Long gone are the days that you could pop down to Millfield Autos (Hello Peterborough!), pick up a £35 battery for your 1985 Fiesta Mk2 1.1 Ghia and swap it out in the car park quicker than it would take to fill up at 62p/ litre (those were the days).
In fact, not only could I be paying over £200 (what the actual f**k?!) for a battery, you might have to get it coded to the car.
With this utter stupidity in mind, we’ve put together an article dedicated to swapping out the battery in your VW / Audi / Seat / Skoda. For the record, I’ll be using my 2015 Skoda VRS DSG diesel (start/stop) as an example. This is quite a common engine in the VAG range (2.0L diesel) so it should be a good insight into what you should expect, both for your wallet and sanity.
What battery do you need?
The battery code should be visible somewhere on the battery. For my VRS, the battery code is 096. You could also check with your main dealer or put your registration number into eurocarparts and it should spit out a battery suggestion and code number.
You should take the measurements of the battery to make sure it will fit if you opt to source one yourself.
Many VAG cars have stop/start technology that demands greater performance and higher CCA (cold cranking amps). For these vehicles, we would highly recommend that you opt for an AGM battery.
What is an AGM Battery?
AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Mat. These batteries were developed in the 80’s for use by the military. They offer greater performance for modern cars compared to “standard” batteries.
An AGM battery has a very low internal resistance and is capable of delivering high currents on demand. They offer a long service life, even when deep cycled and is maintenance free.
AGM batteries are the prefered choice for cars with a start-stop, traditional batteries are simply not robust enough and repeated cycling causes a sharp capacity fade after only two years of use
Should I buy a battery from a main dealer?
That’s a hard NO. My Skoda dealership, Wings Skoda Peterborough quoted me over £293.74 to replace the battery in my Mk3 Skoda Octavia VRS. Yes, you read that right! Nearly £300. I also enquired about having them code a battery if I fit one myself, that was £52.50. F**king crazy!
Where should I buy my battery from?
Once you have the battery code for your battery you’re pretty much free to buy your battery from any supplier. Just make sure it’s the right size (dimensions).
We’ve found that Amazon offers some very competitive batteries with free delivery for Prime members. As with any purchase from Amazon, be sure to check the feedback and reviews for Marketplace sellers. We try and buy from Amazon themselves i.e. “Dispatched from and sold by Amazon”.
You should also check TPS, Eurocarparts and Halfords. Please let us know in the comments any other suggestions
Why are batteries so expensive?
Batteries for newer cars have to deal with the demands for higher loads that are associated with modern cars, thus batteries for modern cars must offer great performance. AGM batteries are more expensive to manufacture and are therefore even more expensive than traditional battery technology.
Why do have to have my battery coded to my car?
ECU keeps a record of the charging history and the state of the battery. This is important for vehicles that have start/stop.
Coding a new battery tells the car the battery is new and to forget the history of charging. It will then monitor the new one from a blank history and help ensure the lifetime and performance of the newly installed battery. This is especially important with AGM batteries as they are sensitive to overcharging and undercharging.
Can I code my battery myself?
Yes, you can code it yourself. We’re still putting together a step by step guide but there are a couple of resources that might help
http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Battery_Replacement
For my Skoda Octavia VRS Mk3, I reached out to the owners club Facebook group and was humbled by the number of offers from people offering to code it for me. We will be buying an ODBEleven to code this and we’ll be sure to create a guide.
Let’s hear from you?
Have you had a bad experience with swapping the battery in your VAG vehicle? Do you offer battery coding services? How many batteries have you gone through over the years? Let us know in the comments below
Notes.
This guide might be helpful for owners looking for battery information for their VW Golf, Audi A3, Audi A4, VW Polo, Skoda Fabia, Skoda Octavia, VW Pasat, Audi A6, Audi Diesel, VW Diesel, Skoda Diesel
Never heard of ‘battery coding’ A car battery is just a voltage source?
