[billymade]

The stock stereos, have a history of failing as they age; swapping it out for a good used one or shipping yours out for repair, is a option. For the cd changer, working intermittently; you might try blow it out with compressed air. I have the older disc changer; that resides in the trunk and it will start to get glitchy, have reading errors, blow it out with compressed air, has fixed it every time. Blowing yours out, removing the cover; cleaning the laser, the grabbing parts of the internal mechanism, might bring it back to life or ship it out for repair. There are many aftermarket adapters; that can allow you to install a ipod and control it, allowing you to have access to a massive digital music library, another option.

 

[billymade]

As to the transmission issue; diagnosing it, preferably is started by using a factory VW level scan tool (like VCDS by Ross Tech) and checking live data, trouble codes, to see what the problem could be. One, of the very common issues; is the shifter assembly gets broken and the trans computer, doesn't know what gear it is in. All the PRDNDS lights illuminating; is a indicator, of a fault in the tranmission system and so, more testing, troubleshooting is required. The most common issues; that we see are: failed shifter selector assembly, wiring harness failures, sticking solenoids and worst case scenario, internal issues, requiring a trans pull, disassembly, rebuild.

Here is a video; showing the use of VCDS, to diagnose transmission issues: