Dear Tom and Ray:

We have purchased a 1991 Buick Regal that has a dead battery. It had been sitting for about six months. We jumped it and drove it to an auto shop to have it checked out. It was otherwise fine. The auto-shop people said they would sell me a battery for $79.95 and install it for about $30. Then they said it would take about an hour and a half to reprogram the computer, which would cost another $35. A friend at work told me that it's not necessary to reprogram the computer, as it will reprogram itself when you drive the car. Who's right? Should I go to my auto-parts store and buy a battery, or spend the $150 at the auto shop? -- Theresa

Ray: Neither. Your friend at work is right. After a battery change, the engine- management computer will reprogram itself. It's called a "relearning process," and it happens automatically after about five minutes of moderate-speed driving.

Tom: The only thing that won't reprogram itself are the radio presets. But this is your new car, so you're going to reprogram the radio buttons yourself anyway, right? No great loss there.

Ray: So I don't know what that extra $35 is for. Maybe it's the labor cost for driving the car to the doughnut shop while the computer reprograms itself. But that would be $10 worth of labor and $25 worth of doughnuts. So I wouldn't go back to these guys.

Tom: But I wouldn't just go buy a battery and slap it in there, either. Part of the labor involved in installing a battery is checking the car's charging system to make sure it's functioning properly. If the alternator isn't working or if there's a current drain somewhere, you'll just kill the brand-new battery, too.

Ray: So take it to a different shop and have the charging system checked and the battery installed there. If you need the name of a good shop, go to the Car Talk section of www.cars.com and check the "Mechan-X-Files." It's a database of good mechanics whom our readers and listeners have personally recommended over the years -- and we don't charge a "reprogramming" fee to use it.

Wait! Don't buy another car without the mechanic's checklist that's included in Tom and Ray's pamphlet "How to Buy a Great Used Car: Secrets Only Your Mechanic Knows." It will help you get a good used car and avoid the clunkers. To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 2000 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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