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- Then Skoda should ensure that their battery if so strong that it can cope with the extra electrical load. Battery dying in 6 months is just NOT acceptable. The Exide's in my Toyota's easily last 3~4 years.
- No, I don't drive my car daily. It's mostly an outstation car.
- Although its quite easy to jump start the car (now that I have seen it done), Skoda Roadside assistance is available throughout the country except J&K and NorthEast. If they have that facility in a small city like Meerut then they can reach most places in India, I presume.
It was most satisfying to see his pro-activeness. One person is directly in touch with me regularly from his customer care team. This gives me the security of my car being covered, at least for 4 years of its extended warranty, thoroughly for any issues. I sent him email on customercare@skoda-auto.co.in which was passed onto him.

If the dealer is checking the specific gravity of your battery, it should be checked before you start in the morning to give a more accurate result. Once you have driven to the dealer the specific gravity reading would not be accurate as charging of the battery would have taken place during the drive to the dealership. Checking after the drive may not show proper results unless a cell has failed - this will not be the case as the car has started.

Also note for future use (1) keeping the car unlocked drains the battery even though nothing is switched on and (2) switch off the climate control and all accessories before you switch off the engine.

It would be good to take it out on a drive once a week (if you are not doing that as of now).

That's a good point you make about checking the specific gravity in the morning. Will discuss it with the dealer today. Most probably they will replace the battery irrespective, because of so much pressure in my case from their HQ (I have received 2 calls from Pune and Mumbai in last 24 hours).

I always 1. lock my car & 2. Switch off climate control fully before switching off the car.

The car is driven every week.

QED: Battery seems to be the culprit as I have noticed many threads in which Skoda battery was replaced in 1st year of ownership (Hayek etc.). Skoda needs to pull up its component supplier for the battery (Varta, Czech) and change to a supplier more able to fulfill the Indian specific conditions like Exide e.g. Even the OE Exide on my Santro lasted 4 years. It may also be the case of Skoda having imported large stocks of Varta Batteries and they may not be entirely fresh stocks leading to recurrent issues.

This is another point that you need to take care of as if it has visited once it will certainly do so again. So adopt all the usual methods that are used - ratkill etc can be placed on a plastic sheet in the engine bay and around the 4 wheels. Another remedy is to have the car run everyday (as it reduces the incidence of rats) but that may not be possible in your case.

Battery Update

Had taken the car yesterday to the ASC. They checked the battery and the specific gravity of all cells were a little low. The electrician said that it does not seem that the battery is defective. It may be due to very infrequent use over a period of many days. We will charge it overnight and check gravity in the morning to see if it holds charge properly. A error report was also scanned and sent to Skoda backend. Few errors came in that report. They asked me to leave the car which I did not agree to. Finally they had to relent and fitted me a spare battery upon my insistence so that I could take my vehicle home. At all this time I remained on the shop floor and by now they had become used to the fact that this fella will not budge from his vehicle and stopped even asking me to go sit in the AC Customer Lounge.

Next morning I got a call back that the gravity of the battery had returned to normal and they have sent the data report to Skoda backend and waiting for their feedback as to what to do now. A few hours later I receive a call that the battery is perfect and same will be fitted back into my car. They have also received instructions from Skoda backend to do a "software update" on my car.

I went there this afternoon and my battery was promptly fitted back.



I must mention that the battery that was removed was quite new, once all the covers came off and did not seem like any old stock as I was presuming. A full scan was done. It was totally error free which ruled out any current leakages or split wires due to any rat damage. A software update was performed. I could read the last 2 digits, it was some 06 to 09. It was mainly to do with the electronic controls of the power seats and some other minor stuff. One great thing was that the software update was carried out over live internet connection via LAN from Skoda backend. The car was again re-scanned and it was error free. The report was sent back to the backend.

The car was back with me within an hour and all seems normal for now. After battery re-installation, data of MID had been erased and time had to be reset. Also as one window was down, that window's one touch programming had to be reset by keeping the up button pressed all the way up even after closing the window for 3 seconds. All this is mentioned in the manual. But all bluetooth phone connections were remembered and no code had to be entered into the stereo.

All well for now...

The software update was probably for the power seats issue, in which in some Superbs the power seats started moving on their own.lol:

Luxury is fine to an extent. But beyond a limit, automation will make our lives complicated. Imagine a software error causing driver's electronically controlled seat to move on its own while driving !!!

Thats a small risk. But IMO it shouldn't stop you from buying things because of such a worry. The same way even something like your accelerator is electronic, it doesn't mean you buy a basic car with a cable throttle right?

I don’t think you don’t need to worry on this score dkaile as what he’s saying is correct. The life of a battery is determined in several partially discharged cycles so there is no cause for concern and no need for a replacement too.

Also note that if you are using your car just once a week, then you should go for a fairly long drive as driving only a few kilometers a week will not be sufficient for the battery to recoup and sustain its power.

Please be alert on the rat issue too. Wires that are exposed can drain the battery.

Incidentally I had recommended the 1.8 TSI Superb manual to a cousin of mine and he has done hardly 1300 kms in a year and his battery and car seem to be fine.

Never heard of that issue!! It was more to do with the seat memory being properly memorised by key hobs.
Will keep watch on both the battery and the jerry's striking them... lolz

Nope, read it on this forum itself. Search around if you please, I'm too lazystupid:

EDIT - Think it was briskoda too.

EDIT again - http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic...ngerous-fault/ There you go. Thats just one of many.

If the battery is not being properly recharged due to lack of driving, having multiple vehicles in the house and so on, then it is better to keep the battery on trickle charge through a 'battery tender' or a 'battery charger', when not in use. I do this exercise weekly/monthly on my motorcycle battery, since I cannot use it frequently during monsoons. And the battery has given no issues hence, else it used to lose charge every few days and I used to be forced to burn petrol and travel around in it to recharge it. Now there is peace of mind.

Could you recommend which 'trickle charger' you are using and its online links if possible.

Just get a pair of good jump start cables. Your Fortuner will be happy to wake up the Superb from deep sleep.

I use this one
http://www.jbenterprises.net.in/moto...ry-charger.htm

It's a 2Amps manual battery charger. I can safely put the battery on trickle charge .5amps overnight or just leave it for a few days and whenever I want to use my bike, just fix the battery and I am ready to go. It has really saved me a lot of hassle, It cost me around 1.5K around an year back.

For a car battery though, you might need a 6amps charger. Trickle charging is the most healthy way to revive a dead battery and keep it in good condition, I feel.