BHPian raycers_honda recently shared this with other enthusiasts:Update on my 2022 Volkswagen Virtus Highline 1.0L ManualIt’s been nearly three years-just shy of two months-and we already have a dead battery. Just a heads-up: the battery comes with only a two-year warranty, so any replacement beyond that is out of pocket. Honestly, I didn’t expect the battery on the Volkswagen Virtus to last such a short time, but most people on WhatsApp groups said I’m lucky it lasted this long. Apparently, three years is “good” for a VW battery. Still, I never got any warning signs-no low battery indicator or anything. So, what happened? One evening, I got into the car, cranked it up, and suddenly there was a loud spark-like sound, and the entire dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. I hit the stop button, and a barrage of errors appeared-airbag failure, brake booster warning, ABS warning, and of course, a low battery warning. I was shocked. I immediately posted videos of the issue on my WhatsApp groups. The first response was, “It’s probably a rat bite,” and I was like, “Oh God, I hope it’s nothing serious.” But soon enough, everyone agreed-it was a battery failure. And apparently, three years is already “too much” for a VW battery to last. For context, I don’t have a dashcam permanently wired into the car. I use a portable one plugged into the accessory socket (the cigarette lighter near the gearshift), which I unplug every single time I exit the vehicle. Also, I make sure to disable the auto start/stop feature every single time I start the car. I find it extremely useless in a city like Mumbai. Car companies include this silly feature to meet emission norms, but honestly, it’s the most useless gimmick. The idea is to reduce emissions by cutting the engine when idle, but in reality, it just wears out the battery and starter motor faster. Personally, I’d rather sit at a signal with the AC running in Mumbai heat than rely on that feature. Anyway, the next day, we jump-started the car and drove it to the service center. Came back with a brand-new battery and a not-so-cool bill of 10,000. My advice? Get your battery checked before or just after two years. That way, you might be able to get it replaced under warranty-or at least push for it. Because, let’s be honest, it’s almost guaranteed to fail right after the warranty expires. For comparison, our Vento lasted 13 years, and I think we only had to change the battery once. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
