[nafilo]

:nopity: Alright, maybe by sharing my story others can give me some insight as to who and the what what is going on with my car. I have a 99 GLS 2.0. I bought it brand spankin new July 99 with 12 miles on it.... I'm at 102k miles now. Despite my constant complaining and having had numerous individuals, shops and even the dealer look at my car, I cant get anyone to really tell me what's what because my car will only do weird things when I drive it. Or it will do something once and never do it again. And it hasnt broken down unless someone else was driving it..... Go figure!

Heres some of the stuff that puzzles me......
Over the years I've had so many things replaced and repaired on my car but lately... well....

One of the major things that is bugging me is the chattering I get when I am accelating and picking up speed. It's like the chatter you get when you shift to early or try to start off on a higher gear. that chatter is what I get but on acceleration sometimes between 1st and 2nd. or 2nd and 3rd. I have to let go of the accelerator and try again until it stops doing it.... What's with that?!?!?
OH and if I dont hear a chatter I hear a small grinding like noise upon acceleration....

For a long time I have been unable to use my key manually to lock/unlock, set the alarm, or close/open the windows on my car..... If I used the key the door would lock but not set the alarm. OH well I still had my remote. Then all of a sudden the other day it stopped working. Changed batteries. Still didnt work. Siince my alarm was set I had to disconnect the battery so the alarm would unset and I was finally able to start my car. So I had no alarm for a while. But in between days when I manually locked the door my alarm would set so I had to do the whole mickey mouse thing again. Today I bought new batteries again and my doors work now! Can set the alarm, unlock and lock, but still cant open and close the windows with the key. .... What gives?!?!?

i cant open my fuel tank door. I have to either leave it open or jimmy it open each time. Is it the switch, the actuator or the cable???

My airbag light is on, my check engine light is on, the other day my ABS light came on twice and never again.

I too broke my mirror switch. lost my driver seat handle, lost the little light plates from each door. Cup holders suck.

I cant find a single trustworthy person that will look at my car and not loose somethign or break something. ... When I took my car to the dealer to have my timing belt and water pump changed,l I got it back with my parking brake handle bent over to the side. All the guy did was pull it and pull it until it straightened out a bit. Had my cv boots changed and they didnt tighten my wheels on, missing some bolts. My car would jerk to the side while driving and I took it back. Turns out they jacked up my caliper (cant remember) but i remember hearing something about having to replace the whole hub? After that incident, I started noticing that when I am for example pulling into my driveway, my wheels are turned and I"m pressing on the brake, as I'm pressing down on the brakes, i will hear and feel a farting like noise... ABS? I

Someone lost my oil filler cap. someone else lost the engine cover bolt covers.

Oh it's been an endless battle to keep my beetle together but everyone else who touches it turns it to poop!

Man oh man there are so many other things that happen weird with my car.... OH YEAH WAIT.... the most important thing I forgot...

This is at the top of my list.... Sometimes when I turn on my car my car will rev up high and come down. (I also have that noisy starter screeching noise) While I'm driving though it will all of a sudden rev up past 3000 rpms and come back down and up again and down for about a minute then it'll come all the way back down and idle normal around 1000 rpms or right below it... Anyone know what this is?? Bas gas? Fuel pump? Injectors?

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! I'ma stop right here cuz theres no end to my car problems.... Thanks for your time.
Natalie

 

[John Koch]

With all that you mentioned as being broken or not working correctly, you really need to take your list and review it with your dealer. Some of the things you mentiond can be cleared up by simply re-setting some of the modules with the VW scanner, VAG-COM. The noise when you accelerate sounds like a worn and damaged clutch plate and/or flywheel. The rest of your complaints are just a variety of neglected items that should have been replaced as they were lost or broken. Good Luck, JK

 

[nafilo]

estimated price on clutchdisk/flywheel???

thanks. that is true. I have neglected many things that needed replacement because I havent the time to get down to my dealer. I hate them. They remodeled and changed employees and none of them are even as close to helpful and friendly as the ones that were there when I bought my car. I have however found alot of the stuff I needon eBay and now I"m just waiting on a refund check from good ol uncle same to get all that little stuff out of the way.

But as far as my clutch disk and flywheel do you know about how deep a dent that will make on my wallet?

Would I have to take it to a dealer or is that somethign I can have another trained technician do? Is it a do it yourself project? (well not me, but my brother is a lot more qualified)

Oh and how much is that VAG-COM I keep hearing about? Thanks for your taking the tiem and reading my rant. I really appreciate it. =)

Natalie

 

[callisto9]

sounds like your local dealership sucks! are you still under warranty, or can you take it somewhere else? if you can go somewhere else, DO! there's no sense in going back to the same place if you don't like the service.

as for the engine noises, i have a fair amount of those as well. i have a 2001 with 89K and it's started making all kinds of noises. i am looking into getting a vag-com some day, but they're expensive - about $229. however, i am told you can just get the cable on ebay and the software on this site and diagnose your car for a lot less, but you'll have no support from ross-tech for the software:

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/index.html

a vag com can help you diagnose the problem yourself so you're a little more educated about the problem when you do take it in for service. it pulls error codes from the car's computer (if there are any errors), but sometimes the errors can be intermittant so it might be necessary to hook the car up to the vag com cable and test a few times to get a good idea of what's going on.

with my engine noise, what i did was take my mechanic on a drive with me, while the car was experiencing the problem. he was kind enough to drive around town for a few mins. while car was experiencing the problem and quickly told me my problem was engine ping. hey, at least the consultation didn't cost me anything.

and john's right, some of the stuff you're having problems with, you just need to get fixed; they are regular maintenance issues and need to be kept up with. again, i would recommend taking your car somewhere besides the dealership. sounds like they aren't treating you right and there's no reason you should stand for that.

good luck and don't give up! your car is counting on you to be educated! i am a spaz when it comes to my car's problems as well, so i hear ya'.

 

[John Koch]

Needed work and scanners.

thanks. that is true. I have neglected many things that needed replacement because I havent the time to get down to my dealer. I hate them. They remodeled and changed employees and none of them are even as close to helpful and friendly as the ones that were there when I bought my car. I have however found alot of the stuff I needon eBay and now I"m just waiting on a refund check from good ol uncle same to get all that little stuff out of the way.

But as far as my clutch disk and flywheel do you know about how deep a dent that will make on my wallet?

Would I have to take it to a dealer or is that somethign I can have another trained technician do? Is it a do it yourself project? (well not me, but my brother is a lot more qualified)

Oh and how much is that VAG-COM I keep hearing about? Thanks for your taking the tiem and reading my rant. I really appreciate it. =)

Natalie

A non-VW tech. can replace a flywheel and all clutch parts that would need to be replaced as long as they follow VW's recommended procedures for this type replacement. Of course the tranny has to be removed and it is recommended that either a VW part is used for the replacement or a after market, higher performance clutch disc and fly wheel be used along with all the proper hardware sent with the after market manufacturer. I can only guess at about $700.00 or so for the VW service techs to do this job. At a non-VW shop, the price would be about the same..
VAG-COM is VW's proprietary scanner that holds all the VW trouble codes, has the ability to de-code them into real english and the ability to suggest other subsystems that need to be scanned for a full diagnosis. The After market scanner by Ross-Tech that uses a lap top PC is the very closest to the VW scanner and would be the obvious choice for anyone purchasing a scanner system. Good Luck with your laundry list of items.. I completely understand about financial shortages and the time problems ... Keep at it little by little and eventually it will all be fixed and like new.. JK

 

[Kris1.8T]

Dude, I so feel your pain.