Car Trouble

I was on my way to see Tron (good flick by the way) and stopped for gas while Ben got some snacks for the movie. While pumping gas this kid from another pump shouts over,"You like your Mazda?". It was pretty random but I said I did like and he continued to ask if I ever had any problems with it and I said "no". He then went on to say that he doesn't see many Mazdas on the road. He must not get out much or be very unobservant because I see at least one Mazda everytime I leave the house, one other than my own of course.

After heading back to Ben's place I said goodbye to his dog Marley and got back in my car. It wouldn't start. Extremely frustrated I ask Ben if he could jump my car. After hooking up the cables it took a couple tries and revs of Ben's car before I could get my car started. On my way home I used my high beams a couple times and each time I used them all the lights and electronics in my car would shut off for a second before coming back on again. I made it home and figured I'd try to charge the battery in the morning.

The next day my car refused to start even with a battery charger on it for a couple hours. When I'd open the door the needles on my speedometer and tachometer were spinning back and forth, I thought my car was possessed. I decided to bring my car to the Mazda dealer since its never been serviced and if there was a problem with my alternator or something else they could fix it the fastest. I also read online that people had similar problems as me found it was their starter solenoid, whatever that is.

It turned out it was the battery, the "charging mechanism" was bad and a new battery would fix it. They also suggested I get my fuel injectors flooded, oil change, and new power steering fluid. I went ahead and did all that good stuff and the bill wasn't cheap. At least now I have a working car again and will know better when I have a dead battery again. Of course this all happened after a kid asked if I have ever had problems with my ride.