Posted on 8/15/2014
I answered the phone at the shop a few days ago and concerned voice came over the phone asking "how much is a alternator on a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. As I always do, I asked "why do you think you need an alternator?". The caller explained that the vehilce had been to the dealership for a 80,000 mile service and a few days later the battery light came on and the car died. He towed it back to the dealership and they "tested" it for $149 and said it needed an alternator. They quoted him over $1200 for the repair. I thought this was strange for a Volkswagen with 80,000 miles on it, but quoted him a price. It was less than half of the dealership. I told him to have it towed in, but we need to test it ourselves before we condem the alternator. We performed our Charging System Test and found that the power distribution bar (see picture) had burnt and by jumping it we got the al ... read more