[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Siva

They are quoting double the market price! 8000 bucks! Seems like a rip off. Moreover I am not sure whether it's a 45ah or 60ah capacity that should be fitted. Any advice welcome.

For the petrol it is 45Ah. Get the battery checked from any specialist and then decide. Also batterybhai website says 4200 bucks for replacement.

Get it from them. Don't go to the ASC. They'll loot you.

[madmaxvistian]

Originally Posted by Siva

They are quoting double the market price! 8000 bucks! Seems like a rip off. Moreover I am not sure whether it's a 45ah or 60ah capacity that should be fitted. Any advice welcome.

It is 44/45AH for Petrol and 60AH for Diesel. Amaron has 45AH spec which costs around 3600 with exchange of old battery and Exide should be a bit more costly, around 4200. One of my friend has just replaced with this spec. This is a straightforward job and going through ASC will certainly cost a bomb.

[Siva]

Regarding the spec, I checked with the ASC. The service manager specifically said it is din60 for gt tsi. The oem one is din 45 though.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Siva

Regarding the spec, I checked with the ASC. The service manager specifically said it is din60 for gt tsi. The oem one is din 45 though.

Why do I get the impression that the service centres are trying to change the GT Petrol to a Diesel? You may want to ask the person at the service centre to show you the specification of the batteries for the GT TSI on their catalogue. This seems similar to the Air Filter that is being tracked and discussed in another thread.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Siva

Has anyone replaced the battery of of their GT? The service dealer is kind of forcing to buy the battery from him saying only they have the right spec battery. Anything outside may give trouble and damage the ECU. They are quoting double the market price! 8000 bucks! Seems like a rip off. Moreover I am not sure whether it's a 45ah or 60ah capacity that should be fitted. Any advice welcome.

I replaced the OE battery just yesterday. I replaced it with Amaron Flo 45Ah battery. The OE battery is a 36Ah battery with 300A CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). The Amaron Flo is rated at 45Ah and 360A CCA.

The SA's statement "anything outside may give trouble and damage the ECU" is RUBBISH. The battery has various parameters.

Voltage:
This is the most important parameter. Electricals would get damaged only if the voltage exceeds the safe limit. When the car is not running, no 12V battery can produce anything more than 12.5V at rest. When the car is running, even if the battery is completely open, the alternator will limit the voltage to about 14.4V. So, as long as you are installing a 12V battery, nothing can damage the electronics.

AH Rating:
This is the total capacity of the battery. This means how long the battery can last when you discharge the battery. Increasing the AH of the battery does not add any load to the alternator or the electronics. It just takes a little longer to reach full charge.

So, even if you install a huge battery like 75AH, the worst thing that can happen is the battery will not charge fully. But this will no way affect any of the electronics.

If you do not have any very high powered loads in your car, a 45AH battery is perfectly fine and will cause no damage to any of the electronics.

Note: In a car, the battery never gets fully discharged, unless you run high power audio systems and other accessories with the engine off. Also, when you have very high powered loads, even when the car is running, the battery may still get discharged as the loads may use the alternator's current thus depriving the battery of charge.

CCA (Cold Crank Amps):
This is how much current the battery can supply at 0 degree farenheit with the voltage not dropping below 7.2V (60% of rated voltage). The higher the number, the better is the battery in supplying the current required by the starter motor. A higher number just means that the battery can supply more current if demanded, and in no way is harmful to the electronics.

Now that you know what various parameters of a battery mean, if your car is under warranty, ask the SA to give in writing that replacing the battery from outside with similarly rated battery would void warranty, and tell him you will use these technical details and his writing to take him to court. See what his response is

If your car is not under warranty, now that you know what these various numbers in a battery mean, you should go ahead and get it replaced outside.

Originally Posted by swissknife

Why do I get the impression that the service centres are trying to change the GT Petrol to a Diesel? You may want to ask the person at the service centre to show you the specification of the batteries for the GT TSI on their catalogue. This seems similar to the Air Filter that is being tracked and discussed in another thread.

