raaizin

I too purchased my battery from Walmart. I used the posts under hood to jump my car with another while I swapped out the battery. No issues works great over 3 years..

ayap

Will Autozone or Walmart install car batteries ????
And do they employ the same technique during the swap that the MMI does not need to be reset by the Dealer ????
I think mine needs replacement soon. Opinions please. Thanks

raaizin

I doubt autozone or walmart will do anything but replace battery, poster above had no issues with walmart install. If you are that concerned you can take to dealer but that will be much more$$$$

ayap

I pulled the trigger. Went to Autozone today (Feb.6,2012). Bought a Duralast Gold Battery for around $125 (8 yr warranty + 3 yr replacement). With grease, pads, and taxes = $137.20 out to door. There was a Duralast regular for $104, but the $125 battery had better specs.

The battery location in my A6 Avant is in the trunk. Took them only about less than 20 minutes to replace. Didn't even need to remove the spare tire. It only reset the Time/Clock, and everything works fine including my Homelink for car garage (was happy it worked when I came home). Battery was charged 90% when they hooked it. And in about 3 minutes of driving - it was 100%.

uberwgn

What coding are you guys entering into the Power Mgmt System when using the Autozone/XYZ battery

Buckeyedoc006

I got the same battery six days ago. They wouldn't replace mine because their computer had a note about possibly needing to reset the MMI. I anticipated this might happen, so I had my tools in the trunk to do the switch myself (I didn't want to have to come back later for the core refund). It didn't take long, and the only things that needed reset were my clock and trip-meter.

ayap

Didn't enter any coding. I just checked whether I had the same power management in the car setting - if you want daytime running lights on/off, coming home light on/off, leaving home on/off, instrument panel light brightness, etc.

All setting remained the same as where I had left it. I know, because I turned off the daylight running lights, and put the instrument panels to a dimmer setting a few days ago when I noticed my battery charge did not last 3 days.

ayap

I asked them first to look at my car, if they could install it. I told them I would not buy the battery if they didn't install it. They looked at it and said 'yeah, we could do it for you.' But my Avant's battery is located at the back and is easy to remove.

I also called first to ask if they had a battery charger to plug in the cigarette lighter to retain settings. And they said, they don't do that, but their computer said that I only have to reset the clock. And they were right.

oaktreelimb

Replacing battery without coding will most likely be Ok but the battery management control module will not know your car has new battery. It will think your car still has old one and all the energy management history is still in memory and the old battery serial number is still recorded in the module. If you use VAGCOM to do battery test later, it may state the battery is bad.

ayap

You said it keeps a history? Won't it check the daily charge - if the daily charge is always 100% fully charge, then maybe it will keep thinking it's a new battery LOL. My old batter always lose its charge 3-4 days I don't use the car.