Assist error warnings - low battery?

[batteryman]

Hi, just got my 2020 Golf 8 Style 150 back fom the dealer after yet another round of warning lights and alarm sounds. It's been a long saga, over more than 2 years. Items replaced so far are SOS unit, steering wheel and rear safety sensor control unit (on 02.02.24). I had warnings again on 04.02.24 and 05.02.24 so booked it back in for another assessment, the result of which was a £234.00 bill for non warranty fault diagnosis, namely low battery voltage. The thing is, the car starts first time every time even in the coldest weather, kept outside (no garage). Has anyone any comments they can make on this point? It's the first time I've heard of auto electrics being so sensitive to battery voltage.

Another query about battery replacement. They told me the battery needs to be coded to the car on replacement, is that true? Are there digital electronic parts in the battery or am I being given cattle poo? I could understand having to keep voltage on the car during the replacement process to prevent data loss but what is there to code in a lead acid battery?

Any comments gratefully received, especially if they're before I contact VW customer service yet again.

[johnsimcox]

Hi, just got my 2020 Golf 8 Style 150 back fom the dealer after yet another round of warning lights and alarm sounds. It's been a long saga, over more than 2 years. Items replaced so far are SOS unit, steering wheel and rear safety sensor control unit (on 02.02.24). I had warnings again on 04.02.24 and 05.02.24 so booked it back in for another assessment, the result of which was a £234.00 bill for non warranty fault diagnosis, namely low battery voltage. The thing is, the car starts first time every time even in the coldest weather, kept outside (no garage). Has anyone any comments they can make on this point? It's the first time I've heard of auto electrics being so sensitive to battery voltage.

Another query about battery replacement. They told me the battery needs to be coded to the car on replacement, is that true? Are there digital electronic parts in the battery or am I being given cattle poo? I could understand having to keep voltage on the car during the replacement process to prevent data loss but what is there to code in a lead acid battery?

Any comments gratefully received, especially if they're before I contact VW customer service yet again.

Definitely an issue with modern cars. I also have an Audi A6 and the forums there are a wash with people asking why they are getting random multiple error messages and warning lights and in all cases it is down to low battery voltage. Anything below 12.6v seems to be an issue and upsets the various electronics around the car, even though the car still starts fine. General response to such posts is to check/change the battery first and that tends to resolve the issue. Modern batteries seem to only have a design life of 3-4 years, anything after that is a bonus. The systems in the car also need to know what the battery is. If you replace with an absolutely identical spec battery then you seem to be able to get away without recoding, but otherwise it can be done using VCDS or similar and often all that is required is to increase the reference number by 1 so the car knows the battery has been replaced.

[batteryman]

Thanks for the reply. The car was in under warranty in June last year for this fault, no mention of battery being the cause. They blamed software and told me they had to wait for VW to write software. I escalated in November through VW customer service and got another assessment appointment in February! At that one they still didn't mention the battery but when I went back with the fault still there they came up with the battery, not a warranty fault and charged £200+ for the diagnosis. I'm not going back, someone else is fitting a new Yuasa battery. I think this will be my last VW after thirty-odd trouble free years of motoring all over Europe in Golfs, diesel and petrol. I need something more reliable as I get older, it's been in 8 times with this kind of issue since I bought it in 2021.

[johnsimcox]

I think the issue at the moment with VW dealers is that every issue they encounter with cars that have moved to the new software platform that they can't explain is put down to software. I would be very reluctant at the moment to own almost any car built in the last 5 years without a decent warranty. Indeed we changed our 3 year Golf in September for that very reason and I am thinking I will change my Audi in the next couple of months as well. Friend has an ID3 and it had what was thought to be a controller fault, horn went off randomly for no reason. He told e this week they were replacing the whole drive train battery (cost of £6500, but under warranty so covered). Most owners of cars, especially those attracted to owning a new car on a PCP, would likely be unable to suddenly afford a significant 4 figure repair bill. I don;'t think this is a VW issue. Another friend just got a new Jag. 3 days later it developed a fault and since then it has been with the dealer while they try and determine what is causing it. He is left driving a Discovery Sport loan car, whilst it is not a bad car it is not the car he bought

[batteryman]

I'm thinking of going over to a plug-in hybrid so I guess that would solve the battery voltage problem. I can't understand why it took the dealer so long to find the fault, especially if it's a known fault - software must be the cure-all diagnosis. What's really annoying is they finally found it in February when I first took it in the previous June; convenient for VW since the warranty expired in November and it wasn't covered by the extended warranty. I'll be taking that up with VW customer service, along with all the other quality issues. Let's see how hard they try to convince me to stay with VW.

PS just checked VW used approved warranty and batteries aren't covered anyway so I can't moan about that!

[Crasher]

He told e this week they were replacing the whole drive train battery (cost of £6500, but under warranty so covered).

I would like to know why they said it is £6500 when the parts system says £21463.20?

[johnsimcox]

I would like to know why they said it is £6500 when the parts system says £21463.20?

I'll ask next time I see him. Maybe it wasn't the whole battery module

[batteryman]

Perhaps one price for VW dealerships and another price for the rest, like the cost to me of battery replacement at a dealership or somewhere else! Or yet more cattle poo!

[johnsimcox]

I'm thinking of going over to a plug-in hybrid so I guess that would solve the battery voltage problem. I can't understand why it took the dealer so long to find the fault, especially if it's a known fault - software must be the cure-all diagnosis. What's really annoying is they finally found it in February when I first took it in the previous June; convenient for VW since the warranty expired in November and it wasn't covered by the extended warranty. I'll be taking that up with VW customer service, along with all the other quality issues. Let's see how hard they try to convince me to stay with VW.

PS just checked VW used approved warranty and batteries aren't covered anyway so I can't moan about that!

Not sure a PHEV would solve the issue. They and indeed BEVs have 2 batteries one to propel the car and the other a standard 12v battery to power the normal car stuff, like lights, radio etc. It is the voltage on the normal 12v battery that is the issue and as you point out is a non warranty consumable item

[Crasher]

Some of the low range versions are ONLY £15890.40 (8 cells at £2394 each) but 12 cell is the most common.