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View Full Version : Continuing trials and trevails of My Blonde Daughter



Okla-homey
6/10/2008, 03:05 PM
here's the latest. Her car, a VW Jetta we bought her to go off to college in has a problem.

The door dinger dings constantly. You know, the dinger that dings when the door is open and the keys are in the ignition. I note, for the record, that is a very good feature, especially for blondes.

However, now it dings all the time. And, as one might expect, its no longer under warranty.

I am at the mercy of an Alabama VW dealership that says it can't be disabled, and instead, they'll have to spend a bajillion hours troubleshooting to fix.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I wish she could just wear earplugs, but, that's a no-go. I've already suggested yanking the applicable fuse but am informed there's important stuff on that circuit.

What say you car people? Sound fishy? OleVet?

sooner_born_1960
6/10/2008, 03:07 PM
The dinger has a wire running from it. Or a couple. Just saying.

Viking Kitten
6/10/2008, 03:10 PM
I had that happen once in high school, we yanked the fuse. Took out the speedometer too. I just went without. But this was back in the days before everything had to be "safe" all the time. :P

Okla-homey
6/10/2008, 03:10 PM
The dinger has a wire running from it. Or a couple. Just saying.

yeah, but WTF is it? And would you have to pull the dash to get at it?

M
6/10/2008, 03:11 PM
I had that happen once in high school, we yanked the fuse. Took out the speedometer too. I just went without. But this was back in the days before everything had to be "safe" all the time. :P

You mean back in the "ago." ;)

mdklatt
6/10/2008, 03:11 PM
Next time don't buy a European car. YWIA.

royalfan5
6/10/2008, 03:13 PM
A VW group product has an electrical problem that is expensive to fix. I'm astounded.

yermom
6/10/2008, 03:22 PM
yeah, the new Jetta is a great car, when some stupid little thing isn't broken

at least she didn't roll her arm up in the window ;)

pray she doesn't lose/break all the little fancy keys

ousoonerfan
6/10/2008, 03:23 PM
We had a 98 Jetta and the driver side window wouldn't go down. We were told that it was going to be over $500 for the "computer" part only, not including labor. It was a great car. My wife and I loved driving it, but seriously, way too expensive if something went wrong.

Melo
6/10/2008, 03:23 PM
Tell her to turn her music up louder and she wont have to listen to the dinger.

Sooner_Havok
6/10/2008, 03:25 PM
The dinger has a wire running from it. Or a couple. Just saying.

That is a Click and Clack answer right there :D

soonerboomer93
6/10/2008, 03:28 PM
Tell her to turn her music up louder and she wont have to listen to the dinger.

winna

C&CDean
6/10/2008, 03:30 PM
Exhibit # 978 of why you do not EVER purchase a POS European car. EVER. And what's sad is that VW is the best of the steaming pile of feces that continent produces. Every time I hear somebody go "dude, I got a bimmer" I go "dumbass."

frankensooner
6/10/2008, 03:34 PM
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/shop_parts/repair_manual/volkswagen/jetta.html

Oldnslo
6/10/2008, 03:34 PM
dumbass with bimmers here.

My beloved M3 developed an instrument cluster gremlin. Had to replace the cluster. Twice.

be thankful that it's just dinging. it "dings" because the sound stops. mine stopped dinging. just made that annoying tone for hours. and then it would quit just long enough for your shoulders to unclinch. Then it would start again.

I'd be tempted to replace the switch with a resistor... but the problem probably isn't the switch but in the computer. FWTW

Mongo
6/10/2008, 03:36 PM
do people that own a Volvo fall into the dumas category?

C&CDean
6/10/2008, 03:37 PM
do people that own a Volvo fall into the dumas category?

Indeed. Unless they've recently started building them in Dearborn, MI or Tokyo.

frankensooner
6/10/2008, 03:38 PM
Not if is that sweet 4 cylinder that gets good gas mileage.

Mongo
6/10/2008, 03:39 PM
Indeed. Unless they've recently started building them in Dearborn, MI or Tokyo.

but there is enough room in the backseat to make out.




call me

JohnnyMack
6/10/2008, 03:44 PM
:eddie:

Sooner_Havok
6/10/2008, 03:45 PM
Indeed. Unless they've recently started building them in Dearborn, MI or Tokyo.

Dude, them Tokyo cars are still pretty damned 'spensive to fix. Had me a Nissan truck once. $600 for a new taillight assembly:mad:

r5TPsooner
6/10/2008, 03:47 PM
Exhibit # 978 of why you do not EVER purchase a POS European car. EVER. And what's sad is that VW is the best of the steaming pile of feces that continent produces. Every time I hear somebody go "dude, I got a bimmer" I go "dumbass."

Yep.

C&CDean
6/10/2008, 03:52 PM
Dude, them Tokyo cars are still pretty damned 'spensive to fix. Had me a Nissan truck once. $600 for a new taillight assembly:mad:

Don't break the ****ing tail light. DOH.

We're talking about POS cars that break on their own. With a Nissan or Toyota it may be a little high to buy a part that you break, but basic maintenance stuff (brakes, etc.) are cheap. Keep the oil changed, all the fluid levels up, tire pressure good, and don't run into **** and it'll last you forever. A POS european car? Not so much. Guaranteed to have problems - no matter how much TLC you handle it with. And those problems = BIG $$$.

r5TPsooner
6/10/2008, 03:54 PM
My neighbor has a beemer. Nice enuff guy but every time that I see him in it I want to yell "Turn In Your Damn Man Card."

yermom
6/10/2008, 03:56 PM
but they are nice when they work :D

my VW was kind of a pile, but it was back when they were simple cars that just kinda worked ('85)

no power anything, the biggest problem was no A/C

Scott D
6/10/2008, 04:01 PM
no power anything, the biggest problem was no A/C

quit hating on the sauna exercise :D

Beef
6/10/2008, 04:03 PM
A buddy of mine jumped through the rear windshield of my Jetta. That was expensive.

Sooner_Havok
6/10/2008, 04:09 PM
Don't break the ****ing tail light. DOH.

We're talking about POS cars that break on their own. With a Nissan or Toyota it may be a little high to buy a part that you break, but basic maintenance stuff (brakes, etc.) are cheap. Keep the oil changed, all the fluid levels up, tire pressure good, and don't run into **** and it'll last you forever. A POS european car? Not so much. Guaranteed to have problems - no matter how much TLC you handle it with. And those problems = BIG $$$.

The price of getting any parts for that Nissan are what drove me to buy my current car. It WAS made in Dearborn :D

Preservation Parcels
6/10/2008, 04:16 PM
We had the never-ending dinging combined with the percussion of the electric locks clicking up and down on our Grand Caravan. It happened with regularity whenever one of the doors wasn't closed tightly enough. Try slamming all the doors and the trunk a few times and see if it helps. Eventually, the electric door lock on one door needed to be replaced, and it's been fine since.

Whet
6/10/2008, 04:21 PM
I would start with the door switch, that may be the problelm...

olevetonahill
6/10/2008, 04:42 PM
here's the latest. Her car, a VW Jetta we bought her to go off to college in has a problem.

The door dinger dings constantly. You know, the dinger that dings when the door is open and the keys are in the ignition. I note, for the record, that is a very good feature, especially for blondes.

However, now it dings all the time. And, as one might expect, its no longer under warranty.

I am at the mercy of an Alabama VW dealership that says it can't be disabled, and instead, they'll have to spend a bajillion hours troubleshooting to fix.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I wish she could just wear earplugs, but, that's a no-go. I've already suggested yanking the applicable fuse but am informed there's important stuff on that circuit.

What say you car people? Sound fishy? OleVet?

Not up On VWs
But Ive never encountered a Dinger that I couldnt Bypass By just Unpluging the dayum thing
What year is this POS ?

Okla-homey
6/10/2008, 05:39 PM
Not up On VWs
But Ive never encountered a Dinger that I couldnt Bypass By just Unpluging the dayum thing
What year is this POS ?

either '03 or '04. Can't remember which.

olevetonahill
6/10/2008, 05:44 PM
Dosent she have a BF that get up under the dash and Unplug the thing ?

Okla-homey
6/10/2008, 06:01 PM
Dosent she have a BF that get up under the dash and Unplug the thing ?

He's an engineer alright, but sadly, not an automotive engineer.

I didn't even know they had a "wireless engineering" major. I guess if my TV remote ever goes on the fritz, we're all set!;)

http://eng.auburn.edu/programs/wireless/index.html

olevetonahill
6/10/2008, 06:03 PM
Tell her to Date a Redneck for one Nite
He will have it fixed in a Jiffy :D

VeeJay
6/10/2008, 06:03 PM
Door dinger sounds?

P-shawwww.

Just wait till you have to get an electric window motor fixed.

Gawd. Talk about highway robbery.

mdklatt
6/10/2008, 07:14 PM
I didn't even know they had a "wireless engineering" major.

I set up my parents' wireless router. I wonder if I'm qualified?

Rogue
6/10/2008, 07:21 PM
The Car Talk guys insist that folks who drive Jetta's are bad drivers.
Almost every episode they assert this claim.

soonerbrat
6/10/2008, 08:17 PM
here's the latest. Her car, a VW Jetta we bought her to go off to college in has a problem.

The door dinger dings constantly. You know, the dinger that dings when the door is open and the keys are in the ignition. I note, for the record, that is a very good feature, especially for blondes.

However, now it dings all the time. And, as one might expect, its no longer under warranty.

I am at the mercy of an Alabama VW dealership that says it can't be disabled, and instead, they'll have to spend a bajillion hours troubleshooting to fix.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I wish she could just wear earplugs, but, that's a no-go. I've already suggested yanking the applicable fuse but am informed there's important stuff on that circuit.

What say you car people? Sound fishy? OleVet?


my car did that a few months after I bought it..I had to take it to the dealership 3 times before they figured out what was wrong, but they had to change out the ignition switch and something else too. my biggest problem with it was that when I'd leave the headlights on, it didn't make the "headlights are on" noise, just the "keys in the ignition" noise and I ran my battery down a few times. the dealership also replaced my battery..but it was under warranty, luckily.

Ike
6/11/2008, 01:16 AM
my car makes the blinker-clicky sound at random times, for random intervals.

I utilize the volume knob on the stereo to neutralize this effect. If it was the case that it was going all the time, I'd probably rip out the dash until I found the wire I could pull (or replace) to get rid of the sound.

Tell her to go buy some tools, hand em to the BF, and tell him to fix it. Regardless of what kind of engineer he's training to be, if he can't do it, he ought to think about changing majors.

sooner n houston
6/11/2008, 07:00 AM
My son loves VW. Swears they are the greatest cars of all time! That is, when he is not running back and forth to the dealer to get the damn things repaired, which is quite often!

yermom
6/11/2008, 08:15 AM
they really are nice cars to drive

JohnnyMack
6/11/2008, 09:29 AM
I'm driving a Touareg right now. My wife got a minivan when we had the second kid and I took the VW. Gas mileage sucks. It's underpowered (a V6) IMHO but it's well built and the only problem we've had with it in 2+ years was a faulty rear brake caliper that was fixed under warranty.

yermom
6/11/2008, 10:56 AM
just wait :D

mdklatt
6/11/2008, 11:06 AM
the only problem we've had with it in 2+ years was a faulty rear brake caliper that was fixed under warranty

Well of course you're not going to have problems with it while it's under warranty.

JohnnyMack
6/11/2008, 11:12 AM
just wait :D

The lease is up next February.

Cross your fingers.

yermom
6/11/2008, 11:13 AM
well, that's a whole other issue...

mdklatt
6/11/2008, 11:16 AM
The lease

Sucker.

JohnnyMack
6/11/2008, 11:34 AM
Sucker.

Yeah that was when we had no kids and a much lower mortgage payment. :O :P

But in all honesty, I don't see a car as an investment.

yermom
6/11/2008, 11:41 AM
then why spend extra money on it?

the thing with a lease is that you are investing more money so you don't have to deal with maintenance

JohnnyMack
6/11/2008, 11:47 AM
then why spend extra money on it?

the thing with a lease is that you are investing more money so you don't have to deal with maintenance

I won't from here on out. I'm over cars. I'm getting a stripped down 4 banger to drive back and forth to work.

mdklatt
6/11/2008, 11:48 AM
But in all honesty, I don't see a car as an investment.

No, but it's sure nice to not have a car payment after a few years.

KC//CRIMSON
6/11/2008, 07:54 PM
This is HB 1804 biting you in the *ss. Your blonde daughter's car was built in the motherland.

Viva la Mexico!

Cam
6/11/2008, 08:16 PM
We're talking about POS cars that break on their own. With a Nissan or Toyota it may be a little high to buy a part that you break, but basic maintenance stuff (brakes, etc.) are cheap. Keep the oil changed, all the fluid levels up, tire pressure good, and don't run into **** and it'll last you forever. A POS european car? Not so much. Guaranteed to have problems - no matter how much TLC you handle it with. And those problems = BIG $$$.

We've had more problems with the wifes Honda Odyssey in a year than we've had on my VW in 6 years and 56K miles. Thankfully the Honda's still under warranty.

My 76 BMW that I absolutely loved cost me $500 every time they popped the damn hood. That car didn't last a year for me.

Vaevictis
6/13/2008, 06:54 PM
I didn't even know they had a "wireless engineering" major. I guess if my TV remote ever goes on the fritz, we're all set!;)

Wireless Engineer: Also known as 'Electrical Engineer with a specialization in electric fields.'

Get that sumbitch under the hood. He knows how to deal with electrical wiring.

olevetonahill
6/13/2008, 06:55 PM
If he cant make a Dinger STFU , then Id say hes a Pusey :D

Scott D
6/13/2008, 07:03 PM
If he cant make a Dinger STFU , then Id say hes a Pusey :D

like the fact that he's an ag doesn't drive that point home :D

olevetonahill
6/13/2008, 07:12 PM
like the fact that he's an ag doesn't drive that point home :D

guess I missed that part. Dayum ag pusey !