well... what would you do?... 2006 Jetta electrical issues

[johnd393]

Originally Posted by Kluch

I think I'm just going to dump the car. Probably sell it to carmax.

To add insult to injury because the harness connection (where the door hinge is) has already corroded so much the drivers side door electronics now no longer work (Shop manager said it's likely due to them opening up the door to try and see what the issue was). I'm taking the car back to the shop tomorrow morning to have them see if they can jerry rig it to get the door functions (power locks, mirrors, etc) to work for the time being. The guy said everything is so delicate because of the corrosion they may not be able to fix it without causing other damage so I just said do what you can. Oh well.

The shop manager said the issue with my car is a very common one he's seen over and over with VW's where the harness isn't made long enough to sustain years of use with the drivers side door opening and closing over and over again. I guess it wears out and has to be replaced over time. I've never heard of this issue but that's a good enough excuse for me to just dump the car haha.

Any rust on it?

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by johnd393

Any rust on it?

Just a tad in a few places, not much though surprisingly based on how old the car is.

They offered me $1000 to which I plan to take it. My thinking is I probably would only get a couple of grand for it if I did a private sale and then factor in the existing electrical issues which I would need to disclose (the driver side door power isn't working currently so that's an obvious issue) I would have to offer significantly less so it's really not worth my time to try and make a couple extra hundred bucks.

[J Baustian]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

Agree with that decision. I loved my '99 Golf TDi but it developed window or lock issues three times in under two years. It had a 2/24 warranty and I got rid of it.

The old joke about German cars is lease them for three years but don't buy them.

I got lucky, I guess. I've put over 15 years on my Mk4 Golf TDI and never had a problem with the power windows or door locks. I had to fix the wiring harness to the hatch, but that was not too hard. No other electrical glitches, just a couple alternators and starters. Currently at 738k miles -- liked it so much that I bought another one, and keep checking on Craigslist for more even though I don't need more.