When I turn the ignition on, it'll make a noise and lose 'charge', then upon the next turn of the ignition, it'll make a noise and lose more charge, until all you can hear is the clicking sounds ... It's become more frequent in the last few weeks that I've had to get a jump start or charge my battery [with my step-dad's battery charging thing] before I can get my car to run. Initially, it would 'die' on me within a week ... now it's within every 2nd day ... to now, practically almost every morning. I was going to buy a battery today and get my cousin to fit it in ... but last night, while driving home I noticed the lights flicker [this has happened twice since I bought the car 2 years ago]. I haven't noticed my headlights getting brighter (yet?). I have, however, noticed some loss of power when driving. The first time I noticed this was months ago, but I didn't think it would be the alternator. I would have thought that the last time I had my car serviced, that they would have done some tests to make sure the whole engine was working fine etc [i had a major service the last time I brought it into the garage]. The last time I thought my car was losing power was when I was driving on the freeway, when it felt like it was a bit of an effort for my car to get from 60km p/h onward ... but I wasn't quite sure if I was noticing correctly as I had the music up. As for whether the flickering lights happen randomly ... it does actually happen randomly. It doesn't necessarily happen during revving or slowing down or whatever ... and it hasn't happened often enough for me to think much of it. Also, by flickering I mean that my lights go out and back on for a split second. So if I do end up bringing it to a Toyota service center, they'll be able to recondition the alternator? *this is why I need a man ...... among other things*