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It's normal, it's the same on mine.

Just checked today, the new battery is 12.7V. I started the car, went for a half an hour drive and at the end, checked the voltage while in idle and it was 14.14V, I increased the rpm and it went up to 14.27V - so it seems that the alternator is ok?

From what I've read, the model of Rapid with Start-Stop has something like a 70Ah battery, whereas the one without it has a 36Ah battery - that's quite a difference, I understand that Start-Stop drains the battery more, but it also means that the larger battery is more tolerant to colder weather for example, especially if you don't Start-Stop often? I was thinking about getting a Ctek charger to top it up from time, just wasn't sure if it was worth the effort. Another thing I noticed now with a new battery, the headlights are brighter. Before, they weren't as bright and were more yellow, I remember driving at night and thinking that something is not right, I even checked the bulbs etc, but in the end it was all related to the battery - I thought that the alternator powers the lights while the car is on, why would a new (or old) battery have an impact on headlights? I'm going to check the voltage with the engine running tomorrow to see how much is the alternator giving, what are normal values for the 1.2 TSI?

Ok, so it seems that topping it up didn't help in extending its life past 5 years. It probably doesn't hurt to top it up, but it doesn't seem to extend its life either. I guess that the alternator does a good job of charging the battery and top up might only be required if the car will stayed parked up for a while.

Does anyone use a charger like Ctek or similar to top up their battery from time to time? Last week, I had my battery go flat. Actually, the car has been showing "Service Now" for some time, I figured that they forgot to reset the service indicator while I was at service last time, I was going to go to the service when I had some time, but last week I went for a short drive, the car was outside at above freezing temperatures, it started fine, I went to a shopping centre for a few hours, went to start the car, the engine turned over twice and didn't start. After that it turned only once and then the engine wouldn't turn any more - typical flat battery. The battery is five and a half years old. The car is usually in a garage, so being outdoor at colder temperatures must have caused the battery to drop in capacity enough for the car not to start. I started it with jumper cables hooked up to another car, drove it home (10 minute drive), keeping rpm higher than usual to charge it. Parked it in the garage, next day is started without issues, but I went straight to the dealer to see if they can test the battery. Of course, they were busy and told me that I would have to wait half a day, I figured I'll just buy a new battery. Now for the interesting part, my 1.2 TSI, without Start-Stop, had a 36Ah, 175A DIN, 300A battery (1S0 915 105). A new battery of the same spec would cost around 115EUR, but in their catalog Skoda had an original 44Ah, 200A DIN, 360A for 75EUR (model JZW 915 105 C). I asked why is the better battery cheaper, they said that if they were to service the car, they are only allowed to put in an exact replacement battery, but I can put in any battery I want. So I purchased the 44Ah battery, put it in and I don't have "Service Now" coming up every time I start the car, so the old battery must have been getting old. Is five and a half years normal for a car battery to die? I have a feeling that on my previous cars the battery last longer. The new battery is slightly longer, so the heatshield does not fit on it, I attached the old heatshield and fixed it in place with cable ties. A new one would cost 25EUR, which is too much - do I even need it? Some say that heat from the engine and especially the turbo can reduce battery life? For the past few days I've read up a lot of stuff about car batteries and I see that some recommend to perform a top up charge on monthly basis to perform "desulphation" of the car battery, with something like a Ctek. This charger costs like a new battery, is it worthwhile getting one? Does anyone top up their battery with a charger? I don't drive my car often, I walk to work, but it's driven on a highway often, so I reckon that the battery gets charged during those drives. Lastly, I reckon that if they put in something a bit larger than a 36Ah battery, it would last longer, because if it lost a bit of capacity due to cold weather, it would still start. I can't believe that a 36A battery is enough for a car like this.

Just to update, I had a look at the fuses and a number of smaller sized fuses started coming loose and were sitting at a slight angle, and one of them fell out and was hanging on by one leg of the fuse. I pushed them all back in and now Traction Control is working again and I can enable/disable it with the push of the button on the centre console. Moral of the story, might not be a bad idea to check the fuses from time to time. The big ones were all sitting in place, it's the small ones that come loose.

My Rapid is 4 years and 3 months old (just out of the 4 year warranty) and I noticed that Traction Control is not working. I tried switching it off, but the light wouldn't come up on the dashboard. Then, since it was raining today, when turning onto a main road, I accelerated a bit faster to see Traction Control kick in, but it didn't and I had wheel spin. So, what could be the issue? Is there a fuse for TC? As I've read, it might be throttle sensor? Everything else works fine on the car and i didn't have any issues with the car so far, I've had it since new.

I had a similar issue for quite some time (chain model engine). I read a lot of stuff online and found ti related to a possible failure in the water pump, but I don't think it's the case in my situation. At my last service, which was half a year ago, I told them them about this, wanting to see what is their response. They said that nothing is wrong and that they just cleaned all the belts, since they felt it was due to dust on the belts. After that it didn't make the noise, but with time it started to make the noise again, so I'm not sure if belt cleaning was the reason why it stopped. It can happen in various situations, cold engine, hot engine. Eg, drove for about an hour, oil temperature was like 83°C, parking into my garage, let the car idle and I can hear it whine, give it a bit gas, whine stops, let go of the accelerator, whine returns. For me, the whine is only audible when the car is in idle. Sometimes I'll be at a traffic light and I can hear it, then I start driving and it goes away. I've had it for over a year. Sometimes there are days when there is no noise, but then sometimes it's all the time I'm in idle.

I just wanted to add the same comment, my sunglasses don't fit in the sunglasses holder, so I don't have anything in there.

I find that when I have it on periodic wiper which is set to fastest, when I stop at a traffic light, it slows down. This doesn't work for slow or fast wipe, only periodic which is typically enough when you have light rain.

I've been looking at the same thing. Now in winter when I start the car it takes a longer time to get up to warm engine temperature than in summer (which is obvious). I have AC turned off all the time, so it hasn't got anything to do with AC. If I start the car and I have the heater turned down to the coldest temperature, the car heats up faster and runs at lower rpm. I watched the water temperature needle rise as it's warming up and then I turned the heater up to the warmest and the water temperature went down (to be expected) and rpm increased. So, to conclude, try playing with the heater temperature setting and engine rpm will change while the car is warming up.

Same thing for me, electric windows on the back as well, but only control for front windows on the drivers door. I had the dealer have a look and he told me to replace the 2 button control to a 4 button control could be done, but then they would need to pull wires through the whole car to connect the rear doors and he wasn't sure if the ECU supports it. Now, on the newer versions you get a 4 button switch on the drivers door. I can't believe they were so cheap, I paid extra to have electric windows in the rear doors and they can't fit 4 switches on the front.

Same for me, car was registered in July 2013. It's a pain, when it's really dark, you can't see anything.

I agree with the 3 options listed there, parking is hard since the rear end is so high up, spare wheel is a must, protective side mouldings also are good to save the front doors from getting damaged when opening them near another car on a carpark or in a garage. I would add (if it's available) sports seats. Then, rear boot rubber mat. Electric windows. Maxi DOT. Cruise control.

I probably would. Looking at the options out there, for the price and what you get, I don't think there is anything in this price range which offers so much. It does everything I need it to do, so I'm happy with it.