UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hello, First post but a regular reader for the last year since becoming a 2019 Polo Gti owner. Some really good advice here and helped immensely with identifying the handbrake rattle, rear wheel arch liner, individual driver settings and the sound actuator on or off dilemma! So many thanks to all for your thoughts.
Can I ask a daft question re: battery charging and the further I type the more feeble it seems.
I’d like to give the battery a bit of a top up. Under normal circumstances most of the car’s journeys are very much local with an occasional run of 20 miles.
Is it ok to use the jump start terminals in the engine compartment to connect the charger and am I correct in thinking the battery is a lead acid type?
Apologies for the simplistic nature of the question. 40 years ago I’d have just have connected it up but I must be getting wary in my old age!
Many thanks once again for all the help I’ve received since I joined the forum.

Hi, yes just use the jump leads posts under the bonnet and only use a safe/smart charger when keeping everything connected to the car.

I tend to only use CTEK chargers though maybe some others are just as safe when leaving connected to the car overnight or longer.

Don't buy one that is less than a 5Amp output, the CTEK MSX5 is suitable for recovering a discharged battery of the sizes used in Polos.

I don't have a current Polo GTI but I'd think that VW will have only bothered to fit an EFB so essentially a lead acid battery, but a version suitably altered to tolerate stop/start use and regenerative braking.

Edit:- if you look at the top surface of your battery, if it is EFB then that will be printed on the top of it, if it is AGM then that will be printed on the top of it.

Another Edit:- to clarify which version of charger is suitable for Polos.

SRGTD wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:08 am I wonder how receptive insurance companies would be to requests to refund part of the premiums we pay to insure our cars, on the basis that for many people their cars are being used very little or not at all just now, so the accident / damage risk is significantly reduced.

monkeyhanger wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:15 am You'll get nowt back from the insurance companies.

Not so - Admiral are to give a £25 refund to each of their car and van policyholders, to reflect lower claims due to vehicles being sat idle, and as a thank you to people for staying at home;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52367030

The BBC news article states other insurers are under pressure to follow suit, so there may be others that follow Admiral’s lead.

RUM4MO - Thank you for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.

I’ve made some progress and removed the bracket holding the battery to reveal it’s an AGM and found an old charger that I’d forgotten about lurking in a box of bits that I’d put on one side for a ‘just in case I need it’ moment.
Even better it will cope with an AGM battery. I’ll give it go tomorrow.
As an aside, the current Polo is well worth a look when you fancy a change. I had a Golf previously (my first VW) and that was excellent but I must admit I like the Polo more.
Thanks again.

SRGTD wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:31 pm

SRGTD wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:08 am I wonder how receptive insurance companies would be to requests to refund part of the premiums we pay to insure our cars, on the basis that for many people their cars are being used very little or not at all just now, so the accident / damage risk is significantly reduced.

monkeyhanger wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:15 am You'll get nowt back from the insurance companies.

Not so - Admiral are to give a £25 refund to each of their car and van policyholders, to reflect lower claims due to vehicles being sat idle, and as a thank you to people for staying at home;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52367030

The BBC news article states other insurers are under pressure to follow suit, so there may be others that follow Admiral’s lead.

Who'd have thought it would happen though? I'm very surprised they didn't just pocket the difference. A flat £25 isn't really a fair way to go about it though, a percentage of premium paid would've been fairer. Why should person A getting £25 back on a £250 premium and person B paying £1000 a year also get £25?

monkeyhanger wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 5:13 pm

SRGTD wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:31 pm

SRGTD wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:08 am I wonder how receptive insurance companies would be to requests to refund part of the premiums we pay to insure our cars, on the basis that for many people their cars are being used very little or not at all just now, so the accident / damage risk is significantly reduced.

monkeyhanger wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:15 am You'll get nowt back from the insurance companies.

Not so - Admiral are to give a £25 refund to each of their car and van policyholders, to reflect lower claims due to vehicles being sat idle, and as a thank you to people for staying at home;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52367030

The BBC news article states other insurers are under pressure to follow suit, so there may be others that follow Admiral’s lead.

Who'd have thought it would happen though? I'm very surprised they didn't just pocket the difference. A flat £25 isn't really a fair way to go about it though, a percentage of premium paid would've been fairer. Why should person A getting £25 back on a £250 premium and person B paying £1000 a year also get £25?

Agree there’ll be winners and losers, but isn’t that the case in many other situations in life? For those customers with a relatively high premium it is only a token gesture, but ultimately, Admiral didn’t have to do this. The fact that they have, IMO should be commended. Let’s see if other insurers follow suit and make similar refunds - if they do, some might go the percentage route to try and score some brownie points with customers over the Admiral approach.

Refunding a flat £25 is probably easier to implement from an operational/administrative perspective than a percentage of premium.