Battery life for 2019 Octavia VRS

[GWoodhouse]

My 63 plate, 96000 mile 1.4TSi had a service earlier in the week and they've recommended a battery change, as far as I know this will be the first one (we've owned since 16,000 miles). Quite impressive really. Local garage have quoted £95 + VAT for the battery, don't know about labour.

[Gerrycan]

6 minutes ago, GWoodhouse said:

My 63 plate, 96000 mile 1.4TSi had a service earlier in the week and they've recommended a battery change, as far as I know this will be the first one (we've owned since 16,000 miles). Quite impressive really. Local garage have quoted £95 + VAT for the battery, don't know about labour.

Not bad wear at all.

If your car is like mine and not equipped with auto stop/start then it will not need a more expensive AGM or EFM battery and is only a 10 minute job to replace.

IF you do have stop/start then their quote sounds suspiciously cheap for an appropriate battery and advisable to check what type they would fit. They would also need to do a little coding so add another 5 minutes to the task.

[nta16]

48 minutes ago, GWoodhouse said:

My 63 plate, 96000 mile 1.4TSi had a service earlier in the week and they've recommended a battery change, as far as I know this will be the first one (we've owned since 16,000 miles). Quite impressive really. Local garage have quoted £95 + VAT for the battery, don't know about labour.

Car batteries are one of the most oversold car parts - it might just need a full recharge, a long low and slow recharge (not high, quick and fast), overnight at least but best done off the car for as long as required until the battery is fully recharged.

 

Buying a cheap battery is the expensive way to buy if you're keeping the car more than a few years.

 

Other than, if required, getting the battery coding done changing a battery is easy (subject to its location) and if you need to set or resynchronise anything then your Driver's Handbook should inform you, I'd always anyway resynchronise both remote keyfobs (and use them in rotation). 

 

£95 = VAT = £114 which would get you a lot of battery (even if EFB or AGM) see here. - https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/types/027/

 

Edited 11 November, 2021 by nta16

[stevo1]

2 hours ago, nta16 said:

Car batteries are one of the most oversold car parts - it might just need a full recharge, a long low and slow recharge (not high, quick and fast), overnight at least but best done off the car for as long as required until the battery is fully recharged.

 

Buying a cheap battery is the expensive way to buy if you're keeping the car more than a few years.

 

Other than, if required, getting the battery coding done changing a battery is easy (subject to its location) and if you need to set or resynchronise anything then your Driver's Handbook should inform you, I'd always anyway resynchronise both remote keyfobs (and use them in rotation). 

 

£95 = VAT = £114 which would get you a lot of battery (even if EFB or AGM) see here. - https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/types/027/

 

Interesting stuff ! I need a replacement battery too, which I can easily fit, but how easy is it to code ? Or would I need to use someone in the Beds area ? Tia

[nta16]

1 hour ago, stevo1 said:

Interesting stuff ! I need a replacement battery too, which I can easily fit, but how easy is it to code ? Or would I need to use someone in the Beds area ? Tia

Again do you need a new battery or just need a full recharge, a long low and slow recharge (not high, quick and fast), overnight at least but best done off the car for as long as required until the battery is fully recharged.

 

I went against my own advice and changed the battery on my wife's 2016 out of panic, laziness and because we hadn't had the car from new but the previous battery is with my mate and still fine AFAIK.

 

Coding is easy if you have the correct and relevant tool.   There's a map, it was very useful for me and I note there's a pin in Bedford. - VCDS Owners Map

 

If not I could see if my neighbour is able/wants to help with his scan tool.

 

 

[VRS_White_Hatch]

Interesting threrad, my car is 3 yrs old in December, I might give it a trickle  (4ah) charge before winter sets in after reading this. 

[nta16]

6 minutes ago, VRS_White_Hatch said:

Interesting threrad, my car is 3 yrs old in December, I might give it a trickle  (4ah) charge before winter sets in after reading this. 

4 amps is slow charge rather than trickle charge unless you mean a 'smart' trickle charger that goes up to about 4 amps.

 

What ever you get do allow for the type(s) of battery it needs to serve and allow for the conditions it might be in, very cold below freezing,, etc.. 

[nta16]

Below is a photo of a Bradex BX4 4-amp charger virtually the same as the one I have that's still going strong rescuing neighbours' batteries - despite a neighbour trying to kill it by locking it in her black car with all the windows closed on the hottest days of this year.

 

As the battery was still connected to the car (lost radio code) opening the door was the last straw and the charger stopped working, it was a picture to see the neighbour's face when this happened, I just looked, disconnected the charger and secretly blew on it and reconnected it moments later for it to spring back to life but I took it back as the car was also being driven (running around for a son in his 40s!) so the concept of a long slow and low charge had been lost.

 

I can tell within 5-10 minutes by the needle position and how it moves, or not, moves how low the battery is and whether it might be a very long time for full recharge (well as much as the battery can take).

 

Edited 11 November, 2021 by nta16

[ords]

9 hours ago, GWoodhouse said:

My 63 plate, 96000 mile 1.4TSi had a service earlier in the week and they've recommended a battery change, as far as I know this will be the first one (we've owned since 16,000 miles). Quite impressive really. Local garage have quoted £95 + VAT for the battery, don't know about labour.

On what basis are they recommending it? Have they tested it or just going by age?

 

Mine is still on its original and stands for weeks on end without being used.  I know it's luck of the draw.

 

 

[Gerrycan]

OMG that Bradex charger is not far removed from my old 4 amp Bradex version that I brought out from the UK, which must be close to 40 years old now. I'd only use it on basic batteries for which it was designed.

 

Every full discharge (accidental or otherwise) of a lead acid has a measurable effect on its life and performance, EFM and AGM versions do handle that situation better but still best avoided. I remember my late brother-in-law got 12 years out of the original battery in his Rover 3500 P6 before it failed one day.

Ideally a battery should be fully charged (with appropriate charger for type) and put back in the car and the battery voltage measured while under load cranking the engine.

If it falls under a certain voltage during cranking then it is probably wise to replace the battery. I think it's 7.2volts at 0 degrees but 9volts at normal ambient temperatures.

 

Batteries can still go on starting the car for quite a while even at at lower cranking voltages but there is going to come that icy cold day where it fails very quickly or there is a sudden failure and the car cannot be unlocked.

Remember that the bonnet opening lever on a RHD Octavia mk3  is (stupidly) on the passenger side which cannot be easily accessed if the passenger door cannot be unlocked.

 

I'm as tightarse as the next man but I don't begrudge replacing the battery after 5 years if I suspect that it is not performing as well as normal.

 

 

 

 

Edited 12 November, 2021 by Gerrycan

[Spongefactory]

Replaced the battery a week ago on my 2014 vRS, first replacement in 75000 miles (using stop start).

We came back from holiday after a week and it *only* just started the engine and the stop/start had refuse to work for a while so I knew was on its way out.

£98 from Amazon for a 096 Exide AGM battery (delivered next day from Battery Group), 10 minutes to swap, still need to get it coded.

[nta16]

My previous old neighbour bought me the Bradex BX4, it exactly the same as the one he bought from Halfords and eventually ended up frying his battery by charging it too much too regularly.  I might  have forgotten but I don't think I've ever used it on our cars but for neighbours and others, I'm not sure that its more than 25 years old, but time does fly and I forgot a decade once when working out how long I'd had an item.

 

I use the Bradex along with my Carcoon (Accumate) maintenance charger that I must have had 20+ years both have always done a fine job.

 

[gm73]

Thought I’d share my experience. The original stop/start battery on my previous 15 plate Octavia lasted just over 100k miles. 
 

A replacement cost £140 supplied and fitted. 

[Spongefactory]

20 hours ago, gm73 said:

Thought I’d share my experience. The original stop/start battery on my previous 15 plate Octavia lasted just over 100k miles. 
 

A replacement cost £140 supplied and fitted. 

 

And coded?

[fr1nklyn]

If it's not been coded, it's good to do it. Car adapts to the battery over time and you need to reset the settings once you put a new one. Otherwise the battery isn't properly charged. Here is what I did:
  

On 29/12/2020 at 12:21, fr1nklyn said:

My OEM battery was replaced by the stealer under warranty. They replaced Varta 68Ah with Bosch S5 77Ah.

Few months later I decided to check was the car recoded after the battery change and it wasn’t. So I made the change myself with VCDS following this guide in RT wiki - http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Battery_Replacement

There is also a good video at the end of the page.

You need to “tell” the car that there is new battery by changing the serial number, size and vendor.
I used the actual S/N of the battery instead of changing 1111111’s to 1111112.. There is no vendor coding for Bosch, but since Varta and Bosch developed S5 and Silver Dynamic together, I used Varta’s symbols - VA0( they even have the same model number ).

 

Do a short research what VCDS adaptations need to be done and write down all the required values - serial number, part number, battery size, vendor, etc and then ask anyone with a cable to do the job.

 

[gm73]

On 17/11/2021 at 10:44, Spongefactory said:

 

And coded?

Yes. The mechanic coded it for me. 

[GWoodhouse]

On 11/11/2021 at 23:01, ords said:

On what basis are they recommending it? Have they tested it or just going by age?

 

Mine is still on its original and stands for weeks on end without being used.  I know it's luck of the draw.

 

 

 

They tested it and provided the attached. I've no idea what it means tbh so happy to be advised, the car has auto stop/start.

 

What happens if the car isn't coded after having the new battery?

[nta16]

Provided the garage hasn't pulled a fast one with the readings, that's a matter of trust, that paper slip battery health bar says it all (subject to the battery having been charged correctly and test applied correctly and tester accuracy - all a matter of trust here too).

 

Depends how deep you want the explanation to (not that I'm an expert) but if you look at the rating figure of 640 EN (A), this is the battery was stated as 640 CCA (cold cranking amps) new, that's its muscle power to turn the engine over from 'cold'.  Through wear, tear and age, just like most of use, the battery loses some of that muscle power.

 

The ticket shows the battery now at 378 (59% of its original stated power) which is too low for what the battery may reasonably be expected to cope with in use and be reliable.  It would still possibly be good on a smaller demand but also the ticket shows that after recharging (hopefully fully recharged) the battery now has 12.49v where as a fully recharged battery (keeping it simple) is 12.7v or 12.8v so this battery is always under before it even starts to get used.

 

Your start/stop car and its very invasive computer programs would not have been happy with your old battery as the longer nights and colder weather and heavier demands on the battery increase during winter.

 

You have avoided becoming part of the statistic of the number one cause of breakdown call outs (with AA at least), they call battery faults but are really mostly driver/owner faults. -https://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/advice/top-ten-breakdown-causes

 

I expect to see a lot of problems with these modern cars now that many will not realise are sometimes caused by the car battery needing charging, or perhaps even changing.

 

If you are interested see attached. ETA: I'll post this later as it's over simplified. 

 

Edited 21 November, 2021 by nta16
speeling and stuff

[nta16]

I hope attached remains readable, and simple (like me).

 

ETA: updated again for grammar, I think. 

 

 

CarBatteryInformation.pdf

Edited 21 November, 2021 by nta16