Below is the picture of the OE battery I took before replacing it. It is rated at 36AH. The correct replacement would be a 45AH, not 60AH..

[Aston Singh]

Guys, my car's done around 11.5k kms in 7 months with significant highway runs. Should I go in for an early service? Is it recommended to change the engine oil before the 15k mark if it's the first oil change of your car? I do drive with a slight heavy foot.

Thanks in advance.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by Aston Singh

Guys, my car's done around 11.5k kms in 7 months with significant highway runs. Should I go in for an early service? Is it recommended to change the engine oil before the 15k mark if it's the first oil change of your car? I do drive with a slight heavy foot.

Thanks in advance.

Highway runs are actually good for the engine! Engine oil will degrade far worse driving 11K in city than on the highway.

Standard service intervals are 15K or 1 year whichever is earlier and I would advice you to stick to it.


Back in the day people did change engine oil at 1K in a new car. But that was with mineral oil and very tight clearance engines. These days engines are manufactured with better precision and have lesser friction. No harm in changing oil early, but its not worth it.

If you do drive with a heavy foot, check the oil level with the dip stick. VW family engines are known to drink oil. Top-up if necessary.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by graaja

The SA's statement "anything outside may give trouble and damage the ECU" is RUBBISH. The battery has various parameters.

True. But the service guys try their best to scare you on the pretext of warranty and make profit. Many people fall into this trap. I know colleagues who buy anything and everything from the same dealership from whom they purchased the car. From Insurance to Battery to Tyres!

AH Rating:
This is the total capacity of the battery. This means how long the battery can last when you discharge the battery. Increasing the AH of the battery does not add any load to the alternator or the electronics. It just takes a little longer to reach full charge.

So, even if you install a huge battery like 75AH, the worst thing that can happen is the battery will not charge fully. But this will no way affect any of the electronics.

If you do not have any very high powered loads in your car, a 45AH battery is perfectly fine and will cause no damage to any of the electronics.

Note: In a car, the battery never gets fully discharged, unless you run high power audio systems and other accessories with the engine off. Also, when you have very high powered loads, even when the car is running, the battery may still get discharged as the loads may use the alternator's current thus depriving the battery of charge.

This is like the mobile power bank. We all can charge our mobile phones(load) whatever may be the phone model from different power banks(basically a battery). And we charge it from power banks varying from 500mah to 20000mah capacity. If the service guy were to be believed, charging a Small Nokia non-smart phone from a 20000mah power bank would lead to the phone bursting into flames.
Similar to what graaja explained, bigger powerbank will take more time to get charged up from the power supply (alternator in a car's case)

All said and done, we cannot buy a very high AH rated battery (althought theoretically nothing will happen) for example a 200AH battery for a 35AH battery simply because of the dimensions of the battery and the battery tray. It is something called as Battery group size. Group size is typically based on your vehicle’s make, model and engine type. Although some vehicles may accommodate a battery from more than one group size, we should check this before selecting a replacement battery

[BlueEyes]

I have installed engine sump guard on my TSI couple of months back. I wanted to get this installed right out of the showroom, I was discouraged by the SA but got it installed during the 1st annual service. I felt this is something which should have been a standard fitment. IIRC this was installed out of factory on the initial batches (GT TDI?) and over the period of time removed for cost cutting reasons, just like so many other features. Anyways, I felt sump guard is required considering kind of bad roads our cars are subjected to.

Total cost 9,700 + labour charges. Upon inquiring further I was told that now it comes along with a lock carrier!! So basically if you want sump guard you got to pay for lock carrier and Vice versa. It's sold as a complete kit now and not separately. BHPian shetty_rohan has installed this sump guard back in 2013 which is documented here for the same price but I don't think that included a lock carrier kit than.
Here are some pictures:

Engine sump guard. Part #6R0825901A :


Before and after the sump guard installation:


Lock carrier (which is lying at my home and I hope I never have to use it):


This was billed as lock carrier kit and had a different part number in the billing, sorry I seems to have misplaced the receipt. 10k is steep but I must mention that guard is of extremely good quality and had 'Made in Germany' sticker.

