AIBU to refuse to change the car battery given my caring duties?

@Kardelen use Halfords or a garage and don’t give it another thought OP.
I am 55 years old , DH is relatively good at mechanical related stuff and he has never installed his own battery, nor have I heard of anyone else installing theirs. it’s likely to reset something with cars being so sophisticated these days and cause a much more expensive trip to the garage.

Oh for heavens sake I was a single parent with 3 kids and a full time job. What excuse woulg tgat be to not do a 10 min job

It certainly doesn’t take three people to lift a car battery, but, if you don’t want to do it, book it into somewhere, as others have said.

Okay apologies I have checked and it is £50 - still 100% worth it

Halfords will change a battery for a payment

RAC & AA breakdown will too if you have their cover, can't remember if it is free, but I have had one replaced in the past at home

Or a local mobile mechanic will do it

It's one of those things that's easy to do if you know how to do it. But, I'd just go to Halfords autocentre and buy one there and they'll fit it for you in a few mins.

Endanger lives changing a car battery? Are you always this dramatic in life? 😂 There’s plenty of videos on YouTube for idiots to
follow, even dramatic ones lol
And “if you can afford a car you can afford to have someone experienced fix it” is a ridiculously snobby statement from someone who clearly isn’t living had to mouth like millions are these days!! People have cars to get them round, tax, insurance, fuel etc is just about all they can handle paying for as they’re feeding their kids and keeping a roof over their heads so don’t have anything spare. But also replacing a battery isn’t “fixing” a car, the cars not broken just battery needs replaced so doesn’t need any experience.

I can relate very much. I needed a new battery and I kept putting it off. My car wouldn’t start twice so I had to call the RAC to come and jumpstart it and then went and bought the battery but I had it in my boot for so long because I had no one actually to fit. I didn’t want to pay Halford £45 to fit it because that could be my food shop for a whole week. Luckily for me, I had it in the car and And I randomly bumped into an ex Who I asked to do it.

It is a fairly simple job, but yes, the battery weighs about 20 kg. You need a spanner wrench to be able to undo the bolts and there may be a bracket that needs undoing as well. I would say knock on a few doors and see if there are any men there who would be happy to help. Most men can do this within a few minutes.

Or worst case, just watch a video on YouTube. I got the RAC guy to explain how to do it and he did say the battery can only fit in one way. If you have breakdown cover, I would also recommend just calling them and saying your car isn’t starting. When they come and it starts ask if they can fit the battery.

If you can lift a baby you can lift a car battery ffs

She’s also caring for elderly parents. Some of us know exactly what that’s like, hence advising her to outsource everything possible.

She explained excuses for not doing a very simple job. 2 kids? How is that an excuse 😂 I still change my own car batteries and I’ve more than 3 times the amount of kids. I cat believe it took 3 of them to change a the battery last time, my 12 year old can lift them into the car himself and it took 3 grown adults to do that!!
I can’t believe some comments here, how are people so utterly useless that can’t simply swap a car battery out, loosen the clamps, swap the batteries over and clamp it in, that’s literally it. It weighs the same as a young toddler ffs

Every? Eh no, it’s a simple job tha almost anyone can do. Some newer model cars might need reset with electronics but otherwise it’s not a big job.

It takes less than 10 mins to remove the old battery, fit a new one and get on with life. It's not complex, I did it for the first time last year when the battery went, and I just looked it up online to understand what I was doing.

But if you don't know what you're doing, don't feel confident or are not used to doing your own DIY or similar, then it's cheap to get a mechanic/Halfords to do it, and if you'd find it less stressful, then it's not at all unreasonable to get/pay someone else to do it.

He did it before he trained as a mechanic. I do it and I'm not a mechanic

it's taken 3 of us an hour and a half on my 2018 Ford Focus RS due to the position of the battery.

Something must’ve gone wrong there then. It’s a little more complicated than some but still a 20min job max.

You risk setting car alarm off, unsetting media and dash cam, most garages run a current to the car while taking off and replacing battery. Use a garage.

Yes OP should pay for everything as well as being her DFs unpaid carer.

Plenty of videos on You Tube. I suggest watch a few to make sure you get it right. Batteries are not especially heavy, about 15kg, and they generally have a carry handle. It's a simple lift out, lift the new one in usually so not exactly difficult it's not as though you have to walk 5 miles carry it. But I have no idea of your fitness level!

Also, to dispose of the old one, take to a commercial recycling/metal recycling place NOT your local tip as they generally have a value, typically £8-10. I don't know why Halfords charge excessively rip off costs to replace a battery as surely the cost is covered by the recycling cost? I'd be asking to keep the old battery to recycle myself! You may find a local battery supplier if you have one might replace for free (because they get the scrap value of the old one).

I had my battery replaced approximately 3 years ago. Halfords came to my home to replace it & charged an extra £20 for this.

If you know what you are doing it is a 5 minute job.

If you don't, so long as you have basic tools and some degree of practicality you should be able to do it in 15 mins or so with a suitable YouTube video to guide you

Go to Halfords and get one fitted. I say this as someone who works at a garage and sees them being fitted every day. Yes they are heavy, some have fiddly covers, bolts and brackets and a lot on modern cars are in really awkward places in the car that mean taking other parts off first. I've done one myself in an old Fiesta that took 5 minutes and it's taken 3 of us an hour and a half on my 2018 Ford Focus RS due to the position of the battery. So until you try and fit it there's no way of knowing how long it will take and how difficult it will be. I certainly wouldn't attempt one on my own again. The old one should also be disposed of properly you can't just put it in the bin. It sounds like you have enough on personally at the moment.

Looking at the website its £35 for battery fitting. Still a rip off but that's Halfords for you.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/car-batteries/?srule=price_increase_rule

Just go to Halfords. They'll do it for you there and then.

It's more like £100 and then the cost of the battery. It's definitely not £20!