VW Money Pit

[stellarsteve]

So my wife called me on Thursday morning informing me that her 2004 VW Beetle's engine light came on. After a number of less than satisfactory visits to the local VW dealers I decided to take it to a private mechanic. I called him and was ensured that he had the required software to both diagnose and fix any and all error codes (some mechanics don't get all the software and can only diagnose problems and have to send to the dealer to fix, yet still charge you for the diagnosis).

Anyway, the mechanic determined that it was the thermostat and a couple of sensors. $750 to fix. Ouch. $100 in parts and the rest in labor and taxes. Wife picked it up and said the mechanic was very friendly. That evening we got into it to go pick up my truck from the in-laws and it was slow in starting. My wife said the mechanic cleaned the battery posts for free. I looked at them but they were still pretty dirty. I disconnected the positive terminal and used sandpaper to polish the post and the terminal. On the way home I noticed one of her headlights was burned out. The next day I went to an auto parts store with the bulb in question and found out that a replacement bulb was $100. :blink: HID lights. Plugged in the new light being very careful not to touch it with my bare hands. Went to start the car and the battery was dead. Pushed it out of the garage and jump started it with the truck (old faithful). Checked the volts on the battery while running and it was 14volts. Charging system was good. Drove back into the garage, shut it off and started it. It started right up. Shut it down and when I tried to start it again it was slow starting. I also noticed that the airbag light was on, the brake light was on and the seatbelt light was on. <_< Checked battery voltage when off and it was only about 8.7 volts. So I put on my little battery charger just to see if it would take a charge. Charged it for about an hour and when I checked the voltage it was about 12.9 but falling.

Took the old battery to the same place I bought it and they determined that it was bad. Luckily for me it had a 2 year warranty and it was within a couple of months from expiring. Free replacement. :yahoo:

But even with the new battery the warning lights are still on. Will need to take it in to the mechanic to diagnose. I hate this German car! I can't work on it!

I don't believe the mechanic did anything wrong. That is why I am taking it back to him. I am pretty sure that the drop in battery voltage is what caused the alarm lights and that they need to be reset by the software. I sure as hell hope that disconnecting just the positive battery terminal or charging the battery has not blown one or more controllers (this POS is full of them).

Rant over.

 

[dcarver]

Exactly the reason I shy away from BMW's C14's...

 

[lnewlf]

And why my retirement vehicle will be a '58 Chevy Apache pickup. & FJR of course.

 

[FJRay]

And why my retirement vehicle will be a '58 Chevy Apache pickup. & FJR of course.

My main driver is a 55 Ford f100 and the back up is a 48 Ford coupe that my dad bought new. :yahoo:

 

[Bungie]

Little story. Gather 'round chillin'.

My mother bought a brand new 1978 International Scout. Great little 4x4 with a killer heavy duty engine (304, sodium cooled exhaust valves, timing gears, dynamically balanced). One day were in at camp (cottage) about 25 miles off the Trans Canada. Electronic control unit for the ignition cacks. I get a ride into town and stop at the dealer. They want $400 bucks for a new one.

Ya.... I don't think so...

Call around to the wreckers to see if they have one. No joy, but one has an old 304 in an IH pickup. I run over, rip out the entire distributor and wires, pay the man $15. Spend another $4 for a new set of points and condenser. Cap and rotors were new. Get back to camp and rip out the stock ignition and ****. Pop in the new distributor, perfect fit. Swap the wires with the new cap one at a time (hey, I t'aint stupid!).

Jump in the truck and turn the key. That bitch started instantly! Ran like that for the next 4 years never once having any problems with the ignition. The body rusted off (quite literally!) so it was sold to a local farmer for a couple of hundred and fresh eggs whenever we happened to stopped by.

The farmer long since passed away so the supply of fresh eggs dried up, but you know what. That old IH is still running around the farm as a rolling chassis and it STILL has the same ignition in it!

**** unnecessary techonology!

 

[dbvolfan]

I see a lot of VW's runnning around with one light out. My nephew got one and I mentioned this too him and not more than 2 months later he had electrical issues affecting you guessed it, his DS light. Warranty covered it this time but I dunno.

 

[vabrzn]

My daughter had a Jetta for awhile and it was nothing but trouble.....

The battery kept going dead and I finally figured out the alternator had a short in it.

Among other things:

-broken door handles

-windows that would spontaneously fall due to broken mounts

-coil packs subject to shorts

-ignition switch shorts

-brake light shorts

-one water pump

I'm sooo happy it's long gone!

 

[tmc]

We have VW's all over the family and some friends - nothing but good things to say. And they run the gamut - Jetta, Beetle, Passat, CC. No problems, at all.

so.... YMMV

PS: ALL modern cars are chock full of electronics. From the baddest of the Benzes to the crappiest of the Kias. All.Have.Lots.Of.Gizmos. And all of them can be very unserviceable by shadetree mechanics, depending on the issue.

