I'm only a couple of months in to ownership of my 2016 Octy estate 1.6 TDI DSG which has only covered 37k so far.

 

On 2 occasions now the battery has got drained to a point it could not start the engine and had to be jumped. Both times I had been sat in the car with ignition turned on (engine not running) adjusting settings on the infotainment system, but only for 5-10 mins max. The car does go on regular long journeys, and the start stop always kicks in as it should.

 

The car was serviced by Skoda back in June and the battery was tested fine. I did notice on the test printout it said non VW battery, and on inspection of the battery found that it is a MOLL 5TA 915 105 B

 

Does anyone know please if this battery is likely to be an aftermarket unit or is Skoda have ever factory fitted these units? The car is under skoda warranty until the end of Nov, but I'm not sure if the battery has been replaced already, if it would be covered under warranty, or even if it is normal for the car to drain the battery so quickly. My previous car (Zafira) was still on its original battery when I sold it at 13 years old so seems a bit premature for this one to be failing. I had expected that the car would detect if the battery was going too low and shut things down automatically as I have seen on other cars. Just a bit concerned now with colder weather approaching that might end up getting stranded etc.

 

TIA

Do a search for "Moll" there's many posts about batteries failing and what Skoda are doing about it

2 hours ago, geordiebloke said:

Do a search for "Moll" there's many posts about batteries failing and what Skoda are doing about it

Thanks, just done this and seen a lot of posts about them, I will be ringing my local dealer tomorrow to see what they have to say about it.

There will be a date code on the neg terminal usually week number over year. It should predate the build date of the vehicle by a few weeks if it’s the original one. 

Thanks i will check that. Its booked in at Skoda tomorrow morning so will see what they have to say about it.

Skoda replaced the battery without any quibble or hesitation I'm please to report. They put a new VW / Varta branded battery in.

 

Might be useful information for anyone else having similar problems, on the invoice they put the following.

 

Carried out GFF found faults stored for low battery. Check for TPI's relating to customers complaint found TPI 2053989/3 for MOLL batteries fitted to vehicles, Checked manufacture of battery fitted to vehicle found MOLL fitted. Test battery using VAS6161 confirmed battery defective. Replaced  battery as per TPI all ok no damage to battery or outside influence.

 

Cost would have been £264.79 but covered under warranty thankfully.