. These portable batteries have become more common due to the industry being able to pack a pretty powerful bank that will start any gasoline engine up to 6.0-liters and diesels up to 4.0-liter for less than $150.
But how do you know which jumper pack is right for you? First you need to know what is your use case. If you have two cars with gasoline engines that are about 2.0- to 3.0-liters, you can probably make due with one of the smaller alternatives, which usually come equipped also with an LED flashlight that can be used as a fixed light, flashing, or SOS signal (some will even come with a red flashing light) and could be used as a power bank for your smartphone and even laptops.
If you have an engine that is bigger than 6.0-liter, there’s a recommendation to go for a larger size, as the demands of your starter will be bigger from the get-go. And if you are a mechanic, or plan on becoming one, a jumper box (which tends to be the size of an average backpack) should be your choice and they will run you for about $200-$350 for a good quality one. The good thing is that the higher the quality and the size, the more chances you have of them coming with other features such as a tire inflator.
You will also need to consider what are your charging demands. Some jumper packs and boxes can analyze and recondition a battery if you leave them for a couple of minutes hooked to the car’s battery, and then themselves can recharge quite quickly when hooked to the wall outlet. And lastly, while for jumper packs and boxes is not usually a big concern, learn what type of battery your car has. If it’s lead-acid there should be no problem, if it’s lithium-ion, some may have a jump-start feature and some jumper packs may damage your lithium battery. So always triple check for compatibility.
