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Van was hesitating to start, lights were dim. Battery was last replaced in 2014. Walmart would do it for $50 installed. Local shop wanted $130 installed. I went to walmart.
They finished with the battery and brought it out. I went to get in it and it wouldnt start. I go in and tell them. They come out and say " its your starter, its fried".
I Uber home and the shop is going to go tow my van to the shop and put on a starter. $75 tow + part.
Hubby called Walmart to complain.. They claim " It caught fire". B.S. I was standing right there, no it didnt. You switched the batteries and messed up something.
I just had the stater tested at Advanced and it was FINE.
Typically, most issues are due to lack of basic maintenance.
Spend the $40-$50 and get yourself a BatteryMinder/Tender and when you are not driving for more than a day, leave it connected. It will keep your battery fully charged and prolong its lifespan by at least 2 more years. These devices also give you an early warning of faulty/failing batteries so you have a much less chance of encountering a "dead battery" scenario.
Fully charged battery will make your car run much more efficiently (better the battery, better the spark = better fire/mpg). A well-maintained battery will also make your starter's job much easier, prolonging its life too. Also less work for the Alternator as well.
Lead-Acid Batteries are too old school, imho. If you can, upgrade to Gel or AGM battery, or Lithium, if you can afford it. All these better battery types will give you better cracking and they have a higher rate of tolerating discharge. Well worth the extra dough you will spend on one. Lithium batteries are also much lighter so even a not-so-strong person would be able to lift it if needed.
Walmart does not make batteries, and they have decent prices on the batteries they sell. I know a lot of people who swear by batteries from Walmart; but they install them into the RV themselves. That's the problem it is not purchasing a battery at Walmart, it is having one of their gorillas installing the battery. (However, not sure about Gomer or Bubba at O'Reilly's and Autozone.)
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