Auto Repair Shops - Need a shop open till 7 or later in the evening

Lucascraft

I've got a friend with a PT Cruiser with a dead battery. I've jumped her twice this weekend and the battery just won't stay charged. Every morning her car is dead. However, we aren't sure if its the alternator or the battery itself.

Unfortunately, due to her work schedule, we need a shop that's open till 7 or later, and it seems like most places are done at 6. I was just wondering if anyone here knows of a chain or a place we can take her car to a) get it tested and b) get it fixed tonight that has hours which are a little more convenient for people who work a 9-5 job. Seems silly to me that these places don't keep an evening staff on hand for their auto technicians.

L Ron Howard

You can take the battery and alternator out and take it to any chain auto parts store, like Auto Zone, and they can test both of those for you for free.
Most garages that I know around here in Minnesota have Saturday hours. Maybe she could call and get an appointment on a Saturday.
And is it completely out of the realm of possibility to either take a half day, or switch days with someone else there, to get the car repaired?

Lucascraft

Well the issue is, with her car being dead, she's also gotta work around the schedule of whoever is available to drive her. She works a 9-5 job at a hospital and I'm not sure about whether or not she is able to take a half day or not.

I work retail, and I just happened to have today off which is why we were hoping to get the problem solved tonight after she gets off work.

I actually just called the Wal-mart service center and they are open till 7 so that might be a possibility. But they also do not work on alternators there. The lady I spoke with on the phone said they can test it, but they don't service it. However, if its the batter that's the issue, we can get that replaced and installed there.

L Ron Howard

If you have a vehicle now, it's far cheaper to grab the battery out of the vehicle itself and take it to get it tested, than to pay money for them to do it.
At this point, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to just straight up replace the battery itself as it is.

Wezoin

I know most dealerships have a 'late night' where the service department stays open until 8 or 9 specifically for situations like this where someone is unable to get time off work to drop off their car. Another option would be renting a car for a day and getting a friend (maybe you?) to drop her car off for her. That at least gets around the having to work around someone else's schedule as well.

kaliyama

most auto shops open up at 7 or 7:30 AM - can she go in the morning?

MushroomStick

Also, most auto shops have night drops where you drop the car off after hours and throw an envelope with a key and a description of the problem into a drop box.

Hevach

Is there a big chain place like Belle Tire or Northwestern in your area? They tend to have later hours, but also tend to have worse prices.

MushroomStick wrote:

Also, most auto shops have night drops where you drop the car off after hours and throw an envelope with a key and a description of the problem into a drop box.

I do this pretty regularly when I have problems. Include a phone number, too, or call them as soon as you can after they open, because at least in my state even if you put your key in the box, they can't touch the car until they've spoken to you, and can't fix it until they've given you the estimate.

Sir Carcass

Jump start her car and put a voltmeter on the battery. If the alternator is good, it should read about 14 volts (though this may vary by car, google could probably help). If it's 12 or less, that's a sign of a bad alternator. At that point I'd take it in to a service station to have it checked.

If you get a good reading, then it's probably the battery. They do eventually need to be replaced, and having one die and be jumped will shorten its life. Then you could just take the battery itself to Walmart or somewhere and buy a new one, then put it in and see what happens.

Lucascraft

Yeah, I'm gonna suggest to my friend that she take the car to get the battery replaced anyway. It has died 3 times this weekend, and I know that will cause permanent battery damage. At this point, the battery needs to be changed. Whether or not that is the root problem, however, remains to be seen.

When I go to meet her later this evening, it will be the third time I've jumped her car in 3 days.