So my oldest wanted a New Beetle since before she was two. Three years ago, we got one that had a good body and the engine and transmission had been replaced. It’s now likely a parts car and does not know it yet. It’s likely that on the next warm day, we will determine if it is fixable or needs put down. I’m not happy VW made a car that they will not let anyone else have access to the computer info to fix and the dealers do not want to touch.
Cut to three years later, the import auto place cannot get the computer to talk, snd we’ve been done a boatload of test procedures. So the Air Bag and ABS lights have been on, we cannot get a key programmed locally. Now the transmission will not shift from first to second or third. Repairing the transmission wires and two sensors that were chewed up did not help. The import place does not want to drop the pan to see if the transmission chewed itself up, or if new solenoids and a clean valve body will get it running. A used transmission is more than an expensive rebuild that might not work with a stubborn ECU and other modules.
For those not familiar with VW, if we replace the computer and it communicates with the obd II port, we still have to get a dealer to program it to work with the secret immobilizer number in the dash. It’s proprietary info and software. Even the bootleg Chinese versions do not go there now. Then We can pay $350 for a programmed key, if I find a NOS one, pay almost as much for programming an eBay one, or get lucky moving a tiny EFI chip to an eBay key fob and freshly cut blank.
The dealer is 200 miles away, and they do not want to tell me they will try to fix it until after they put a scanner on it - even though That’s the root of the problem and they’ve seen others with the problem.
I think the lesson is either we should have bought a vintage Beetle or a boring car. A V-6 SN-95 that had not been through three teenage drivers might have also been better.
Cut to three years later, the import auto place cannot get the computer to talk, snd we’ve been done a boatload of test procedures. So the Air Bag and ABS lights have been on, we cannot get a key programmed locally. Now the transmission will not shift from first to second or third. Repairing the transmission wires and two sensors that were chewed up did not help. The import place does not want to drop the pan to see if the transmission chewed itself up, or if new solenoids and a clean valve body will get it running. A used transmission is more than an expensive rebuild that might not work with a stubborn ECU and other modules.
For those not familiar with VW, if we replace the computer and it communicates with the obd II port, we still have to get a dealer to program it to work with the secret immobilizer number in the dash. It’s proprietary info and software. Even the bootleg Chinese versions do not go there now. Then We can pay $350 for a programmed key, if I find a NOS one, pay almost as much for programming an eBay one, or get lucky moving a tiny EFI chip to an eBay key fob and freshly cut blank.
The dealer is 200 miles away, and they do not want to tell me they will try to fix it until after they put a scanner on it - even though That’s the root of the problem and they’ve seen others with the problem.
I think the lesson is either we should have bought a vintage Beetle or a boring car. A V-6 SN-95 that had not been through three teenage drivers might have also been better.