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“I’m locked out/my battery is dead!”
Sometimes car malfunctions happen even before you begin your journey. I’ll never forget the time when a weekend fishing trip was nearly compromised because of a slight vehicle malfunction. Well, I guess I just better fess up to it now: I left the lights on in a car with electronic locks. It was more of a brain malfunction more than anything else, but here I was with a dead car and no way of getting in. The hood could only be opened from the inside so jumping the battery was out of the question. My car had become a bank vault that had sealed my deeply coveted weekend of fishing. I was a student at Ohio State University at the time and having been stuffed in the dorms for weeks on end, my lifeless 1990 BMW 525i was the only thing keeping me from escaping the imprisonment of the campus. With 90 miles between me and my destination, my 1980′s Schwinn road bike wasn’t going to get me and my gear to fishing paradise. Without a smart phone or “Siri” from an iPhone 4s to cry out to, having a card with my auto-insurance contact information in my wallet saved my weekend. Wether it is on an issued card or scribbled on a torn piece of paper, that contact information resulted in getting a locksmith en route asap. Having that information on hand can save you A LOT of hassle.
A dead battery is a bit easier to remedy as long as you have the necessary ingredients to bake up the solution. The first solution requires three components: A set of jumper cables, safety goggles and a good samaritan. If you’re stuck on the side of the road with a dead battery, make sure to pop your hood as soon as you suspect that your battery is dead. Even if you have no idea what you’re looking for, a popped hood might as well be an S.O.S when having car trouble. Chances are someone will stop by to help you jump your car. To learn how to properly perform the surgery of battery revitalization, here are the instructions. The second option is a lot more convenient but requires a little bit more $$$. You can buy a jump starter pack to toss in your trunk that can juice up your battery without having to use another car. A jump starter pack is a mobile battery that already has the jumper cables attached to it for your convenience. Many auto stores like Advanced Auto or Autozone sell jump starter packs anywhere from $50-$350.
“My tire is flat!”
Don’t panic just yet. Changing out a flat isn’t as hard as people tend to think. There are however a few things that you can do before you run into a flat tire situation. First off, make sure that you have a spare tire to begin with. If you’ve had a spare living in your trunk for awhile, make sure you check up on it. Check to see if it is properly inflated. You can easily fill up a tire by taking your car to a gas station to use an air pump. It is super important that you put the correct amount of air into your tire. Most cars tend to be around 32 psi. To be sure what your tire needs, you can easily access this information by looking at the side of your tire. The next step is making sure you have all of the necessary tools. All you need is a jack and a wrench. Pretty much every car has by default these two tools stored on the inside of the trunk. While you’re doing your check-up on your car to prepare for flat-tire situations, check to make sure that those tools are in place. Here is a great resource that lays out the entire process of changing out a flat step by step.
“My phone’s battery is dead!”
I know we’re talking about cars, but a cell phone is pretty much the universal bail-out option when your car is acting up. If you find yourself stuck without the capability of fixing your car, having a phone handy gives you a good shot at getting out of inconvenient scenarios. Of course, a phone is useless to you if it is dead so it’s time to consider some options that will keep it alive for when you are really going to need it. The most basic way of safe-guarding against a dead battery is by having a phone charger that plugs into your cigarette lighter. Another viable option would be to consider getting an external battery. External batteries can be bought relatively cheap and they will protect you from situations where you may have lost car battery power altogether. If you’re looking to browse through external cell phone battery manufacturers, I would start with Mophie. They have a pretty good reputation for the quality of their products.
All in all, these are just a handful of tips that can help save you some trouble. Cars are prone to any number of mechanical failures which can happen at any time. Please feel free to add any useful tips/stories from your own experience below!
