How Often to Replace a Car Battery

Do you know how often to replace the car battery in your vehicle? Typically, experts recommend changing a car battery every 4-5 years. However, your battery might have a shorter or longer life depending on several factors. In the guide below, Dale Earnhardt Jr Buick GMC dives into how to know if your car battery needs to be replaced, how to test a car battery, and more! Check it out and contact us with any questions.

How to Know If Your Car Battery Needs to Be Replaced

If you experience any of these issues when you’re out in Thomasville, GA, you’ll know that your car battery needs attention:

• Your headlights are losing intensity
• The interior gauges are showing strange power fluctuations
• Your car is slow to start when you turn the key/push the button
• You have to rev the engine to get it going
• Your car requires frequent jump starts

Why Do Car Batteries Deteriorate?

• Exterior Climate: Unfortunately, the consistent Florida heat can have a negative effect on your car battery. Excessive heat can cause the liquids inside a battery to evaporate, leading to shorter overall battery life.
• Loose Hold-Downs: Have you checked your hold-down clamps lately? If they’re loose, your battery might be jostling around as you drive through Crawfordville. These vibrations can cause the battery’s parts to wear out a lot faster.
• Aftereffects of a Jump-Start: When you have to jump-start your car, it can shorten the battery life.
• Time: Finally, your car’s battery will inevitably die when enough time has passed. It can only withstand a certain number of charge cycles, but caring for it properly can help ensure it doesn’t die earlier than intended.

In addition to knowing these warning signs, it’s prudent to familiarize yourself with the recommendations in your owner’s manual. The manufacturer should outline how often to replace the car battery for your particular model, as well as what type of battery to use for future replacements.

How to Test a Car Battery

When you bring your vehicle in for routine maintenance, you can ask your technician to test your battery if it’s been giving you issues. Or, there are a couple of simple ways to test your battery right at home in Panama City:

The Headlight Test: 

1. Turn on the engine and leave the car in Park. Turn the headlights all the way on.
2. Rev the engine and note whether the intensity of the headlights’ brightness goes up.
3. If the headlights get brighter when revving, it means the battery’s current isn’t strong enough to maintain normal brightness when idling.
4. If your car doesn’t pass the headlight test, bring it to your usual service center for further testing.

How to Test a Car Battery with a Digital Multimeter:

1. Set your voltmeter to 20 DC volts to begin.
2. Touch the black negative meter probe to the negative terminal, which is also black.
3. Touch the positive meter probe to the positive terminal, which is also red.
4. Ask a friend to turn on your headlights at this point. When they do, check the voltmeter.
5. At 80℉ a voltmeter reading of 12.5 volts or higher means your battery is charged completely. At 12.3 volts, it has about 75% of charge. At 11.8 volts or lower, you only have 25% or less of charge.

How Much is a Replacement Car Battery?

If you need to get a new battery, how much is a replacement car battery going to cost? A typical car battery ranges between $75 and $120, or up to $200 for a premium battery. The cost of a replacement battery for a hybrid vehicle is a different story. Because hybrid batteries play a much bigger role in powering the vehicle, they’re more expensive: between $1,000 and $6,000.

Schedule Battery Service at Dale Earnhardt Jr Buick GMC

If you need to have your car’s battery checked out, get started today by scheduling an appointment at our service center in Tallahassee. Just don’t forget to also check our rotating service specials – we frequently offer savings on battery replacement and service!