# Electrical Problems - New Car Now, or Cross My Fingers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Buying/Selling\ **Tags:** mazda3, mazda\ **Created:** [September 21, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234 "2020-09-21T18:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjj\_170934](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f08c70/32.png) [@jjj\_170934](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jjj_170934)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/1 "2020-09-21T18:20:12Z")
Bought this car new in 2012. Mostly it has been trouble-free. Only has about 46,000 miles on it. However - from day one the headlights have flickered when braking or accelerating. Next, typically if I don’t drive the car for 5-7 days, the car won’t start and I have to use one of those “jump starter” batteries to get it going. I know that’s not normal. A couple days ago it wouldn’t start after only 3 days of sitting around. At one point out doing errands it wouldn’t even start after I drove it a mile from one place to another, even though it’d been driven for 20 minutes before that shorter trip. It has been this bad before. Last time I bought a new battery - that was only two years ago. This can’t be a series of bad batteries, what are the odds of that… So I figure there’s some kind of voltage leak; I tried a little to find it on my own, but I know that’s a problem that’s almost impossible to diagnose and could cost $1000 or something if I try to get it fixed. Of course this problem is really annoying, but also my gut tells me that given this history, I shouldn’t be surprised if the car develops a lot of problems starting at some point soon, especially electrical ones. The BB value is currently somewhere between $4000-$5500. So am I right to think I should bail now, before it suddenly develops a problem that _really_ has to be dealt with instead of a problem that’s just really annoying? I don’t like the idea of sinking hundreds or thousands into it, or having the BB value drop by a lot soon. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/2 "2020-09-21T18:24:31Z")
I’d get rid of it now. It’s a shame the problem wasn’t found in warranty. Also, I suggest trading it in rather than selling it to a private buyer. IMO, you are under no obligation to tell a dealer about this, but you must tell a private buyer. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/3 "2020-09-21T18:35:47Z")
> [@jjj\_170934](#): > > - from day one the headlights have flickered when braking or accelerating Too late now, but this should have been taken care of when you still had your 36/36000 warranty. But at the moment, I think your battery needs to be recharged. From your description it appears you are not driving it far enough to recharge the battery when you do drive it. ---
**Author:** ![jjj\_170934](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f08c70/32.png) [@jjj\_170934](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jjj_170934)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/4 "2020-09-21T19:03:42Z")
I really wish I’d found it when it was under warranty. Problem was, I lived in a city at the time I got it and for a few years after, and everywhere I drove there were streetlights, so I didn’t see it. I think the issue with the voltage leak or whatever it is started 4-5 years after I got the car, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/5 "2020-09-21T19:08:49Z")
Only driving about 5000 miles a year . Another vote for trading it in , life is too short to put up with some things that drive you crazy. On the next vehicle make it a point to take a nice drive at least twice a week. It does sound like you are driving enough to keep the battery fully charged . ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/6 "2020-09-21T19:41:48Z")
> [@jjj\_170934](#): > > if I don’t drive the car for 5-7 days, the car won’t start and I have to use one of those “jump starter” batteries to get it going. You should recharge the battery with a battery charger, the battery would then have sufficient power for 6 to 8 weeks. Driving with a discharged battery for 20 minutes will gain very little charge, you would need to drive for 8 to 12 hours to fully charge the battery. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-problems-new-car-now-or-cross-my-fingers/170234/7 "2020-09-22T06:18:21Z")
Google, How to find a parasitic draw. All yo need is a voltmeter that can measure amps.