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Hi Forum,

My Jetta OEM battery (VARTA) has been giving me issues repeatedly now, the third instance happened on Thursday. Strangely I came back from a very long drive from Mahabaleshwar on Monday, so the car not starting came as a huge surprise.

I got it jump-started from my small cars battery, but its time to fix this once and for all.

I would request inputs on:

1. Should I just replace the OEM VARTA with an Amaron battery? My battery is almost 27 months old now. Or should I get it checked, try getting it charged etc etc. I believe many things can go wrong with a battery?

2. A local Amaron shop is quoting the following for a DIN66 (60AH) Amaron battery with 24+24 months warranty:

Base price: 7100
Old battery buyback - 900
Discount - 400
Final price = 7100-900-400 = 5800.

Is this a good deal? What is a good price for the battery and for the buyback, please guide.

3. I recall someone mentioning earlier that the Jetta needs a DIN60 battery, could using the DIN66 battery affect the warranty in anyway?

4. Is this the best way of replacing the battery, or going online or some other way is better.

5. Any recommendations for a reliable set of jump-starters? Would like to keep one in the boot at all times.

Thanks in advance forum, really value your inputs.

On a totally separate note, I let them update my Jetta on the last service as they gave me a cleaning pack, what a mistake! The car has not driven the same ever since, the joy is just not there. Thats my experience, others can share theirs!

Regards

Others have already shared in a dedicated thread. Battery just go with stock specs and replace whatever is available at your nearest battery shop. I just choose the nearest for easy service and even recharging help when needed.

Get a battery tender or portable jumper that sells in Amazon USA or even in India.

I don't know about Amaron but I would like to share my experience with an after market Indian Exide battery in my Jetta.

When I bought my pre-owned 2014 Jetta in March this year, it came with the Indian Exide MIDIN65 battery (65AH). For some reason, the previous owner chose not to get the battery replaced under warranty and instead bought this one in June 2016. Within about a year, this battery started giving me problems. Usually, when a battery is dying, cold start is a problem as the battery loses its capacity to hold charge for a long time. However, starting is not a problem after the car has run for some time because the dying battery would have just been charged by the alternator. In my case the exact opposite happened.

After running an errand or after a quick stop at the market, when I would try to start the car, it won't start. Upon turning the key, the car would crank indicating that battery was OK but just when the engine will have fired up, it wouldn't. It would later start after 7-10 cranks resulting in undue stress to the starting motor and flywheel. Strangely, the car would start normally in the morning or after work in the evening or when it would be standing stationary for more than 4-5 hours.

So I got the car checked at the VW workshop and this is what they found. The normal voltage of my battery when the car was off remained at ~12.5V, as expected from a healthy battery. But when the car was being started, the cranking voltage dropped to around 8V. A healthy battery's cranking voltage should not drop below 10V or 9.5V in the worst case. They also found a bulge in the battery - a sign of a one or more cells inside the battery dying.

Since I didn't want to deal with the same situation again, I opted not to get the Indian Exide battery replaced under warranty. I realize that the battery may have been a lemon to start with, but for peace of mind, I decided to get the battery replaced with Spanish Exide at the VW workshop for around 8000. Having had the Polo GT earlier, and reading up on experiences with batteries in VW cars, I know this one will also die in the next couple of years. :Frustrati

Thanks for the input Immix. What a terrible experience it must have been for you! Such a safe and sturdy car, could they not have put in a better battery!! :Frustrati. Or is it because they put Euro spec batteries in cars sold in India, and the climate is too much for the battery?

I have currently contacted a local Amaron dealer, he will try to charge the battery, if it works it works. Else he will replace it with an Amaron 60AH DIN66.

From the various threads in then past I have not noticed anyone complaining after battery replacement with Amaron, so I am hoping it would work out for me too.

Personally, I cannot live with the uncertainty of getting stranded time and again in a couple of years time, my gut feel is it would be a lot better with Amaron. Will keep the forum posted about how it goes.

So, the Amaron guy came to checkout my Jetta battery. At first it looked like all was fine and it was a false alarm, as the voltage output seemed to be above 14V.

But when I tried to start the car, the output dropped to around 9V consistently although the car started on every attempt. It was very surprising to see the output drop from 14V to 9V on trying to start the car.

The Amaron person said this indicates a failed battery, and would need replacement, no use charging it.

Just wanted to confirm on the group, if this is correct advice, or am I being ripped off. Any other members have faced this situation earlier?