I had mine swapped at a local tyre and exhaust place with no issues at all. I paid about €120 a couple of years ago for mine. They did connect a backup battery to the OBD2 port which preserved the settings on things like MPG etc. But I’ve disconnected the battery myself in the past whilst away and left it on a solar panel trickle charger whilst we were on holiday for 7 weeks! Reconnected it no issues apart from having to reset the clock etc.
lucky person. let me tell you off my experience on a nearly new car. skoda octavia 1.6 crtdi on a 69 plate. just bought it with 61 miles on clock. and the drive home was fantastic. mph great,digital oil temp fluctuating inbetween 88-93. perfect.after getting home. i thought i,d have a play with stereo settings . after 10 mins battery were going flat. i wasnt that bothered as its been an ex demo car just sat around for 1 and a half yrs. went back to skoda and they changed it for me no problem. didnt notice at 1st till following morning. its like the cars completely different. here goes with my problems. the stop start dosent stop start. and no theres no electrical things turned on before you ask.the digital oil temp rise,s to 107 degrees, my fuel mpg has gone terrible. my cars coolant seems to get to 90 degrees quicker, my climatonic seems different settings.my cruise control sometimes work. its like its a completely different car. i went back to skoda and theyve re booked it in for thursday. like they say ? all they did was change the battery ? ive heard if you dont re programme the battery it can send all settings out including fuel air mixture. that might be why my temps have gone higher and my fuels gone shocking. that is the only thing i can come up with that makes any sence but surely skoda would have programed it ? ? ? who knows. i,ll find out on thurday
Hi all
Octavia vrs tdi 2015. Had my battery replaced at Halfords. Didn’t have a skoda code even though I asked before purchasing and inputted a vw code. I drove away with lights on the dash which they said would go out after about 15 minutes driving. I drove about 15 yards and they went out. I however noticed no convenience function operation on the drivers window. No stop start. Lights flickering and excessive fuel useage. Should say it wasn’t local to where I am right now. I booked in at the local store who told me it hadn’t been coded at all but they assured me it had now but the problems persist. Car is now going in for a full diagnostics at the local Autocentre. Here’s hoping if not I will be going to skoda. The car has always been to the main dealers for everything except tyres from the day I bought it brand new. Wish I’d gone there for the battery now due to all the aggravation and upset. I’ll advise the outcome and hopefully Halfords will sort it.
I coded my new battery on my Skoda 2016 Yeti. It has Stop/Start and I changed the battery type from EFB to AGM. It is a very simple process and takes about a minute. I’ve had VCDS for years and it has paid for itself over that time in fault finding and general servicing. Example a couple of months ago the engine management light came up, scanned it and found the secondary lambda sensor had failed. A quick swap out, fault reset and sorted. How much would a garage of charged ? That’s just one example out of many.
I live in east London and would gladly help any local people out with battery coding on VAG vehicles, they can do the actual battery swap and I’ll code it.
Hi Paul. I have to change my old battery on my Seat Leon MK2 2.0 TFSI.
Can you help me?
I also need some advice with the battery tipe.
I live in Eastham.
Thanks
Alex
My VW Arteon series 1 (2019) wouldn’t start, the engine turned over but didn’t start, I used a battery booster pack and the engine started, not wanting to get stranded I tested the battery with a battery tester that checks both voltage and resistance this told me the battery had now gone bad and needed replacement, the car wasn’t three years old and only has 28k miles on it ! I had purchased a car from a main dealer less than 2 years ago with only 6k miles on the clock so not sure how long it was sitting around and unused so no history of the batteries condition , I had noticed that the start stop wasn’t working like it used to so I’m guessing the car was keeping things going behind the scenes.
Time to purchase a new battery ! I ordered one from EBay to install myself as I have the facility to code the battery to the car with a Carista ODB2 ( I also have a VCDS but it’s so easy with the Carista).
After installing the battery and coding it threw lots of faults up ( around 8 I think ) but after clearing the faults on the Carista the car had no fault codes on the dash, the car needed to be driven to prove all was ok ……….. wow the car FDA’s different not sure why but everything seemed to work better ! I thought it was the placebo effect but it really was better ! Car started faster , fuel economy was better , even the DAB radio was better ! The more I thought about it the more I remember this car is full of electronic items , too many to mention but there is lots !
I would never have thought a battery was so important to a modern car but the proof is in the pudding ( results ) change that battery before it lets you down !
Ps I did change the original Vatara battery for the latest Vatara version as I didn’t want to complicate things with coding ect.