Q. I have a six-year-old Toyota with the original battery. The car has started fine so far this year. I am wondering, should I just replace the battery due to age?

A. The typical life of a battery is five years, so you are, to some extent, on borrowed time. I test my car’s batteries routinely to see how they are doing. I am in a comparable situation with one car and will replace the battery soon. The last test showed it was at 71 percent life. I will replace this six-year-old battery for no other reason than I do not want to hear from my wife that the car didn’t start.

Q. I purchased a Ford Explorer more than 20 years ago, and it was a great vehicle. About 10 years later I purchased the redesigned model and found it was lacking in several areas. I’m now looking at the latest Explorer.

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