Note to Mods: Apologies for the back to back post, please merge with the previous post if required.

If the battery voltage is dropping to 9V on crank, it means that the battery's internal impedance has become very high. The battery is holding maybe 10% of it's capacity. Go ahead and replace it.

Thanks for the explanation, gives me peace of mind that this is the right way to go. Will get it replaced.

Now that we are on in, one last input would be great, the battery I am looking at is an Amaron 60AH DIN66, the local battery guy says its the right one. However the current battery only says 60AH, and does not mention the DIN. Hopefully different DIN numbers would not affect warranty etc.

AH is the main parameter in a battery. So, if you get the same AH, it should be perfectly fine, and should not affect warranty.

So took the forums inputs and went for a battery replacement yesterday. It cost me 5650 with the buyback of the older VARTA battery.

Attaching some pics of the old and new batteries. The new Amaron 60AH is August 2017 manufactured, which was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks VW2010, graaja and Immix for their inputs.

So, now with the number of battery failiures for the Jetta, I am in a shade of worry.

My car is a Feb, 2014 manufactured Comfortline, although we bought it in November. The battery has only given me a problem once, that too when my dim-witted chauffeur decided to charge his phone early in the morning without even cranking the car. The battery voltage plummeted and the car refused to crank. The DRLs went dim and the instrument cluster also fluctuated. However, after a jump start, the battery has been serving me flawlessly for the past 3-4 months.

A bit of history about the car. My Jetta is more than 3 years old and it was being used as a daily driver until we bought the Kwid only 2 months back. It currently has 45K on the clock, and has been serviced only a week back. It is used only on weekends for long drives spanning more than 45 minutes now.

My questions are:

- Shall I get a battery diagnostics test done, or would it prove to be inconclusive as the battery fails prematurely at it's own will?

- My car is currently 3 years and 7 months old since the date of mfg. We are planning a road trip to Kutch in it, does it make sense to get the battery changed as a precaution?

Any opinions would be appreciated.. :)

P.S, even my car uses the same infamous VARTA battery.

Regards,
vishy

In my opinion, if the battery is older than 24 months and has given a hint of failure, then you should certainly change it before a trip to kutch. The extensive use of wipers causes battery to work under pressure. Anything can go wrong in a perfectly working battery, specially when your luck runs out. Once the battery gets weak, irrespective of how much you charge or how much you drive, it will remain weak and can give up any time. You dont want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, looking for a jumpstart, that too with family. If your battery has already done more than 40 months, spare her another life.

So my brother's Jetta needed a midlife refresh because - as is the case with us - we'll hold onto her for at least another 3 - 4 years. In she went to D.A.D. for the following enhancements:

1. TuneOTronics remap: Beautiful, smooth, punchy remap. Honestly, it doesn't feel like an after-market map at all. More like a powerful stock map. Reminds me of the Audis. Low-end driveability is fantastic (something I did NOT want any compromise on, come what may), the mid-range is punchy and the car is happy as ever near the redline. She seems to be in the ~175 BHP range (from my butt dyno).

2. Glossy black roof.

3. Matte black paint with a tinge of satin on the rims.

4. 225/50/R16 Michelin Pilot Sports. The best rubber known to mankind.

5. Front & rear lips.

6. Touchscreen head-unit with Apple CarPlay (no Android Auto, but bro uses an iPhone so...).

7. DC-font number plates :D.

The car is transformed & how. She looks better, is faster, rides better (OEM Goodyears were hardened crap), handles better and is now up-to-date in terms of ICE.

Very rarely does a car like the Jetta come along that feels tight & fantastic after so many years. I reiterate - she is the modern day W124. A timeless classic.

Nice, just my thoughts on keeping a car. What is the remapped specs for the engine? And how much does it cost, if you dont mind sharing? Thanks

A shot in the daylight would do more justice to the wheels.

We live to share :).

1. Power & torque seem to have gone up by about 20 - 25%.

2. IIRC, the remap was for 36k. Petes is cheaper, but I believe the ECU has to be shipped to them (as was the case in Tanveer's blue Jetta). TuneOTronics did the car here itself. Plus, I heard good things about TuneOTronics from some BHPians. After driving the car on empty Bombay roads last night, I'm satisfied. It's a perfectly tuned remap.

Nice job. The wheels really look classy.

Any reason why you didn't finish the pillars with gloss black wrap? The floating roof style might have looked stunning, especially as the the car is silver.