It could be as simple as a poor cable connection as others have mentioned, but I can't get out of my mind that you've had the car 3 1/2 years with that 'unknown date' battery.
In other words, most batteries have a useful life of 4 maybe 5 years and yours is likely in that range. I'd be leaning toward an exhausted battery.
Since the dash lights go out I'm with everyone else, dirty battery cables. What they didn't tell you is to clean the insides of the cables and the terminals with a wire brush or scrap it with a knife.
Install a new battery and clean the cables. Be done with it and move on.
clean the cables
and have the battery tested
check your cables first.
I drive a 2002 Chevy Impala. It was running fine until this morning when I went to start it, and the car wouldn't start. The lights, radio, etc. come on when I put the key in, but when I turn the key in the ignition to start it, nothing happens. There is no sound of the starter struggling to start, it just goes quiet and all of the lights on the dash go out except for the check engine light.
Any ideas on what could be causing this? I'm not a car expert, but my impression is that it's a battery problem. If I'm not hearing the starter struggling to kick on, it makes me feel like it's not the starter itself. I got the car 3 1/2 years ago and have never replaced the battery in that time, so is there a good chance it may have a dead cell or similar problem? Or does it sound more like an issue with the starter or alternator?
Just seeing if there's anything I can do to try and fix it before taking it to a garage where I'll end up paying a ton of money for repairs, even if it's a simpler fix.
