ineoraudi

My car was at the dealership getting the 35K service and having the fuel injector "campaign" repair work done. The car seemed fine to me but figured since it has to go into the shop for service might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Dealership thus far has treated me really well. The car was with them for a few days and they just contacted me to inform me that the work was completed. They also told me that while testing the car the battery failed and was replaced under warranty.

Is it common on these cars for a battery to fail after just 3 years?

I saw no signs of the batteries impending failure when I had it...( car cranked up in the cold just fine, lighting worked fine, etc..) On my Volvo which I had for 8 years the car was still going strong on its original battery. Again the failure could not have happened under better circumstances but it is troubling all the same that it failed so soon.

tenspeed

It's not common but it does happen. I had it happen to me twice. Once on my motorcycle and once on a car. Both had a open circuit inside the battery, both read 12 volts at rest and both dropped to near zero volts under load.

537playing

I'm curious as to your dealer and their great service. Who are they?

newmoon

Similar thing happened to me. I took it in for the 5K service, they tested the battery and it failed, so they replaced it under warranty.

My car was built April 2012
I bought it new in Sept 2012
The 5K service was in Jan 2013

No problems since, but I don't really stress the battery much in the warm Florida weather.

I have started locking my car inside my garage though. I think it makes the electronics and MMI shut down when you lock, and boot fresh when you unlock.

ineoraudi

The dealership is Audi of Silver Spring in MD.

They have treated me fairly well and I am generally pleased with them thus far. That being said the car is covered under Audicare and the factory warranty so they have not put their hands in my pockets yet.

Additionally, shortly after picking my car up last night a sensor saying that the hood was open triggered despite the fact that the hood was properly closed. I contacted them and they indicated that they will fix the issue. It is natural instinct to blame the dealer for a problem which arises shortly after the vehicle being in their custody; however with car that has as much technology as this, while I don't like it, I understand that problems will arise.

NVThs1

My Nissan had a battery go within about 3 years. Then again just the other month. No signs leading to it. I drove it the night before as well. Next morning I just had a click. Battery was under warranty (Thanks Auto Zone) so I got it started, went over, and called it a day. My first Audi I think went 5 years before I had to replace the battery. Sometimes there is just a problem that can pop up.