Driving this evening and the battery light came on. Shortly followed by just about every other light and what felt like a loss of power steering.

Google suggests that it is either a knackered battery or a knackered alternator.Any easy way to tell? Been sat on the road , parked, for 5 days but last journey was 300miles of motorway driving so the battery should have been charged – It has not lost charge before. It has been very wet which may not help – the 300mile trip was appalling. I don’t have things like multimeter so can’t check voltages etc. myself.

If it still runs tomorrow I’m going to try and get it to a garage. Before I do does anyone have any idea what is wrong? If it is likely to be the battery I’ll just take it somewhere local because it will be cheaper but if it is more complex I’d like to take it to somewhere that knows something about VW Golfs that can do diagnostics.

Could be a drive belt to the alternator gone? Was there any accompanying noises?

Happened to my car late last year but was accompanied by a flap flap noise and only the battery light coming on.

Or could be knackered alternator or battery…

No noises. Battery light never went off after I put the key in.

I don’t think there is much you can do without a multimeter. Advice above is good though, have a look to see if a drive belt is hanging off or missing.

Sounds simmilar to what happened to my van.
The alternator was kaput.
New one fitted and all was well again.

If the belts still on it all points at a dead alternator. If you drive it untill the battery is dead youl run the risk of a kaput battery aswell.

Alternator clutch pulley?? Mine went on my A4