 

[Zorlac]

We have VW's all over the family and some friends - nothing but good things to say. And they run the gamut - Jetta, Beetle, Passat, CC. No problems, at all.

Maybe it's a Gen I, Gen II thing.

 

[Moosehead]

I've had a 97 Jetta diesel since new and it has over 320,000 km's now. It is a plain no frills car(hand crank windows, pre TDI, minimal computer control etc.), but it has been one of the best value cars we have ever owned. I've only had to do brakes, tires and shocks, regular maintenance stuff. It's not fast, pretty, or quiet, but it sure has been cheap.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

I've had a 97 Jetta diesel...It is a plain no frills car(hand crank windows It's not fast, pretty, or quiet, but it sure has been cheap.

'Hand Crank Windows'...? Can you still get those?

I had a friend who drove alot for his job and always got inexpensive/cheap/frugal cars -- his daughter made him drop her off at school a block away so the other kids couldn't see her get out of his dorky car...

PS: ALL modern cars are chock full of electronics. From the baddest of the Benzes to the crappiest of the Kias. All.Have.Lots.Of.Gizmos. And all of them can be very unserviceable by shadetree mechanics, depending on the issue.

I'm often surpised at how reliable some of the 'Gizmos' are: I once had a Toyota Supra with climate control (complete with left and right separation and a "seeing eye" for cloud cover/sun). Friends said, "You'll be in-trouble when that starts to go bad." Well, after many years and almost 200K miles, it still worked just fine.

My only VW experience was a Scirocco -- and there was alot of talk, then, about electrical problems. One of the 'biggies' was the junction-box on the firewall that all the electics ran through -- many owners had to 'jumper around' the plug-ins/connectors to keep things working.

 

[tmc]

We have VW's all over the family and some friends - nothing but good things to say. And they run the gamut - Jetta, Beetle, Passat, CC. No problems, at all.

Maybe it's a Gen I, Gen II thing.

Well, at least my MkV Jetta is faster than my MkIV Jetta was. And gets about the same mileage, and hauls more ****.

Can't say that for the inferior Gen IIs. :assassin:

You can still get hand crank windows. Stepdad recently bought a "strippo" Dodge Ram 1500 and it is el manuel winders. Of course, "strippo" still means CD player, AC, stability control, traction control, auto headlights, airbags, TPMS, locing tailgate, and an actually nice looking vinyl interior. For 13.5 out the door spanking new, it is the best truck in the world!!

 

[stellarsteve]

Got the news from the mechanic Monday morning. Most of the issues was a blown fuse (guess I should have check that) but the passenger seat controller was toast. This is the third time we had this problem. The first two were covered under warranty. This time it would have been $500 plus labor which would have put it close to $1k. Decided against it. Trade it off on something else but not a VW.

 

[Bounce]

We have VW's all over the family and some friends - nothing but good things to say. And they run the gamut - Jetta, Beetle, Passat, CC. No problems, at all.

Maybe it's a Gen I, Gen II thing.

i can't say that as i had nothing but trouble with a Sirocco. it was so bad that i'd never have another Vee Dub.

 

[dj bill]

my vw works just fine

 

[JimLor]

I had an 02 Jetta and except for the 2 x Chrysler products I owned it was the biggest piece of crap on 4 wheels. Have owned nothing but Hondas since 1999. In that time and roughly 350k miles I've replaced 1 x catalytic converter. Our daughter's boyfriend had an 05 Jetta that continued the proud tradition of our 02. I'll never own a VW or Chrysler again - ever!

 

[Bounce]

When I bought the Subaru STi I was shopping some options. A friend was really pitching the GTI to me hard (he has a Jetta and raves about it), so I asked about it. His response was along the lines of how reliable it was but that, as with all German cars, there's always "some fiddling" that needs doing if you want it to continue working at 100%. "Nothing major, mind you. Just little things like electric window motors, gauge lights, water pumps... you know... the fiddly little bits."

I quit considering them again and was reminded of my live with the Sirocco. Those "fiddly bits" can add up and each isn't cheap even if you do all the work yourself.

 

[beemerdons]

my vw works just fine

dj bill, mi Amigo; now I know why I have always liked you, since I first met you on a ride with Fairlaner 3 years ago: You are buggy for the old V-Dubs! Me too, I had a 1965 sunroof Beetle named Schatzie and a 1970 Bug named Arlo. Man, your ride looks HOT! Please post up some more pictures on another thread, PLEASE! I'd love to have another 60's VW!!!

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

...Those "fiddly bits" can add up and each isn't cheap even if you do all the work yourself.

In the words of CW scribe, Peter Egan: "Even at my home garage shop-rate of fifty cents an hour, I've got several thousand dollars in labor invested." :blink: