How Often to Replace a Car Battery

Have you ever wondered about how often to replace a car battery? Make the switch at least once every four to five years, or whenever you’ve determined that the battery is low on power. Although there are a number of distinct systems that can have an impact on your vehicle’s electrical systems, our service team can show you how to test a car battery and how to know if it needs to be replaced!

How to Know If Your Car Battery Needs to Be Replaced

While most car batteries last for four to five years at least, real-world battery life can be dependent on a multitude of factors. There’s no substitute for vigilance! Here’s how to know if your car battery needs to be replaced:

• Your headlights are dim, or they fluctuate in intensity
• You’ve had to make more than one jump start in recent memory
• Your vehicle is slow to start
• Your electrical systems and connected devices are experiencing power fluctuations

What Causes Car Battery Deterioration?

If you know how often to replace a car battery in general, you should also have an idea of how external factors can impact your particular battery’s lifespan. For Scottsdale and Phoenix drivers, extreme heat is probably the most important factor to keep in mind. Hot weather can cause the fluids in your battery to evaporate at an accelerated pace, so you should park your vehicle out of the sun and in cooler spaces whenever possible.

Of course, heat isn’t the only factor to keep in mind. Extreme cold can also drain a battery’s charge, and excessive vibration–from bumpy roads or insecure battery clamps–can cause internal battery components to deteriorate more quickly.

Ultimately, all car batteries deteriorate with time since they can only go through so many charging cycles. If you occasionally let your battery fall all the way to 0% power–and you need a jump start to get moving again–your battery’s total lifespan will be even shorter.

How to Test a Car Battery

If you’d like us to test your car battery as part of your next maintenance visit, all you need to do is let us know! Regular battery checks are part of the Jaguar maintenance schedule, so you shouldn’t put them off forever.

Of course, you can also learn how to test a car battery at home. The two most common tests are as follows:

The Headlight Test: 

1. Turn on the vehicle and keep it in the park. Turn your headlights on, too.
2. Rev the engine and watch the lights to see if their intensity changes!
3. If the lights get brighter, it’s because your alternator is picking up the slack for a dying battery.
4. If there’s no change, but you think your lights are dimmer than they should be, schedule service and let the experts take a look.

Using a Digital Multimeter:

1. If you’d like a more precise reading, you can purchase a digital multimeter from our parts department.
2. Wait twelve hours after turning off your vehicle to perform the test.
3. Open the hood, and set the voltmeter to 20 volts.
4. When working with car batteries, you should always use the proper protective equipment, including safety gloves and glasses, and remove all metal from your person.
5. Touch the black probe of the voltmeter to the negative (black) terminal on your battery.
6. Touch the positive probe to the positive (red) terminal, and get your reading.
7. If your reading falls between 12.4 and 12.8 volts, you’re good to go.
8. If your reading is higher than 12.9 V, there’s an excess charge that needs to be dissipated. If turning on your high beams doesn’t solve the issue, let us take a look at your battery.
9. If it’s less than 11.8 V, you should schedule a battery replacement. It means you have less than 25% of a full charge.

How much is a replacement car battery? While costs can vary, you can expect to spend between $100 and $200 on the OEM-approved batteries you’ll find in our parts department.

We’re Here to Help!

Car batteries are high-powered components, and they can be dangerous to work with. Whenever you’re in doubt, know that we’d be happy to help! You can even save on battery checks and battery replacement when you take advantage of our rotating parts & service specials. Our service center is just a short drive from Peoria, in Phoenix, AZ.