Battery Replaced Today

My wife had the JSW at the tennis club and it wouldn't start after she played. I called AAA and they were there in about 35 minutes. They replaced the battery for $154, total.

The guy assured us it was a VW TDI spec battery and the amperage was actually more than that of the old battery. My wife had to wait a total of a little over an hour at the club and there were no complications, warning lights, etc. after the replacement so, while expensive compared to what I'm used to, it was very simple and convenient.

Original Battery ?? Miles on the car ??

I am assuming it was the original battery-we bought it January 2013 when it had about 25K on it-now it has 47K.

In order to properly test a battery, you must first fully charge it (preferably at a low charge current) and then follow up with a load test. There is no way the AAA had enough time to do that in that short time period. Your wife most likely left a light on, drained the battery, and got hustled. I wasn't there, but that is my assessment based on the info given.

Tintman718 said:

In order to properly test a battery, you must first fully charge it (preferably at a low charge current) and then follow up with a load test. There is no way the AAA had enough time to do that in that short time period. Your wife most likely left a light on, drained the battery, and got hustled. I wasn't there, but that is my assessment based on the info given.

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This may be true, but how many people actually do this? The quickest and easiest solution was the one taken. If it were my wife with the kids with the same scenario, I'd do the same thing. Some OEM batteries last 5-7 years and some crap out after 3 years. One never can tell.

Dragoncoach said:

This may be true, but how many people actually do this? The quickest and easiest solution was the one taken. If it were my wife with the kids with the same scenario, I'd do the same thing. Some OEM batteries last 5-7 years and some crap out after 3 years. One never can tell.

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Any reputable service station should be properly testing a battery.
The quickest and easiest solution is not the smartest or most affordable solution.
And yes, you can tell! That's what the load test is for; to test the performance of the battery.

Tintman718 said:

Any reputable service station should be properly testing a battery.
The quickest and easiest solution is not the smartest or most affordable solution.
And yes, you can tell! That's what the load test is for; to test the performance of the battery.

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Yes, but his wife was stranded. My first concern would be to get the car running so she could get home. Your solution is spot on but sometimes not quite practical in this case. Maybe a jump was in order and may have been a better short term solution but IF the battery was indeed bad, the car may have died again on the drive home. Hopefully they won't experience any more problems and the battery was the problem.

It way daytime so no lights were left on. Even so, she played tennis for two hours, not really enough time for something like an interior light to drain a battery. This battery was most likely the original so it was three to four years old, a decent life for a battery nowadays.

The AAA guy did a test with print-out and determined that it was a defective battery. So, with a trip to Phoenix coming up, the battery being that old and going dead in the daytime, I was leaning toward a new battery anyway. With the AAA guy doing the test (he was the battery, not tow, guy so he may have been able put a quick charge on it) and replacing it with a battery of higher amperage than the original, I'm OK with the outcome. He pointed out to my wife that both batterys had the same stock # even though the new one actually had more amperage. Strange. And thankfully, there have been no further issues with the battery in 5 days of driving.

And it's in Texas too... not the coolest place ya know
Remember heat kills batteries. A typical car battery only lasts ~2 years in Phoenix AZ

My 2011 VW JSW OEM battery lasted until 71,000 miles (+,-)

Salty Dog X said:

My 2011 VW JSW OEM battery lasted until 71,000 miles (+,-)

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How many years and what is the weather like where you are?

Most modern batteries work fine and then the next time you try to start your car, they are dead. So a lack of warning symptoms doesn't mean that something was wrong with your battery. Over five years old and your car doesn't start? Just replace so you won't be stuck some place late at night with no cell coverage.

Mine gave up the ghost an hour ago. It gave a (first ever) hesitant start, so I drove straight to the dealer and bought a new one. Luckily I didn't have to be anywhere because it wouldn't start in the dealer parking lot. The service guy at Findlay VW was nice enough to install it for free, so props to them for a pleasant surprise. The new one was $136 with tax.

59500 miles on my 2010. The original battery lasted exactly 4 years in the Vegas heat. One hell of a battery.

Mine lasted a little over 4 yrs, replaced it this summer. Just didn't start one day, jumped it and was ok for around town but dead in the morning. Replaced with a new one from the dealer for $120. Batteries at the parts stores were around $150

ATR said:

How many years and what is the weather like where you are?

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38 months. 90-95 degree summers. Some trips to Arizona or Nevada during the summers with 105 degree plus temps.


Sent from my Kawasaki Ultra LX

Battery failures in diesels are common. It is prudent to replace the battery between three and four years. Sam's Club sells good batteries for TDI.

When changing the battery ,do you need to do anything to reset the car computer systems? In other words do you need a VAG.?

showdown 42 said:

When changing the battery ,do you need to do anything to reset the car computer systems? In other words do you need a VAG.?

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No, we had no issues whatsoever.

Mine gave me an ESP warning, and one for the steering wheel, but they both went away after a minute or so.

Tuco said:

Mine gave me an ESP warning, and one for the steering wheel, but they both went away after a minute or so.

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When disconnecting the battery, you'll also have to roll the windows fully up and down before the auto up and down will work.

All in all, it's not bad. I know a lot of vehicles that require you to enter in your radio codes whenever the battery is disconnected (or drained)

My oem battery went out on me after about 3 years. Went to try and start it up one cold morning and it wouldn't start. Got a jump and right after work I went and got a new AGM battery. Turns out one of the cells in my OEM battery failed somehow and boiled out about 1/4 of it's content.