How Often to Replace a Car Battery

While battery life can vary due to a number of factors, it is generally recommended that you should plan on replacing your car battery every four to five years. Learn more about your car battery from the service experts at Honda of Toms River, and if you’d like us to test your battery, stop by our Service Center near Brick.

How to Know If Your Car Battery Needs to Be Replaced

Here are a few warning signs to watch for that indicate your battery may be on its last legs:

• Dimming headlights
• More frequent need for engine revving or jump starts
• Takes longer to start the engine when you turn the key/push the button
• Unusual power fluctuations

What Causes Car Battery Deterioration?

• Heat: Hot weather can cause more rapid evaporation of the liquids inside a car battery. If you live and drive in an area that has a more consistently hot climate, your battery life will be shorter.
• Vibrations: If the battery hold-down clamps are loose, or if you often drive over rough roads, vibrations will cause internal battery parts to break down faster.
• Needing a Jump: Leaving your car lights on overnight or not driving your vehicle for extended periods can cause the battery to lose its charge, requiring you to jump start it. If occurrences like these happen too often, your battery life will be significantly shorter.
• Time: Car batteries don’t last forever, so it is inevitable that you will eventually have to replace it, although proper care can help the battery from dying on you early.

Your owner’s manual or maintenance schedule will have additional information on how long you can expect your car battery to last.

How to Test a Car Battery

Our certified technicians will test your car battery during regular maintenance at our Manahawkin-area Service Center. However, if you want to test it yourself you can try one of the following methods:

The Headlight Test: 

1. Start the car, keep it in park, and turn on the headlights.
2. Rev the engine and see if the headlight brightness changes.
3. If the headlights get brighter, that means the current is not strong enough to keep the lights at normal brightness while the car is idling.
4. At this point, you should schedule a service appointment for further assessment.

Using a Digital Multimeter:

1. Set the voltmeter to 20 DC volts.
2. Under the hood, touch the black negative terminal with the black negative meter probe.
3. Touch the red positive terminal with the red positive meter probe.
4. Have a friend turn on the headlights, and then check the voltmeter reading.
5. At 80℉, 12.5 volts or higher means your battery is fully charged. 12.3 volts means it’s at about 75% charged.11.8 volts or lower means you have 25% or less charge.

How Much is a Replacement Car Battery?

A new car battery usually costs between $75 and $120. Premium batteries can cost as much as $200. Hybrid car batteries have a much bigger job, which means they are more expensive, and are priced between $1,000 and $6,000. That’s a lot of money for most Berkeley drivers, but the cost is offset by the much lower gas consumption. It’s also good to know that when you purchase a replacement battery at the Honda of Toms River Parts Center, you’ll benefit from the Honda 100-month battery warranty.

Trust the Auto Care Experts at Honda of Toms River

Need to purchase a replacement battery? The Parts Department at Honda of Toms River has a fine selection of batteries that are just right for your specific Honda model. Make sure to check out our current parts specials to find savings on batteries and more. If you have any questions about your battery or other essential car parts like your brake pads, please feel free to contact our parts team online, or give us a call at (732) 696-4017.