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

[Kardelen]

how easy is it to change car batteries?
we changed my dads one a few years back, but it was me, my husband and dad.
i remember it being very heavy, and also having a small electric shock midway.

at the moment, I have two young children im caring for, and my elderly parents, and also my husband who is unwell.
so my husband can’t help, it’s out the picture. But my dad also can’t help as he is elderly, chronic pain, breathlessness etc, but is eager for me to buy it and thinks he can do it alone.

he was gonna ask my brother, but as usual very reluctant and im the go to person. But this time I said I can’t do it, but feeling guilty.

am I being unreasonable of not wanting to do it? - only because I remember last time it was 3 of us and we struggled.

Go to a garage? You COULD do it yourself but with the risk of shock and connecting it wrong, and no time to learn...

Just get Halfords to do it, or similar.

Go to Halfords - they'll fit it for you 👍🏻

It is something worth paying for.

Go to Halfords to buy it and pay the extra for them to fit it.

Just hire a professional. Won’t be expensive

Who saying you should do it? Depending on the car make and model, changing batteries these days isn’t necessarily as simple as it
used to be. Either way, just go to garage.

I wouldn't mess about even thinking about doing this, I'd buy a new battery from a place that will fit them for you, it's the local tyre place where I am. Takes them a few minutes to do it. Hopefully you can get the car there with jump leads to start it if necessary

Do you have homestart on your breakdown cover? They fitted mine and only charged me for the battery.

My OH will replace a battery because he has the knowledge & ability to do so.
If you have neither of these, why would you even consider doing it?

A follow on is disposal of the old battery. My OH stores items like this, when he has sufficient he weighs them in at the scrapyard and receives a decent amount for doing so (batteries, cable etc). If you just have a single battery you will need to take it to your local waste disposal centre.
A professional will deal with this for you.

You are not being unreasonable to...

• Book it in at a local garage

• Go to Halford and buy a battery with a fitting service included (£50 charge) or book them to come to you using their mobile fitting service. I've used their 'We fit' service for a battery, dash cams and bulbs as the position on my car can be tricky to access.

• Use a roadside assistance like AA to provide and fit

You may have other local fitting services but you definitely don't need to risk a shock or fitting it incorrectly.

defo go on halfords website and put in the details to see how much it is for them to supply and fit and dispose of the old one. i paid to get a lightbulb fitted and it was £15 so it’s not much extra in the bigger picture of things.

I've just gone on to the Halfords web site and once you've bought the battery it's between £35 - £50 (depending on the battery) to come out tomorrow, fit the new battery and dispose of the old one. You just book a slot online. Alternatively drive to your nearest one and they'll fit it today.

I always drive to Halfords. It's well worth £25 extra to not faff about with tools and disposal.

Halfords or Kwikfit - you’ll then get a guarantee.

Dh has always sorted our cars out. Alone. It's a battery not a bloody engine.

The OP explained herself. Read it again. It's not War and Peace.

The length of time taken to write that you could have it booked into Halfords or similar and got one fitted.

Find a local garage who have it in stock and they'll do it for you. Much easier.

Just do what every single other motorist would do, and go to a garage!

Except all of us who are more than capable of doing it ourselves, that is. Please don't speak for other people.

No, just no. You sound like you have enough on your plate. Take it to someone who knows what they’re doing. Your father is being unreasonable.

My local, independent motor spares shop fit anything like batteries, wiper blades, bulbs etc that you buy there for free if they're not busy.

Book it in somewhere, it’s not that expensive, Halfords do it, your local garage will, I have never changed one, and as you’re dealing with so much right now and struggled last time, makes no sense to struggle through it again

You must be very sensitive, to get a shock from a 12 volt battery.