A3 Which Battery -- Audi honor VW battery warranty?

Craigster91

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Location
SoCal
TDI
2012 A3 TDI
So, I have a 2012 TDI A3. As with others, I bought it when they came back on the market in 2019 after having been all taken off the market for Dieselgate, retrofitted by VW and sent out to auction. I bought from a local 3rd party dealer in May 2019.

The battery has failed. According to VW's website, their factory replacement batteries are fully warrantied for 3 years (36 mon.) Mine is dated 2/19 (34 months), and my purchased was in May 2019 (31 months). So, it should be covered, right?

Well, after a WEEK, Audi has determined that they will not cover the VW warranty.
Hopefully tomorrow I can get it to a VW dealer who will honor it.

So, whether VW honors the warranty or if not, and I go to O'Reilly's or similar, what specs are best for the TDI A3?
Here's my thoughts, unless you with more experience recommend otherwise:
- H6/Group Size 48
- 700+ CCA
- AGM

Thanks for any input.
 

JELLOWSUBMARINE

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Location
yes
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen, 6M, red/tan, navi, pano, 83 5m diesel pickup, 82 p/u trailer,.04 5.5 TDI Passat wagon (gone), 80,81,82 diesel p/u (gone), 80,82 sportruck (gone), 59 passthru bus (long gone), 79&87 westy (gone), 57 baja bug (long gone), 73 914
When I got my CPO home it went dead the next morning. On the previous CPO paperwork check boxes the charging system was great (who knows if it was even checked). The battery was noted however that it had to be jumped...
I bought the best appropriate AGM battery and requested the service dept cover cost. They had no issue doing it (Walnut Creek VW)
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Battery only has that warrenty if you purchase the vehicle, or the battery new. If it's put in before.. 90 days. What I got is an Odyssey Battery 48-720T Group Size 48 723 CCA. Basically second best agm on the market. Through AutoZone. Had to be ordered and prepay.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
@Craigster91 with a diesel cca really means squat. Need a high reserve capacity. You've got Glowplug drawing also. Interstate also makes a similar mtx-48 h6. A little cheaper. Both 3 year warrenty, should last 5 if cared for. An agm also has a higher resting voltage.
 

Craigster91

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Location
SoCal
TDI
2012 A3 TDI
So, what is the VW battery warranty then on new batteries that VW put in TDIs (including Audi's) to get them back on the market?

Regarding Reserve Capacity, the 2 I'm looking at via O'Reilly's are 120 min. and 115 minute. I see one at Auto Zone with 130 minute RC. Seems to be the range for Group H6/Size 48 batteries.
 
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Craigster91

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Location
SoCal
TDI
2012 A3 TDI
On the local Audi site, the only battery mentioned for my TDI A3 (and 5 other Audi Models) is only 380CCs (DIN spec, apparently, as this can't be SAE spec -- minimum 640), and is not AGM. So, I'm confused about what the car requires, or what is optimal. Looks like 72 AH. Turns out it is the identical one that VW sells just rebadged (which is in my car, that Audi won't honor the warranty for!).

 
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DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
So, what is the VW battery warranty then on new batteries that VW put in TDIs (including Audi's) to get them back on the market?

Regarding Reserve Capacity, the 2 I'm looking at via O'Reilly's are 120 min. and 115 minute. Seemingly the highest.
I'm confused by your comment about CCA not being relevant. What is the basis of comparison for expected longevity?
Basically the higher cca the battery the less it lasts. You can crank on a battery with a higher RC longer. Think sprinter vs track runner. 1/8 mile drag vs 1/2 mike. Battery thread
 

Craigster91

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Location
SoCal
TDI
2012 A3 TDI
So, the Audi dealer won't honor the 3-year VW warranty in spite of the fact that it is the IDENTICAL battery spec'd and sold by Audi -- because of the VW sticker on it.

So, finally, I was able to talk with the service manager at VW. They will ordinarily honor the warranty (i.e. mine failed within 36 months of my purchase of the car and the battery sticker). However, what is required is a paper trail. I would have had to buy the car from their dealership (which would have installed the battery and would have the paper trail) or for me to pursue it from where I purchased it. In my case -- and likely thousands of other TDI purchases in the past 3 years who bought "fixed" TDI's after Dieselgate -- we have no papertrail. It's an impossible requirement for this scenario.

To my reasoned understanding: VW kept the cars off the market for 2 years (due to hearings, lawsuits, fixing the cars, etc.), installed new batteries among improved equipment, sent them to Audi (or VW) dealerships for testing (according to my CarFax), and to auctions to be sold by dealers (in many cases non-Audi/VW 3rd party dealers like mine). So, VW national installed the batteries, not a local dealer, definitely not the purchaser. Naturally, none of us buyers have the battery receipts. So, the local dealers cannot get reimbursed from VW national without the paper trail. So, they cannot honor the warranty, lest they merely give away freebies.

My only avenue (for which I don't have time now, but someone else in a similar situation may) is to contact VW of America and seek pre-approval for warranty coverage from them. Then the dealer, knowing they can get reimbursed, can warranty the replacement battery. Otherwise, we are simply in a Catch-22.

Or you can do what I'm forced into: Paying $450 for new Battery ($168 plus tax) and installation and reprogramming ($267 incl tax). Only pursuing because I have a $100 discount coupon (So, $250), and I cannot find another solution for less money that includes a quality battery plus installation and BEM coding. Seems to be a cost of continuance with Audi.
 

Ragdude

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2021
Location
Phx
TDI
2015 VW Golf SEL TDi
Or you can do what I'm forced into: Paying $450 for new Battery ($168 plus tax) and installation and reprogramming ($267 incl tax). Only pursuing because I have a $100 discount coupon (So, $250), and I cannot find another solution for less money that includes a quality battery plus installation and BEM coding. Seems to be a cost of continuance with Audi.
What?? $267. for install/programming?? Get yourself a multi system scanner from Amazon (mine was $139.) and do it yourself.
 

DSIre

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2004
Location
Dumont NJ
TDI
2004 Golf TDI (sold), 2011 A3 TDI, 2015 A3 TDI (Returned)
No reprogramming required. Roll the windows up and down, and the sunroof to reset the pinch protection. Reset the clock.
It's a 10 minute job to swap the battery.
 

Ragdude

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2021
Location
Phx
TDI
2015 VW Golf SEL TDi
No reprogramming required. Roll the windows up and down, and the sunroof to reset the pinch protection. Reset the clock.
It's a 10 minute job to swap the battery.
I didn't even need to reset clock
 

BK97

Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Location
Ottawa ON Canada
TDI
2011 Audi A3 TDI Premium
I bought a new battery (2nd for the car) and floormats with the $500 "sorry money" from an Audi dealer back when Dieselgate broke pre-fix. When that battery started to go I went back to Audi and bought another one (my 3rd) and they offered me like $30 back once I brought the 2nd one back, essentially a pro-rated warranty rebate; it was cheaper than getting another battery elsewhere. I installed them myself. The slightly bigger battery is worth it obviously but tough to fit and made the install for a novice like me difficult. They have Audi stickers on them.
 
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