06bluebeetletdi
Veteran Member
tdiDreaming, do you lock the car every night? That could account for the shorter battery life.
How long did your battery last?
- Thread starter CNNPress
- Start date
Rico567
Top Post Dawg
Our Passat (SEL with KESSY) is locked at all times when it's not being driven. We bought it new in July '13, and it still has the OEM battery, now going into its 5th winter.....
tdiDreaming
Active member
It's garage kept while at home so I typically do not lock it. The ONLY thing I can think of is that this might be due to the type of driving I typically have to suffer through, although I was tackling this similar drive in my MkIV Jetta and didn't have the same issue:
-40 mile (one way) commute
-average commute time (one way) of about 1hr, 15 minutes in stop and go traffic
-I also tend to make at least a couple of phone calls during the drive via the BT connection but I can't imagine this playing that big of a factor (??)
Sad to announce the original battery gave up the ghost last night after seven years and a month. Car's got 120,000 km on it.
Replaced with a Canadian Tire Motomaster of slightly larger capacity for 158$ with the taxes.
Yours
Vern
Replaced with a Canadian Tire Motomaster of slightly larger capacity for 158$ with the taxes.
Yours
Vern
mickyTDI
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2003
- Location
- Longford, Ireland
Our 12 year old Passat still going on original battery.
dak503
Active member
My 2013 TDI is still on it's original battery with a 105 k. I carry a jump box waited for the day it dies.
Fixmy59bug
Veteran Member
I just replaced my battery last week in my 2015 Passat.
Original battery with a date stamp of 0815 (February 2015).
Original battery with a date stamp of 0815 (February 2015).
mickyTDI
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2003
- Location
- Longford, Ireland
Didn't last long!
Fixmy59bug
Veteran Member
Well... to be fair for one it was sitting for a year while dieselgate got rolling, and two I live in the desert where it frequently tops 110* in the summer.
4 years is about average here in Las Vegas.
4 years is about average here in Las Vegas.
06bluebeetletdi
Veteran Member
I replaced the bug’s battery in January 2018, it died a little less than a year later in my brother’s 2004 jetta. The Passat’s original battery is still going in my dad’s diesel combination.
soot1
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2009
- Location
- Houston, TX
- TDI
- Currently none. Formerly: 2010 VW Jetta TDI 6M, 1993 Dodge Ram W250 Cummins 5M 4WD, 1990 VW Jetta Diesel 5M, 1986 VW Jetta Diesel 5M, 1980 VW Uabbit Diesel 4M. Currently driving 2018 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4WD.
I had the same experience with my 2010 Jetta. I took delivery of the vehicle in early October of 2009 in Pennsylvania, and moved to Houston 3 weeks later. The vehicle was built in June of that year, and the OEM battery gave up on me in August of 2014, so if you go by the build date, the battery lasted 5 years and 2 months. If you go by the delivery date, then its lifespan was 4 years and 10 months. When I checked with my coworkers, that seemed to be about average car battery lifespan for this climatic zone. In contrast, my brother lives in much cooler climate of Central Europe, and he can easily get 10 years of service out of his batteries, which would support the common experience that hot climate has significant impact on lifespan of car batteries. BTW, I didn't have the chance to see how long the second battery in my Jetta lasted as I turned it back to VW in July of 2018, at which point it had clocked in close to 4 years of service, and it was an OEM battery from VW dealer.
Fixmy59bug
Veteran Member
If they tested it and it was above minimum spec, then they wouldnt replace it.Your's was a NOS correct? If only the stupid dealerdid a proper prep and change out the battery before selling it.
I mean, it lasted an additional two years.
Besides... I got a free battery while I worked there. So I cant complain.
Not too long before I quit, a customer brought in a 2002 Jetta with 52,000 miles on it (you might remember that thread) and the customer wanted us (them) to go through it and see what it needed to get back on the road. The battery was completely dead so first we had to install a battery just to see if it would run and pull any diag codes. Customer approved the battery and it turns out it was suggested abut $5,000 in repairs (to include a turbo).
After about 3 months, the customer fought and said she wanted her car back. She cant afford to do any of the repairs. And if she wasnt getting it fixed, she didnt want the battery either. After some fighting with the service manager and general manager, the battery was taken out and put in the scrap pile because it couldnt be sold as new anymore. Why we didnt bill it to a used car, I dont know. But I'm not going to complain about it.
I asked my manager if I could exchange one of my battery cores for that core and he didnt care as long as he had a core.
So, score for me. I put it on a charger and it measures over 700 mah. I've been storing it for about a year before my original battery died.
Smashed Ixnay
Veteran Member
Bought my car in Dec 2017 and just changed the battery. No idea how old it was though. Ended up just getting one from the dealer while they were servicing the car.
740GLE
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2009
- Location
- NH
- TDI
- 2017 Alltrack SE; Totaled 2015 Passat SEL, BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat SE w/ Nav,
Agreed and that's why I fought with them to replace it regardless of their test. They ate the $200 cost they would have charged to replace it. Sure they lost out on $200 but they still held their line for MSRP + dealer and doc fees minus the VWoA rebates, they made a killing on us in a time they couldn't move a '17 passat any where near MSRP.
VWoA would have authorized a replacement if they failed it, same with rotors and pads.
Sadly all 4 rotors grew deposits, 30K for the front 40K for rears, fronts haven been changed out by me and I'll be tackling the rears possibly this weekend, so about $200 out of my pocket.
Bought my Passat new Oct of 2013, build date of Feb 2013. Just now replaced the battery, I left it at an airport for 5 days, it was a little slow to crank. Had it tested, it was at 65% load capacity after a 2 hour drive. Rather safe than sorry, I dropped a new one in.