engine shuts down while cruising down the Freeway...

[M45Caliber]

I getting spooked right about now with this M45, which I bought 3 months ago. It now has 33K mile on it (it's an '03). This is the SAME M with the post for the gauge issue (1/2 the cluster out; no AC..) last week.

Today, while driving down the highway at about 75 mph, the car just completely loses power -- the engine just shuts off. I turn off the radio (so I can hear what's happening), then place the transmission in neutral so I can coast (I was already in the right lane with my exit coming up in 1/2 mile...) since I'm in neutral and pointed straight ahead, I turn off the ignition, pull the key, re-insert the key, turn the ignition back to "on" and the motor is running again -- I rev it and hear it/see the tach move. Back into Drive and motor on to Hooters for lunch with friends. After lunch, I drove it straight to Checkers Auto so they could check my battery. Turns out the battery is the ONE thing the previous owner did not have changed out at the dealer - it has an "Interstate" brand battery in it, but none of the Date stickers were pulled to tell me how old it is. However, per the electronic testing machine at Checkers, it tests out fine. "Within 100 cranking amps of a new one" -- keeping in mind it's 110 degrees outside and I've been driving on the freeway, so this battery is HOT.

Is there ANY WAY my key fob might be sending (or not sending) the right signal and this crap is happening to me? Would changing the batteries in each fob help at all? Should i change out the car battery and pray to the electronic goddess of Ohms to bless my car accordingly?

Grasping for straws (volts, amps...), gents.

I was not offered an extended warranty, and although this puppy only has 33K on her, she's past the 4 year anniversary by about 6 months.

Could a dealer sell me an extended warranty now, given the low miles?

ANY viable thoughts appreciated....

[jdwall1013]

I would change the battery to an infiniti battery and you can purchase an extended warranty from the infiniti from the $1200-$1600 range depending if you want a deductable or not. It will be the best investment for your car and pay for itself. I had a battery problem before with interstate battery so I got one from the dealer and took the other back and got a refund.

[maxnix]

If you are on the original battery, your are 6 months to 1 year overdue.

Letting a battery become weak stresses the alternator as it struggles to provide the power at low rpms especially. This leads to premature alternator failure.

[M45Caliber]

The previous owner obviously replaced the original battery and my "guess" is around a year ago. This was a So.Cal car, and that climate is the easiest in the free world on batteries, with lows in the 40's and high's in the 80's (mostly!) all year.

This battery looks new, but then the car was detailed prior to my purchase. SOmeone stated that I could buy an extended warranty -- please confirm this is so. Although my car currently has 33K documented miles on it, it is 6 months past the 4 year old mark -- so it is OUT of the factory warranty period. I thought I still had to be covered under the factory waranty in order to get the extended warranty.

Also, I was cruising on the freeway at about 75 or 80, so the rpm's were not low (about 2800?). I would think the alternator could keep up with demand at highway speeds? I will go get it checked out again. Dang it all boys -- them thar Interstates is good enuff for the boys in NASCAR, yewd think my rice-mobile would do jus fine wit one, woodentya?

[S_Klass]

This battery looks new, but then the car was detailed prior to my purchase. SOmeone stated that I could buy an extended warranty -- please confirm this is so.

You can buy an extended warranty on just about any car as long as it isn't real old or has high miles. The caveat to this is that if you purchase an extended warranty when the car is OUT of factory warranty, the places try to gouge you for it - assuming automatically that something is dreadfully wrong with your car.