scrmorling

My 2014 SQ5 has 20,000 smile-laden miles on it. With southwest desert winter hard upon us (lows in the low 30s ), my EPC light was on intermittently and the car struggled to start. With my OBD-II scanner somewhere among 40 or 50 boxes in storage until we move, I was blind as to what the issue was. A few hours at Audi Henderson told me it was a failing battery with the excellent news that Audi would be paying for it all. All $515 of the replacement.

Anyone else seen the battery fail that quickly under conditions that should be fairly kind batteries?

Steve

WideSuppie

Really doesn't matter the mileage. My A4 just had it new battery changed. It's an 2009 with 75k. Wife works 6 miles away and 5 days a week. My 2007 Ridgeline was on it's 3rd one with 94k miles. I don't drive the Ridgeline as much as I work with my van at all time.

Bob Petruska

Good for you that is was free under warranty, but $515 to replace a battery that you can buy from the dealer parts counter for about $200 (dealer cost is a lot less) is a major rip off for the little guy that needs to pay.

riceboy22

Do you do a lot of short trips or drive infrequently? It looks like you have relatively low mileage given the model year (assuming you bought it in late 2013 or early 2014). If your battery frequently sits with a low charge and/or doesn't normally get the opportunity to get a full charge, that can be much harder on the battery than weather conditions.

scrmorling

Yes, Riceboy, most of my trips are local - in the 5-mile range. But I guess that Audi is recognizing that the battery should hold up even in those circumstances by covering it under warranty. I was very pleasantly surprised that they covered the complete cost and didn't try to prorate the claim against the age or the mileage. Steve

ex-quattro PETE

Well, so these are not exactly "fairly kind" conditions. On the contrary, that's really bad for the battery as it is constantly underacharged.

Sadly, my wife's Q5 is subject to very similar driving conditions (3 miles to work) and I suspect its battery will suffer similar fate, even though I do plug it into a charger/maintainer once in a while.

Bob Petruska

My 2014 Q5 was purchased in June, 2013, has 10,500 miles on it and most of those miles are start it every day, drive 3 blocks to the post office, start is again, drive home and stop. The Q5 never sees a long trip, so the battery will most likely die soon, just how it is. I also live in PA were the temps this week are near 10F, which doesn't help the battery performance.

riceboy22

Steve, maybe you should find a 20-30 min route once a week where you can let your car stretch a bit (and let the battery fully charge). If you need a justification, just call it a well being drive!

WideSuppie

It wasn't free. Paid for the parts and changed it myself actually.

Bob Petruska

I quoted and responded to the OP, not you.

But yes, doing it yourself saves a lot of money!