Is it time for a new battery? (🥲💲💲💲🥲)

Hi everyone,

So I’m kinda new to the Mazda family, having purchased a 2018 Mazda CX-3 about six months ago. I absolutely adore it, it’s been a pleasure to drive and I’m a disability support worker which means I drive a LOT. I’ve already put almost 11k on the odo (that’s almost 7000 miles to my American peeps) and well, since it’s summer here in Australia aka the devil’s hellfire season, I also blast my aircon. And my infotainment system. I don’t know if my habits right now are putting extra strain on the electrical components, but there you go.

I tell you all this because about a week ago when I got my car serviced, a warning light came on and the i-stop icon also started flashing. Apparently in these kinds of cars, it’s a classic sign that the battery is dying, I headed to my local auto shop where they did a battery health check….

Which turned out fine, the battery just needed a recharge. So I went ahead and purchased a century car battery charger. When I attempted to charge it however, the flashing lights indicated that it wasn’t actually picking up anything and moreover, the fault light was flashing as well. I’ve been reading around and heard that these newer, microprocessor controlled car battery chargers can be extremely picky about voltage and won’t actually start charging if the battery is “dead” dead. I’ve been running through my mind trying to figure out what the hell is going on, if there’s parasitic drain somewhere (my lights and headlights are all good, they stay off when the car is turned off, I don’t think the 12v outlet where my phone charger stays plugged in drains that much tbh, etc) if there’s an issue with the alternator (I don’t think so but I’m getting it checked tomorrow anyway) or some other issue that wasn’t picked up by the service a week ago. Honestly, it might just be battery age… I’m attaching a photo of the battery in my car and it has a H1 sticker on it, which probably means it was manufactured back in 2021….

And just as well, since I just dropped almost $900 on a brand new set of Michelin tyres and $330 on said service. I’m so fucking over it 🙃🙃🙃

Am I just wasting time and should I just bite the bullet and get a new battery?