audiblack73

About to leave for a long drive on long weekend. Car didn't start battery died no clear reason, i guess expected at 60,000. Had it jump started. Due to emergency nature of trip didn't shop around and called dealership. I was told to come and get it replaced. Was charged $544 (199 battery rest is labor). How much could have saved and how

Jusforfun

you could read the DIY bit of spreadsheet to find other posts or search for previous posts.
OR
Look in your manual for the correct battery.
Buy it
Remove the plastic caps in front of your left front seat
remove bolts.
Crank seatback foward then tilt seat back.
Remove cover and battery strap.
connect temporary 12v supply through power socket or via terminals under hood
Remove old battery and insert new battery after taking note of its code and serial number.
Disconnect temp supply
Use the torque settings I put in the spreadsheet FAQ and DIY section to put stuff back.
Use the Ross Tech wiki to update VAG com at your leisure.

I think of all teh charges for Q7, battery replacement is pretty good given the effort and time it saves you. Plus you dont have to dispose of the old battery. VAG Com and Battery warranty all kept up by dealership.
You could also have negotiated that figure a little. I have seen quotes about 50 bucks less.

Sherblatz

Agreed. With effort involved with changing battery on the Q7, $500 is about right. No way I would attempt this myself.

Jimbo

Hasser

RIP off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i recently (last month) replaced my battery.

battery cost was 125 GBP and 25 GBP to fit it at local auto electrical shop.

total cost 150 GBP!!

RESULT.

$544 = that's the rip off of an audi dealership for you.

old96A4

MY Q7 is looking to get a new battery soon, I talked to my dealer about it, New battery cost about $110, 1/2 labor to put it in, not sure if the VAG is included are not , but he said about $160 out the door. That's not bad, since I don't have a VAG yet. Bateries at Walmart are $95 bucks.

Hasser

thats not bad.

i never coded my battery change to the car, no problems yet.

the auto-electrician said there was no need to code the battery.

not sure how true that is though? my mmi doesnt have the facililty to check the battery charge/condition anyway but i think if it does you need to code it to see the read out in the mmi.

pchansen

How would the car "know" that battery is being replaced if you connect a trickle charger to the jump posts under you hood. Thus, why would you need to mess with VAG-COM?

chickdr

$544 is insanely high. $160 seems too cheap as the battery is more than that alone(are they giving you an OEM battery for that price?) Mine was recently done at the dealer. It was 363.85(228.50 was the battery itself). Yes it is expensive but as explained above, the process is not easy to DIY so it was worth it for me.

bozack

The price chick got i could live with, $500+ would be tougher to swallow.

uberwgn

Yeah, I suspect the battery is at least $200.

Is the battery in the Q7 a big project to change??

It seems like the system will re-learn the new battery characteristics if the battery isn't completely flat. Bulletin on reasons for coding the battery: