The Quickest Way to Ruin Your Trunk-or-Treat Event
If you've ever had a dead car battery at the end of a Trunk-or-Treat, you're not alone. There's one thing you can do to avoid it.
It would burn a lot of energy and gas if you left your vehicle running for two to three hours while kids are making the rounds collecting candy, so if you happen to be "the trunk" at a Trunk-or-Treat over the next week or so, the best way to avoid a dead vehicle battery at the end of it is to start your car every thirty minutes or so.
It's rather embarrassing to ask for a jump from the neighboring vehicle when the event is over, but when it happened to me, it turned out I wasn't alone. There were three other vehicles in the parking lot that night who tried to start up after the trunk-or-treaters were gone, and thankfully, one guy in a truck happened to have jumper cables and was nice enough to help us all get going. We were so focused on the costumes and M&Ms that we neglected to think about the damage we were doing to our vehicles by having the trunks and hatches open for so long. Whoops!
Even if the vehicle is off, accessories are still in use when the hatch is open on SUVs and cars, and that drains batteries in a hurry. (Or, within two to three hours in my case.)
There are several East Texas Trunk-or-Treat events coming up this week and they'll be great as long as you rev up the engine every so often. If your theme is the Disney Cars movie, it will all be part of your act the kids will think nothing of it. My theme was E.T. (the stuffed animal scene), and I ended up with a dead battery.
East Texas Trunk-or-Treat events:
820 N NW Loop 323, Tyler
Bullard Church of Christ
Henderson & Main, Bullard
14089 US-79, Jacksonville
3900 University Blvd, Tyler
If your vehicle's theme for the night is "mechanic" and you've got extra jumper cables, you'll have the most popular trunk there. Happy Halloween!