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[Ike Zimbel]

So, I bought it!

And it won't start. Dead battery. Do you think this is the problem?

Could be. Every used vehicle I have ever owned needed a new battery. As well any vehicle that I owned for more than five years needed a new battery as well. They do wear out.

[Tim Weaver]

So, I bought it!

And it won't start. Dead battery. Do you think this is the problem?

Jump it and see how it does. If its charging, then I'm sure it will be fine. Probably will need a battery. They don't like to sit too long.

[Jack Arnott]

Jump it and see how it does. If its charging, then I'm sure it will be fine. Probably will need a battery. They don't like to sit too long.

Tried to jump it and failed. It has the battery under the drivers seat, but jump connectors under the hood. It had more life with the cables connected, but wouldn't turn over. I will give it a go tomorrow, with a fresh start, and try again.

And possibly another battery under the subwoofer.

So far it has started zero times since I drove it off the lot.

[Tim Weaver]

Tried to jump it and failed. It has the battery under the drivers seat, but jump connectors under the hood. It had more life with the cables connected, but wouldn't turn over. I will give it a go tomorrow, with a fresh start, and try again.

And possibly another battery under the subwoofer.

So far it has started zero times since I drove it off the lot.

Sounds like it needs a new battery. It won't even jump start with a really dead battery.

[Mark Cadwallader]

Let me guess:  When you went to drive it off the lot, they already it started and running for you, right?  If so, the low-life bastards knew it wouldn't start on its own, and they got it going with a big shop battery charger/booster.

[John Roberts {JR}]

A bad starter motor can symptomatically seem like a dead battery (it draws excessive current). In fact a bad starter motor can kill a good battery, too.

JR

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

A bad starter motor can symptomatically seem like a dead battery (it draws excessive current). In fact a bad starter motor can kill a good battery, too.

JR

Yup. Best bet is a rebuilt starter.  You could put new brushes in the old one but if the armature is worn too much you'll still have a lot of xtra resistance which will pull current away from firing the plugs.

[Jack Arnott]

Ha! Turns out it is a feature, not a bug!

No really, a Porsche safety feature.

If it is turned off with the turn signal engaged, the lights on that side of the car light up. This is to give yourself light to change a tire or some such.

So I turned into the driveway, and it didn't cancel the turn signal, and drained the battery.
All is well again today. But what a stressful night, and start to the morning.

(I'm kinda feeling like I am stepping into a realm where I am not fit to tread.)

[Scott Holtzman]

Ha! Turns out it is a feature, not a bug!

No really, a Porsche safety feature.

If it is turned off with the turn signal engaged, the lights on that side of the car light up. This is to give yourself light to change a tire or some such.

So I turned into the driveway, and it didn't cancel the turn signal, and drained the battery.
All is well again today. But what a stressful night, and start to the morning.

(I'm kinda feeling like I am stepping into a realm where I am not fit to tread.)

I really hope you enjoy your car but one note of experience.  You bought an 85k irrespective of what you paid for it.  The maintenance  is commensurate with the acquisition cost.  I can tell you as an owner of a couple of BMW 7 series sedans and an S65 - The only thing more expensive than the S65 has been the turbo-diesel E350 van. 

[Jack Arnott]

I really hope you enjoy your car but one note of experience.  You bought an 85k irrespective of what you paid for it.  The maintenance  is commensurate with the acquisition cost.  I can tell you as an owner of a couple of BMW 7 series sedans and an S65 - The only thing more expensive than the S65 has been the turbo-diesel E350 van.

This is a great point, and not taken lightly. I am also pondering my future vehicle algorithm.
I remember thinking in 1999, when I bought my first large format console, that the company selling it had to have some kind of great selling system. Everything they had was for sale. So obviously they were depreciating at a constant rate, and just updating the cost of things continually.

With vehicles, it has always been, run them into the ground, and then get another one. It seems that I need to have a clearer plan, now that the stakes are going up. To run them until a certain date, or mileage, and upgrade from there, while I still have equity. Perhaps have a certain amount of money set aside per year, and have this added to the equity to trade up.

[ProSoundWeb Community]