Diesel Passat b7 New Battery advice

[Shawreyboy]

Morning chaps,

So the old girl's battery decided to give up the ghost this morning - refused to start but with a quick jump-start she was fine.

So in the market for a new battery. Doing some research it seems if I go aftermarket I may have issues with the coding for the Stop/Start?

Any recommendations or is best to get it done and coded by a garage or worst case scenario halfrauds?

Cheers,
Shawrey

 

[Scythe]

From a quick look it looks similar to my BMW. The coding is to tell the battery conditioning software to forget the state of the previous battery, to prolong the life of the new one. Providing your new battery is equivalent in capacity and type (I.e AGM) then start stop should work fine.

You will want to code your new battery, but I can be done in a few days / after Christmas if you’re desperate for a new battery today or want to fit your battery yourself to save some cash (hint Tanya batteries are a great and cheap battery supplier). Any reasonable independent garage should be able to reset your battery management ECU in a matter of minutes or as part of installation.

 

[Shawreyboy]

From a quick look it looks similar to my BMW. The coding is to tell the battery conditioning software to forget the state of the previous battery, to prolong the life of the new one. Providing your new battery is equivalent in capacity and type (I.e AGM) then start stop should work fine.

You will want to code your new battery, but I can be done in a few days / after Christmas if you’re desperate for a new battery today or want to fit your battery yourself to save some cash (hint Tanya batteries are a great and cheap battery supplier). Any reasonable independent garage should be able to reset your battery management ECU in a matter of minutes or as part of installation.

Many thanks, bud - top man. Checked my reg on Tayna batteries and comes up for around £114 when the next cheapest I could find was Halfords at £159.

 

[Rroff]

I'm not an expert on it but most car batteries are produced by the same company behind the scenes then graded out to the brands i.e. in the main Bosch and Varta are just the same battery with different branding, some exceptions aside like Yuasa who have their own manufacturing. It then gets a bit more complex in some cases as for example Exide produce some Bosch batteries under license.

Personally I've tended to stick with Varta though they can be a little pricey but I've usually managed to find a good deal when I've needed one and so far they've been solid batteries in my experience.

Stop/start batteries can be a little different kettle of fish though and not something I've much experience with.

 

[andy_mk3]

If you replace the original like for like then it will be absolutely fine. I always recommend Bosch or Varta batteries.

 

[Scythe]

Many thanks, bud - top man. Checked my reg on Tayna batteries and comes up for around £114 when the next cheapest I could find was Halfords at £159.

make sure it’s as close to the original capacity (never decrease in capacity) and type and it’s fine.

for example I had to replace my 70ah AGM with a 72ah AGM of the same physical size simply because they don’t make the 70ah version anymore

 

[Shawreyboy]

Thanks for your input guys.

Managed to find a little automotive company more or less on my doorstep that I didn't know about and they can fit a new AGM battery and do the coding for £169 all in. Quite happy with that.

Have a great Xmas guys!

 

[Rroff]

Thanks for your input guys.

Managed to find a little automotive company more or less on my doorstep that I didn't know about and they can fit a new AGM battery and do the coding for £169 all in. Quite happy with that.

Have a great Xmas guys!

Might be worth checking the main dealer, though I can't say I've been inspired by the experiences with the VW ones around here, sometimes they can be surprisingly cheap for stuff like that, though more often eye wateringly expensive.