Where in town do you usually get your car batteries?

Last week, my car battery decided it was just too cold and too old to keep on working.

I was distraught, as one naturally would be when their car battery dies. After I got a jump-start from my generous neighbor, Sharon, I went to a local auto parts store and inquired as the cost of a replacement battery. She looked it up in her computer and said the cheapest battery would cost me around $119. I nearly choked to death right there in the store!

I asked the auto parts store cashier where I could get someone to put the battery in for me. She told me to try the local oil change place across the street. I called them up and asked how much they would charge me to put in my new car battery. The man on the phone told me, and I quote, "You have a PT Cruiser?" He then winced and said, "Yeah, we don't put batteries in those. They're too complicated."

He then suggested a local auto body shop for me to try. I called them up and the man on the phone told me that I would have to get my battery from them, not an auto parts store. He told me the cost of ordering and installing a new battery (plus labor costs) for my car would cost me nearly $230.

At this point, I was so frustrated that I was simply ready to throw the whole car away. (Haha! But no, I'm being serious.)

A friend suggested that I ask my Facebook friends if they had a better suggestion for a local car shop that would help me get a new battery and install it for less than the quoted $230 fee I had been given. I had so many great suggestions from my Facebook friends, including Yakima Battery, Yakima Automotive, Walmart and many more.

I am so fortunate to have some great friends on Facebook (and in real life)! My friend's husband, Dave Kuntz, who is the lot manager at Bill Harris Used Cars in Selah, suggested that I let him ask one of his industry connections for a better price quote. *DISCLAIMER: I have not been paid to say any of this. I do, however, want to highlight how just when you least expect it, sometimes someone will jump right up and offer you help beyond your wildest dreams!* Thanks to Dave's relationship with Yakima Battery, he was able to get me a battery at a reasonable cost. Dave even drove over on his day off work to install the battery for me (it took him less than 10 minutes)! Is that a great friend or WHAT!! In fact, Dave said he was doing all of this as a belated Christmas present to me! (Dave doesn't know this yet, but I am getting him a belated Christmas gift, too, as a big THANK YOU -- a 12-pack of his favorite beer, Irish Death by Iron Horse Brewery!)

It was a Christmas and Festivus miracle, indeed!

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