I have a 2006 A3 2.0T with 33,000 miles on it. The battery died yesterday. Had to jump it a couple of times and this morning it was dead again. I can't do without a car and I have borrowed my wife's car for the day.

The dealer wants to charge me $275 for a replacement. Can I just get a battery from Autozone or Pepboys or some place like that and replace it myself? Will the car's computer, radio etc. go crazy or reset or something if I do that? Any way around that?

Also should the battery be cover under warranty as my car still has warranty till next year?

I posted this here because the A3 forum here is pretty much dead. I thought I will get more hits and answers here.

Thanks in advance!

 

You're fine. Get a battery from somewhere else. Juice is juice; ya know?

 

The only thing you might get when you replace the battery is the radio prompting you for the code. You should have it on your owner's manual packet.

 

Do the above. Use another battery to jumper to your car's terminals (clamp to the round section before the clamp works best). Disconnect your old battery, leaving the jumpers in place on the terminals. Remove old battery *caution heavy & awkward, and the hot terminal should be wrapped in a rag to prevent shorting to the firewall*--best if you have a helper to steady the cables while you swap batteries--and install the new unit. Clamp your terminals to the new battery, remove jumper cables, and you are done.

This will keep the codes in your car's computer.
HTH
Chris

 

Optima for the win!

 

Odyssey FTW!

 

^ Dumb.

 

Dangerous....very dangerous.

 

yeahhhhh... probably not the best idea... check to see if you have the HU code, and eliminate the risk of frying yourself and your electrical system

 

But, if you DO go with the "hot-link" method... Have someone shoot some vid! Just in case.