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had to call RAC as our car was totally dead, turned out the battery had to be replaced, apparently its common for cars with stop/start tech for the battery to only last 3/4 years (ours is coming up to 3 years). and there was me thinking i must of left something on. having not yet decided to extend or renew (lease ends Jan) its good peace of mind for the winter having a new battery, plus if we decide to extend the service is due Next week. decisions-decisions.
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Funnily enough, I had to call the AA out to my daughters 2015 Ford Focus for the same reason. She only uses it once every few weeks now and it has the original battery. The car has stop start technology (although never used) and, as a result, a replacement battery would be £264. Ouch. On my other daughters previous Focus (without stop start technology) the new battery was just £120. The chap said that the original battery is still OK if used regularly and if we bought a new one we would have the same problem in 6 months time. Of course, it’s all progress ?
welcome back stranger (Glos Guy) i hope you and your family has kept safe and we find you in good health.
the battery wasnt to much of a surprise really as its a diesel and we do low mileage and with lock downs its only doing a couple of short journeys a week plus the A/C is on most of the time. after restarting the car with the old battery it was only holding/producing 6 volts. glad we never had to pick up the bill though.
Recovery AA and RAC make commission on every battery they sell a customer so just be sure you actually need one
Recovery AA and RAC make commission on every battery they sell a customer so just be sure you actually need one
I‘m sure that you are right Azzy, but to be fair to the AA chap that came to me he said that if it were his car he wouldn’t change it now as it didn’t fail the charge retention test, it scored 50% (the battery is five and a half years old but the cars only done 22,000 miles from new). He also said that I might be able to get one cheaper elsewhere if and when we need one.
Had a new battery for 3 year old Skoda VRS £270, 4 years ago I had the same problem and had to pay, this time there was no charge (thank goodness). Does anyone know if this s the new policy.
Had a new battery for 3 year old Skoda VRS £270, 4 years ago I had the same problem and had to pay, this time there was no charge (thank goodness). Does anyone know if this s the new policy.
Was it a Motability car Alan? If so, you shouldn’t have had to pay 4 years ago or now.
Thanks for reply, Yes it was a mobility car and I was charged £60, live and learn.
Thanks for reply, Yes it was a mobility car and I was charged £60, live and learn.
I think the problem sometimes is that dealers & others are either unaware of the rules or can’t be bothered to seek the required authorisation from Motability, as there’s a short wait whilst they authorise it. Some of us have had this issue with AdBlue top ups. Motability pay for those, as they make it clear that the scheme covers ALL costs other than fuel and cleaning. Even a main VW dealer tried to charge me for an AdBlue top up once and got a bit funny with me when I insisted that I didn’t have to pay. I told them to speak to Motability and they came back 5 minutes later looking very shame faced!
I had an rac callout on my mk7 golf, very early on in it’s life.
Started the car was driving to school and after stopping at the only lights the stop start activated, When i got to the left turn 50m aways and took my foot of the gas, Many warning lights came on one after another, no acc no this or that etc etc, all electronic i guess. At no point did it say low baterry or warn of a low battery or charging issues.
Picked up the kid, car started again all was ok went to morrisons and it was dead, rac man came did tests and said the battery needed replacing. He then said he only had a more powerful one on his van and as i was a MB customer i didn’t have to pay anything.
After that no issues at all even during lockdown, although the dpf came on for the 1st time since i had gotten the car in virtually 3 years.
Hi rox
Don’t know if it’s still the same on the Golf’s or any other VW’s but you used to be able to check the cars battery, State of Charge they call it, by a long press on the mileage odometer reset button.
The Mk8 Golf has the digital cockpit I’m told so not sure it has a mileage odometer hardware reset button so don’t know if you can do that now or maybe they’ve built it into all the other electronic stuff in the menu, I don’t know.
It tells you on the vw connect app how many volts it has, i ain’t got it now went in june.. but no good the app when you driving as you cannot use it.. Whats with a battery light not showing on the display like low oil warning etc.
A few months ago now at end of summer hols. On my new civic almost every warning light was on, including engine management. So i called rac and guy cameout, turns out it was a flat tyre and so you don’t drive thats what it does.To discourage you from driving the rac guy said. Some new regs probally. but it did not say the tyre was low, more and more tech is getting stupid imo.. Sometimes simple is the best option.
Mini tried to charge us for a new battery. I phoned Motability who in tern phoned the dealership to clarify that Motability pay, not us. This is a dealership that proudly displays their Motability connections with a large permanent sign outside. You’d think they’d know.
These days we use a 15w solar power trickle charger. Never had an issue since.
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