Hi All,

After managing to kill my battery and needing Skoda assist to give me a jump start, I think I need to replace it.

 

I've done a load of short journeys of late on top of the killing of the battery...moved the car from the garage to the front of the house the other day to load it up, and it almost didn't start again.

 

I've also had the 'manoeuvre braking not available' warning pop up a few times when starting the car, so wonder if this is also being caused by a knackered battery.

 

So, long story short, can I simply buy a new battery and replace it myself, or does the car need to be programmed to know a new battery's been fitted?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Nick

Edited 5 September, 20196 yr by Cubbington

You'd need to program the battery (at least change one digit in the saved serial number even if it is otherwise exactly the same), anyone with OBDEleven or VCDS can do it.

Thanks buddy, really helpful!

 

Nick

And remember to change the battery type if you change from EFB to AGM (Battery adaptation-Battery technology)

Thanks @flybynite

 

WI’ll get a price from Skoda; had a look on eurocarparts this morning and even with 35% off, the recommended Bosch replacement is £230!

 

At least it started first time this evening having been left at the airport all week (50 mile journey), but I’ve got a week of very short journeys all next week, so hope it’ll be OK...

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

Have a check on ebay. I got a Bosch 096 AGM battery dirt cheap, brand spanking new, just unboxed.

 

and yeah, it's a 5 minute job on VCDS to change the serial number, plus the battery type and AH rating if needed

6 hours ago, Cubbington said:

Thanks @flybynite

 

WI’ll get a price from Skoda; had a look on eurocarparts this morning and even with 35% off, the recommended Bosch replacement is £230!

 

At least it started first time this evening having been left at the airport all week (50 mile journey), but I’ve got a week of very short journeys all next week, so hope it’ll be OK...

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

 

You should be able to get an AGM under £140 easy, EFB probably slightly less. The Skoda fixed price maintenance list shows £210 for a stop/start battery.

9 hours ago, Cubbington said:

WI’ll get a price from Skoda; had a look on eurocarparts this morning and even with 35% off, the recommended Bosch replacement is £230!

 

 

Have a look at Tayna for batteries. Top of the range silver top Varta 096 AGM under £140 delivered by DHL

 

Varta are OE manufacturers and if you are a bit OCD with these things (like I can be sometimes ) Varta are one of the manufacturers you can select in the BCM and the serial number is the right length for it to (although as said above you only need to change 1 digit from what is there to tell it there is a new battery)

 

They are made in the same factory as Bosch and sometimes a bit cheaper

Could it be a faulty battery?  Claim on the warranty

A battery with an internal fault will show 10.5 volts and will not be able to start the engine. It’s possible to get a warranty replacement if this is the case but it’s by no means certain. 

 

Any other condition or voltage recorded will be linked to usage and the way it’s been treated. Short journeys will work a battery harder, and if constantly repeated allowing the voltage to remain low will compromise the battery, capacity and shorten lifespan. You will be very lucky to get this covered by warranty. 

Edited 8 September, 20196 yr by BigEjit

The batteries fitted as standard aren't the best, it was no surprise mine started to go about the 3 year point. I'm not the easiest on batteries but other machines I have get more abuse but do much better.

 

I could have bleated at Skoda but not much point batteries are consumable unless proved actually faulty. I would have only ended up with another cheap EFB and been in the same position a couple of years later. Instead I have replaced it with a top of the range AGM which has done 7 years and still going strong on one of my other machines. The car now starts better than when it was new

 

Many times the 'regenerative' charging leaves the battery in less than ideal state for being parked up for a period of time. A trickle charge while standing using a good smart AGM charger can help if the car is parked or only used for short trips. Of course not everybody can get power to where they park the car.

 

On 05/09/2019 at 23:18, Cubbington said:

Hi All,

After managing to kill my battery and needing Skoda assist to give me a jump start, I think I need to replace it.

 

I've done a load of short journeys of late on top of the killing of the battery...moved the car from the garage to the front of the house the other day to load it up, and it almost didn't start again.

 

I've also had the 'manoeuvre braking not available' warning pop up a few times when starting the car, so wonder if this is also being caused by a knackered battery.

 

So, long story short, can I simply buy a new battery and replace it myself, or does the car need to be programmed to know a new battery's been fitted?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Nick

It is worth taking to Skoda dealer and trying under warranty as your car is 2017, so I presume still within the 3 years.

 

I know of a few people that have had them replaced free of charge under warranty.

They take the car into dealers either fit a temporary battery or keep the car over night, they run some tests and if deemed unfit will replace under warranty..... honestly go try. Avoid admitting small journeys etc and battery should under normal circumstances last the warranty period.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

 

I did speak to Skoda on Friday, and it's another positive experience of my local dealer's service, as the chap in service urged me to check the make of battery before just ordering one and paying for it, either from them or a third party.

 

Apparently they've had problems with Moll branded batteries (a quick google search shows VAG has been experiencing this), and they have replaced a few under warranty.

 

I checked, and it is a Moll battery, so will get it booked in and see if it can be replaced under warranty 🙂

 

Unfortunately I popped in on Saturday after the service department had closed, and I'm away all this week (unable to avoid 2 x 0.5 mile journeys each day).

 

It's had a couple of slow starts already, but hopefully it'll get me by this week...

 

Just to make a point of it, this is the second car I've had with start stop, both of which have needed new batteries way before they should have done, and we've just bought my wife an ex-demonstrator Smart ForTwo (great fun!) and with only 1,500 miles on the clock it's going in for the battery to be checked, as the start stop keeps malfunctioning...I've only ever had to replace batteries when they've been due as expected!

 

Cheers,

Nick

Evening All,

 

Quick update to say that the battery was replaced under warranty today with no quibbles, and I now have a nice shiny new Varta battery under the bonnet 😁

 

I also mentioned a random problem with the sat nav rebooting every now and again, along with intermittent CarPlay connectivity, of which they were aware of for cars built between ‘16 & ‘18 and did a software update, which now shows the globe in red when not connected to the internet, but unfortunately reset my Skoda connect services...Skoda are going to call next week to go through getting it back online as I just renewed the subscription a couple of weeks ago, so all good.

 

It was also due an aircon service, and I asked them to check the alignment, which they reported back was fine and didn’t need adjusting, instead of just doing and charging me for, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Was told it’d be ready at about 3:30, which it was, nice and clean both inside and out, and having only spent £150 for the aircon service and courtesy car!

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

Edited 27 September, 20196 yr by Cubbington