[itwasntme]

VW has a very profitable side business during Polo services by claiming that the lock carrier is damaged and needs changing! Keep it, you will need it.

[shetty_rohan]

Originally Posted by BlueEyes

I have installed engine sump guard on my TSI couple of months back. ..

Total cost 9,700 + labour charges. Upon inquiring further I was told that now it comes along with a lock carrier!! So basically if you want sump guard you got to pay for lock carrier and Vice versa. It's sold as a complete kit now and not separately. BHPian shetty_rohan has installed this sump guard back in 2013 which is documented here for the same price but I don't think that included a lock carrier kit than.
...

I had installed the sump guard without the lock carrier.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

VW has a very profitable side business during Polo services by claiming that the lock carrier is damaged and needs changing! Keep it, you will need it.

You may be right :-)

Recently, I managed damage my bumper by hitting a small stone. Though it was a very minor cut, decided to change the bumper.
Just by glancing at the bumper, SA told me that even the "lock carrier" would need to be replaced.

Total bill was around 21,500, out of which I had to pay Rs 1500.

[shetty_rohan]

75K Service update:
Again, this time decided to take the car to the VW Mysore(around 175kms drive one way).
I was facing below issues
1) Noise :
-Consistent noise(near the front right) while turning the steering
-Consistent noise(near the front right) while driving on the bad roads
2) D Mode issue: Sometimes(mostly after the cold start) after engaging the "D" mode(and after releasing the brake pedal, and accelerating) the vehicle never moves forward. Even if I accelerate hard, RPM goes only till 1750.
Only option was to press the brake pedal and release AGAIN.

I asked the SA to look into the above issues, and not to do the below
- Wheel alignment and balancing
- Windshield Washer fluid
- AC disinfection

SA advised me to go for a test drive with Technician, Technician told me that noise is coming from some suspension components(and not from the steering rack). He also told me that "D" mode(vehicle not moving) might be related to the clutch(wear and tear).

Got back the vehicle in the evening, SA went through the checklist
- Noise problem solved after replacing the Lower wishbone/Track Control arm and Tie Rod end
- "D" mode problem: He said they have re-calibrated the mechatronic unit, but he was not able to explain the exact procedure
- I could see the "Windshield cleaner" in the bill, he gave some explanation saying it was made mandatory(from the management). I was not in a mood to argue with him, so decided to pay for the same.

Total bill: 14,105

Feedback:
- Noise problem is solved
- "D" mode problem is still there. I have my extended warranty till November this year. Hopefully this problem is not related to infamous DQ200 recall.

[antardaksh]

Originally Posted by shetty_rohan

- I could see the "Windshield cleaner" in the bill, he gave some explanation saying it was made mandatory(from the management). I was not in a mood to argue with him, so decided to pay for the same.

Hi shetty_rohan,

If time permits its better to talk with work shop manager since talking with SA(about billing) is mostly waste of time. Adding unnecessary itms is one of the sources to make money, Maruti does the same by adding multiple packs of windshield washer fluid build in the bill.

Regards.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by shetty_rohan

"D" mode problem is still there. I have my extended warranty till November this year. Hopefully this problem is not related to infamous DQ200 recall.

Given that your extended warranty is going to expire in another 4 months, this is surely something you need to fix quickly. What's the explanation that the SA gave? You are planning to escalate the issue?

[Thad E Ginathom]

At one time I had absurdly expensive windscreen-cleaner additive from Wurth in my washer fluid. I stuck a label over the top saying not to drain or change and told SA. It was not touched, and I was not charged.

The service items for a car used to be listed in the service booklet that came with it. That is no longer done it seems. The customer does not get to realise so fast how little is actually involved with the basic service, and the dealer gets to add whatever mandatory items they like.