A car battery has several simple, yet important tasks. It accumulates electrical energy created by the alternator while the engine is running. When the car is turned off, electricity stored in the battery powers all systems that still need to run and provides power for starting the engine. Because modern batteries are very reliable, we often don’t think about our car battery until we experience an issue. In most cases, car batteries last anywhere from 2 to 4 years. However, factors like your driving habits and the environment you’re in will impact the lifespan.
Volkswagen recommends testing your battery every 20,000 miles or 2 years. Unlike most cars, the battery is not located under the hood. As a result, you’ll find that most auto parts stores will not replace the battery for you for free. So, you’ll either have to go to the stealership, an independent mechanic, or do-it-yourself, which we recommend.
To replace your battery, check out this helpful tutorial above from the YouTube channel, The Battery Shop. While the video is for a Porsche Cayenne, the steps are identical on the Touareg. Detailed battery testing and replacement instructions can be found below.
Seat bolts: 37 ft-lbs (apply medium strength thread locker as well)
Step 1: Test your battery.
- Start by testing your battery. You can do this by taking your car to your nearest auto parts store.
- To test the battery yourself, purchase a simple battery tester such as this one.
- Open vehicle’s hood, then locate the remote battery terminals on the driver’s side under a plastic cover.
- Remove the plastic battery terminal cover and attached the battery tester.
- Run through the battery tester’s battery and crank tests. Here is a helpful video from Scotty Kilmer.
Step 2: If your battery is bad, start by gaining access to your battery.
- The battery is located under the driver’s seat; start by moving the driver’s seat all the way forward.
- Access the driver seat’s rear seat rails and remove the middle plastic trim pieces on each seat rail using a flat head screwdriver.
- Next, remove the remaining plastic trim pieces on each seat rail by simply sliding them away from the seat and towards the rear of the car.
- Lift up the carpet around the driver seat’s rear seat rails to access the battery compartment clips. Release these clips using a flat head screwdriver.
- Now, move the driver seat as far back as possible.
- At the base of the driver seat, you will see a carpeted panel. Stick your fingers from underneath and pull the panel out. This will allow you to move it out of the way for the next step.
- Remove the two plastic panels at the base of the seat, which will expose two 10mm triple square bolts; remove these two bolts.
- Move the seat forward slightly, then tilt the driver seat back; this will fully expose the battery area.
Step 3: Remove the battery.
- Remove the remaining battery cover clips and the T25 screw for the A/C vent.
- Then remove the battery cover completely, which will expose the battery.
- Remove the two battery brackets using a 10mm socket with an extension; there is a bracket on the front left corner and another on the left side of the battery in the middle.
- Loosen the two battery terminal connectors using a 10mm socket.
- Slide the battery back slightly and lift it out.
Step 4: Insert your new battery and reinstall everything.
- Insert your new battery and repeat these instructions in reverse.
- Just hand tighten the battery terminals and battery bracket bolts.
- Re-install the battery cover and plastic trim pieces.
- When fastening the 10mm triple square seat bolts, apply medium strength thread locker and torque them to 37 ft-lbs with a torque wrench.
- Save your old battery to recycle at your nearest auto parts store.
- Clean up your work area and put away all your tools.
- You’re all done!
Mary C Mckeever says:
We are in our 70’s and probably could have had a parts store replace the battery until we found out where it’s located. We have a 2015 VW Touareg and your description of how to replace the batter would be impossible for us to do. I saw the price for dealership vs independent and wondered which you would recommend??
ecarguidesllc says:
A good independent mechanic will save you money and do just as good of a job. However, if you’re unsure if a mechanic is good or not, you could just visit the dealership. Hope this helps!
Richard says:
Your Touareg has a battery monitor. Although not 100% imperative to code a new battery, you will enjoy a longer usable battery life and proper charging profile if you do code in the new battery. The system logs battery age, internal resistance, capacity, etc and forms a charging profile based on that. If you throw in a new battery, it will think the old battery is still in place and charge based on that profile and not a new one.
Matthew says:
Which is actually huge problem, and will result in your new battery being dead in no time. Figururing out how to recode for the new battery is imperative. (I now have a dead battery as a result.)