Jumping a dead battery with the Q5 TDI

So I'm feeling pretty foolish. After more than 5 years, the orignial battery in my 2010 Jetta TDI finally dies. I go to jump start it with the Q5. Turns out the battery connections are at the back of the engine, by the windshield. You need a crate to stand on unless you're tall. Also, the connections for the battery are confusing. The red cable on my Jetta is positive, but the red on the Q5 is negative. I accidentally reversed positive and negative when I hooked up the jumper cables. When the Jetta wouldn't turn over, I realized what had happend. Fortunately, I did no damage to either car's electrical system. The jumper cable sure got hot, though. In addition, it's hard to actually hook the jumper cable to the posts on the Q5. There's a plastic cover that I had to place between the jumper cables to keep them from touching. Anyway, that is my biggest complaint about the Q5 so far.

I have never seen a red negative.

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So, as it turns out, the owner's manual was not very clear in terms of hooking up jumper cables to the Q5. The actual battery is below the spare tire in the rear. The positive and negative posts are in the engine compartment in completely separate areas. It's good to know this before you need to jump a battery. Lesson learned.