Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Car battery life in Florida...
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Old 11-07-2009, 07:12 PM
downeaster downeaster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by villages07 View Post
I had quite a surprise a couple of weeks ago when I went out to start my 07 Camry and the engine wouldn't crank. No prior symptoms whatsoever. We then did a hydrometer test and had a couple of weak cells and one pretty much dead cell.

Car is about 3.5 yrs old, just about 20K miles on it, of which only 9k in the last 3 years in The Villages. The car can sit in the garage for a week at a time since we use golf carts for most local buzzing around.

Fortunately, a friend came to our rescue and jump started it for an easy trip up to Sam's for a replacement.

But, since then, we have learned from 'car guys' that car batteries don't last as long in the hot Florida climate as they would in colder areas. This seems counter-intuitive. They also say long periods of inactivity are also bad for the car.

Anyway, just a little heads up for some of you who make minimal use of your car and who might not be aware that battery life is shorter down here.
I have lived in North and Central Florida for 30 plus years. In my experience, car batteries last about five years.