2013 SportWagen difficult starting?

Hello there, new to the site and a complete virgin VW owner. Picked up a sweet little red 2013 sportwagen turbo diesel /w 42k miles and I am experiencing a start up issue.

Car will have a labored/slow crank two or three times and peter out as if battery is dying. Ill wait a few seconds, try again, and it may not fire again. Sometimes taking 2 or 3 cycles to finally get it to fire up. First inclination would be bad battery or starter relay but I admit I am woefully ignorant of diesel vehicles which is sort of why I wanted to get into this car, to challenge myself a little bit. I just hope I didnt get in over my head buying this car as is. I really like it and besides the starting issue I feel like it was a good buy, i just need to figure this little goblin out. Checking the battery voltage a little later today...

Not throwing a check engine light but the display does say to "service now"

First click of the key in the ignition (before starting) does display a engine light AND battery light. What do you guys think? Can I go to like Oreilys and have them check for codes even if the engine light isnt on? Please advise, thanks in advance!

Not to rain on your parade, but this posting is in the wrong thread. It should be in the GOLF thread which includes your vehicle.

It would appear i was wrong? My car is actually a Jetta, Idk why I thought it was a Passat haha, feel free to delete.

Jetta_Pilot said:

Not to rain on your parade, but this posting is in the wrong thread. It should be in the GOLF thread which includes your vehicle.

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I'll rain on your parade, a 2013 is a Jetta Sportwagen which is Mk5 hardware

Also to the OP, I'll help him while he's here.

What the outside temps recently? hovering around freezing? it may be iced up inter cooler that plagued Gen 1 cars since day one. If the car runs but dies 10-15 seconds, id wager iced inter cooler.

if the battery can't crank the engine over to run, then yeah bad battery, my 2010 lasted month longer than 4 years. Dealer or local auto parts store is worthwhile to source a replacement.

Get a good battery, high cc amps- AGM is what I prefer as our cars place a huge load on the battery