Q: Car not starting up

Hi, the first thing to check out is the battery. Batteries tend to fail at the 5 year mark so if the battery is around that age it may not be able to hold a charge. You can try jumpstarting the car and if your alternator is still okay it will be able to keep the car running. If you have tried this already or if this doesn’t work then there is likely a connection issue somewhere or the alternator isn’t able to charge the battery.

It is possible for ground wires to short and then the battery isn’t able to supply power to anything because the connection isn’t complete. If jumping the car doesn’t help, get the help of a certified technician, such as one from YourMechanic, to inspect the ground and power connections to make sure everything is intact and help you determine why your car is not starting.