Dealer Replaced Battery - NOW: Door Locks / Windows / Some Fan Stopped Working...

What a mess.

My dad is borrowing my car so to be nice, he offered to have my oil changed at the dealer. Great deal (or so I thought).

While at the dealer, they tell him that the fluid in the battery is really low and that it should be replaced. Although I haven't had ANY problems with the car, it is 6 years old so I figure if I don't do it now, I'll probably have to do it soon - so I tell my dad to go ahead and let them replace it.

One of the service techs advised that we let the dealer do it because the electrical system can go haywire if it's not installed properly.

They replace the battery - do the oil change - and my dad goes on his merry way.

When he gets home, he realizes that the passenger front door does not lock. He then finds out that the rear door will not UNLOCK. FURTHER, the windows stopped working on the passenger side! He calls the dealership back and schedules another appointment.

Mind you - BEFORE the first dealer service, everything was working PERFECTLY.

Now - the dealer is saying that these are all completely unrelated to the battery swap and the new repairs will cost over $1200!!!! He also found some fan that's not functioning (coincidentally, on the passenger side of the car).

Long story short: On Monday, my car was in PERFECT condition but needed an oil change. After a dealer visit, my car now has fresh oil and a new battery but requires an additional $1200 just to get it back to the state it was in BEFORE the dealership every touched it!

What the hell is going on here? We've contacted VWOA customer care and are now awaiting a call back from anyone.

Right now - the car is sitting in my garage - with the passenger side completely crippled.

2007 GTI - under 39,000 miles on it. I BABY this car like crazy - garage kept, drive like an old lady, etc...

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm looking for ANY help...

Try disconnecting your battery for 30 minutes then report back here

FYI...This works...I had the same issue and this fixed it.

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this thread!

Yep - the unplugging of the battery "magically" made all of my issues disappear.

I can't believe that a very well respected dealership here in Chicago actually tried to scam me out of $1200...

One THOUSAND and two hundred bucks - saved - by simply unplugging my battery for a while.

What a friggin scam.

Can you imagine some little old man - or lady - coming in for a routine oil change, and before they get their car back in the same condition, they are forced to pay close to $1500 (oil change + battery replacement + repairs for an incorrect battery install)?

Sheesh.

EDIT - I almost forgot - THANK YOU!

Kricket said:

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this thread!

Yep - the unplugging of the battery "magically" made all of my issues disappear.

I can't believe that a very well respected dealership here in Chicago actually tried to scam me out of $1200...

One THOUSAND and two hundred bucks - saved - by simply unplugging my battery for a while.

What a friggin scam.

Can you imagine some little old man - or lady - coming in for a routine oil change, and before they get their car back in the same condition, they are forced to pay close to $1500 (oil change + battery replacement + repairs for an incorrect battery install)?

Sheesh.

EDIT - I almost forgot - THANK YOU!

Click to expand...

the line they told your dad about the "fluid in the battery" was bs. Our cars have sealed batteries from the factory. No one really makes a battery that you can fill anymore - unless youre talking about powersports (motorcycle, atv, etc) or vintage style repro batteries

^ I had a feeling something was up with that. I have had NO issues with ANYTHING on that car. When my dad called - I was concerned. He asked me if I had any trouble starting the car or anything - I told him I didn't. But shoot - you take your car to a reputable dealer and you expect at least a little decency (or maybe I'm just being naive). The car is 6 years old - so it's not completely unheard of that it might need a battery but man - I just feel swindled.

Word to the wise: stay AWAY from Autobarn City Volkswagen in Chicago - they'll do everything in their power to take your money.

Funny thing - after all of this - contacting the managers, VWOA, etc - one manager actually offered to cover the window motor (parts and labor). I really wonder if they would have repaired it - or just unplugged the battery for a bit and just TELL me that they replaced the part. This smells like a scam from top to bottom...

EDIT - I just posted this in the Northern Illinois thread - hopefully to save some poor soul a little bit of heartache...

The battery fluid line was BS and they probably charged you WAY too much for the new battery. I just replaced my battery at Advanced auto for $120 installed a couple months back. And, the line about letting a dealer do the change...more BS. They just wanted the over-priced sale and labor fees.

Oh my what a shit load of bull coming from that shop...
Fluids, problems while changing out the battery lol
The sad thing is i hear shit like this way too often.
Glad it worked out for ya, but they prob overprized that battery change.
And yeah, many times "fixing" some electrical issues just needs disconecting the battery for a while. Just like re-starting your computer.

Honestly, I dont believe any shady experience is specific to any one dealer. You always have to be careful when they diagnose your car. Only get the work done that you intended.

If they tell you something else is wrong, look around here, vortex, or other internet sources and see what you can do about it.

Its funny they told your dad they should do the battery because it could cause issues if it is installed wrong. The only thing you can mess up is putting the damn thing on backwards, and thats a long shot.

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One of the computers probably got a little scrambled when the terminals were connected. Kind of like how a PC might get locked up when there is a power fluctuation.

Six years on the original battery is good. At least down here the year round 24/7 heat is tough on car batteries.

Many dealers are plenty busy enough that they don't want to take time diagnosing and fixing things. They just jump in and start replacing stuff. It's not so bad when you're under warranty.

i was told the same thing by a dealer in Atlanta - let them do the battery swap because lots of electronic problems can result.

FYI, batteries at sam's club are less than a bill. my duracell battery died the other day less than 2 years in, so i just got a free replacement no questions asked.

Sorry, awakening the old topic.

I've Golf MK7 2014 and exact same thing happened to me.

Battery failed in the traffic after start/stop. They pulled my truck to the service.

Battery change + periodic maintenance (oil change etc.) I got the car from the service, drive for 10 minutes. Usually after 20 km/h speed doors lock itself automaticly. This time it did not. Only the sound of retries and fail attempts of lock/unlocking every 20 km/h speed. They told me, driver side lock has to be replaced and asked for additional money... I think it is similar with this problem. I can not lock or unlock driver door. Engine was not running, doors were not unlocked. I removed one battery fuse, waited 3-5 minutes, it didnt change a thing. Stereo did not reset, all radio channels were remaining as i set. Only had to set the clock.
Did i practised the trick correct? I do not know. Have any idea?

Just my two cents. From the days of loosing all of your radio presets and engine tuning parameters by disconnecting the battery; only to spike your ECU and other on-board electronics during a re-connect, I have had no headaches whatsoever by bridging the battery cables with a jumper box before loosening and removing the terminal lugs and removing/replacing the car battery. The car always has battery voltage right thru the (car) battery's re-connection and never is the wiser. Try it. You'll like it!
P.S. The MK5 factory head unit keeps it's presets even without power (must have EEproms or whatever) which I learned when I removed the radio for service and when I reconnected it a week later, the presets were still intact.

I work at advance auto parts and to prevent this type of stuff from happening we have a cable that plugs into your obd2 port and provides power to the system via a jumper box

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Today, dealer replaced the door lock part with a %50 price discount. Problem solved. I think, if it could be solved via re-connecting battery, new part would also be requiring somethiging else to get to be working, but they only changed the lock part and it worked. I think my problem was different than the problem mentioned above. Now I am just wondering why did it occured on battery failure, is it related or not.