I wanted to ask if anyone has had problems or been told that Optima batteries are not appropriate or too powerful for Audis?

I have an 07 A3 3.2 Quattro that I gave to the dealership to check the alternator because the car struggles to start and it looked like the battery wasn't charging. I put in a brand new Optima red top battery about 8 months ago and the battery/charger tester I have indicated an alternator issue and no issue with the battery.

Dealership is telling me that they found a couple of faults in the system and that I need to put in the "appropriate" battery for the car and they will test it again.

Just wondering if this is true or if they are trying to get around fixing the alternator under warranty...

Any info is appreciated.

 

first of all i dont have experience with your car but inturn i have had plenty with other cars. i also have used optima in much of my current and past cars.


to keep it simple.
opitma batteries in general will operate similar to your battery as along as its the same size. optima wont create a super over battery. if the car had ran with that red battery then its fine using that one you have.

the only thing i think could be happening, the battery might be defective but a simple test can see that. like at kragen they have a free service for that. you bring in a battery and they will do a simple trickle test to see if its holding power. i dont know if you have lots of aftermarket electical equipment in your car now but that might drain your car.

one key important thing about red top optima and any other stock car battery, if you ever have the battery drain down low enough, it will never come back like new again even with a charge. it never holds the charge very well or even up to par to where it was before the drain. i have experienced this with tons of batteries. the only batteries i have seen work somewhat ok after the drain is the blue optima but even with that version the success is only half of those batteries will come back from the dead stage.

the other thing that might is your original thought. the alternator. alternators are usually susceptible to break down when being over loaeded. agian i dont know if you have anything else added to draw on the current electical system. or it could just be defective as well.

at the dealership they only have tools and test numbers to follow their specific parts.
so if the optima is putting out just 2 extra CCA then the dealership mechanics will say your battery is not in specifications. not to say 2 extra cca is bad. its actually fine or for some, thats really good.

keypoint, when you use aftermarket parts dealerships will not go around those parts even if the parts are in perfectly working condition. its all their parts or nothing.