Dead battery advice

My Gen 1 Touraeg is at the dealer, ready to be turned in but the battery is dead.

I jumped it this morning to get it to the dealer but it won't hold a charge.

The dealer wants $500 for the battery and installation. I don't want to spend this, especially for a car that I will never see again.

I can install the battery myself but the question is where can I find a very cheap battery that will fit under the seat of the Touraeg.

I found one in Sam's club for $150. They said they would do the install too.
But some other member in the forum said they could get a used one for $50.

Install into a Touraeg, under the seat?

Yes, pain in the ass under the seat.

How long did it sit and how often did you charge?

Just jump it and leave it running at the dealer when you bring it in. Tell The buyback specialist that it has a weak battery and they should not turn it off. You will be just fine. I did this with two cars already.

Tried that. They wouldn't fall for it.

petron5000 said:

Tried that. They wouldn't fall for it.

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The buyback specialist told you that it needs to have a charged battery? Dealership itself has no say in this. You can also have the buyback person call their supervisor to confirm or deny this.

Just make sure to be nice to them and don't make a scene.

The buyback person told me that the car needs to start on its own to "get on the truck."

Clamp a cheap jump pack to the posts under the hood. Unless the battery is totally shot that will do it long enough for the buyback. They don't check under the hood. Once it's bought back it's their problem.

Except you could probably find a used battery for less cost than a jump pack.

I've never hit the 'under the seat' thing on a VW, but on Mercedes, there is absolutely nothing special or unique about the battery, other than were it sits . . . Just a vent hose you connect to get any gases to go down and out, as is the case for a lot of batteries under the hood these days. Check around - if you can find something cheap that is the same size physically, that should do it. Even if it won't bolt down . . .

My local Interstate battery store sold me a reconditioned battery for about $75. You might try them if you have a local store. All they do is vehicle batteries; they should have something around used that would work for a few starts.

bherman said:

My local Interstate battery store sold me a reconditioned battery for about $75. You might try them if you have a local store. All they do is vehicle batteries; they should have something around used that would work for a few starts.

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Yup thats THE cheapest option. They are usually good batteries btw

You can go to your local junkyard and probably pick up something for $25 or so.

Not sure if OP already turned his vehicle in. It is amazing what a battery tender can do sometimes if left connected for several days.

If it was me I would try to locate a used battery that could pass a load test.
Basically you need a battery to last a few days until buyback.
If I could not find a good used one I would think any inexpensive battery that would physically fit in the battery space should do the job for at least a week.

I've "saved" an old battery by opening up the sealed caps and discovering the electrolyte level was low. I was able to fill up the cells with distilled water, place on a charger and the battery came back to be useful again. YMMV

What the heck kind of battery installed from the dealer costs $500?.