VW Passat R36 stationwagon. Screen on the dashboard says:
Turns out the bulbs are perfectly fine. It's the controller on the light that has shit itself, and it just thinks there is a fault within the light.
Complete new headlight unit, parts and labour = $2,500.
OR Second-hand unit = $1,400 parts + labour.
The headlight works and lights up the road ahead as normal. This is $2500 to make the warning message on the dashboard go away.
tamarillo,
Sep 21, 8:25am
Assume it’s got zenon lights in which case of course it has control unit as any car with zenon will. You can buy them separately from headlight so this is a story about someone being ripped off not About vw.
kazbanz,
Sep 21, 8:46am
Nope--the VAG computer setup is a nightmare to deal with in these situations.
sport_billy,
Sep 21, 9:03am
God forbid some kind of accident damaged the headlight glass and bulb unit.
rpvr,
Sep 21, 9:28am
Does this warning message preclude getting a WOF?
saxman99,
Sep 21, 10:31am
No. I would just ignore it.
sw20,
Sep 21, 10:46am
You would need your head read if you chose to accept those prices. Just get new from the UK for a fraction of the cost or even less from a breaker over there.
poppy62,
Sep 21, 11:52am
This (below) is a reason why Sensationalism aimed at Euro vehicles in most cases perpetuates the myths. This is the 1st example that flashed up, but there are cheaper alternatives ( like, both lights for $595 in OZ). Common fact is that most NZ motoring punters are "suckers" and there are those willing to take full advantage of them.
This is why these cars become a write off very easy.
tamarillo,
Sep 21, 12:41pm
Maybe but there are folk who have this sorted and can send parts needed etc. just point8 g out that zenon lights will be expensive whatever car but you can get controller and parts
franc123,
Sep 21, 1:30pm
It's a VW, the solution is to just keep driving it until it actually stops then you send it for recycling, they are built to do exactly that. Remember the information display is also going to die eventually anyway.
trade4us2,
Sep 21, 3:27pm
Check the earth with a meter. Or turn the headamp on and measure the voltage between the bulb earth and the body of the car. The voltage should be zero volts when the headlight is on!
apollo11,
Sep 21, 3:33pm
I watched a vid about BMW and how they design and build with recycling in mind. They design a car to last ten years, then it's time for a new one. Perhaps this explains why their plastic parts always break for me. Sounds like vw is the same.
franc123,
Sep 21, 3:52pm
That is very much the case, it's an EU mandated thing. A percentage of the cars componentry MUST be recyclable. Trouble is people outside the EU cant grasp this because they donr know the big picture of how the motor industry operates contributes and integrates into the economy and how critical it is that production levels are kept up high. Oh and theres an environmental benefit too.
monaro17,
Sep 21, 4:03pm
Unfortunately all vehicles today are designed with an economic life of around 10 years. Of course that’s not to say they are built worse than old cars because we know that modern cars are “built” considerably better. It’s just that with the complex electronics nowadays and how fast the tech evolves it becomes uneconomical for companies to continue to support older/aging tech. It’s a bit of a goldilocks situation in a way. “Old cars” (say 70s) were basic but inefficient and “new cars” (past ten years) are ultra efficient but ultra complex. The goldilocks era seems to be the early 90s through to the very early 2000s- efficient but not overly complex. Love my daily driver, a ‘98 Nissan Bluebird 1800 manual
marte,
Sep 21, 4:18pm
Nah, dealership maintenance. Change the oil etc at the correct times with the correct products. They do any updates as the info comes in. Timing belts & stuff at the correct times (~75kkms ) & they replace any other maintenance items at that time. Crankcase ventilation & cooling system. And/or it gets traded in on a new model. At 100 kkms, gearbox. But they have done upgrades & such to it already.
160 kkms the 'lifetime' runs out & it's time for new cambelts etc etc again ( Inc complete cooling CVS system again ) but now it's onto its 3rd + owner.
210 kkms & it's on its 3rd cycle & timing belt, cooling system & gearbox all happen at the same time, while the cars value is under the cost of this one maintenance issue.
From now it's DIY. or 'Fix as you Go' this gets expensive any way that you look at it. Where they do everything at once in Germany, replacing just a thermostat in NZ costs a lot, but next is the CTS, the crank sensor, the rear hubs, the radiator hoses ( not just a bendy hose. or just 2 of them) Brakes hoses & if a ABS unit needs replaced,.$$$. Add in that the mechanics probably learning as he goes & you pay for that too, either way. And, the constant plugging it into a $10,000 computer system co$t$ a bit too.
But leave something a bit too long, wether you know about it or not, and the engine or gearbox is now scrapmetal.
franc123,
Sep 21, 7:05pm
That's precisely why you avoid the junk in the first place, regular maintenance helps but it doesnt stop the degradation of components that should never need replacing on a car. Buy quality. which means dont even consider VAG product.
marte,
Sep 21, 8:59pm
Their parts are quite cheap, if you know what to replace & can DIY it's quite viable. A bit of a steep learning curve involved, but they offer a vehicle with personality. Things like the Thermostat, often involve a huge he amount of work considering that with most cars, it's just 2 bolts sitting in plain view. The problem is maintenance though, if it's not kept up, there's a cascading effect that just piles up & becomes daunting & expensive. But, really, except for accessibility, most cars are the same, and some are much much worse. Just be prepared to replace parts before they break instead of afterwards & don't put that work off. Most problems I see with them is caused by simple stuff like not changing the coolant.
secca2,
Sep 21, 10:26pm
Do the maths. call Jazz lol
franc123,
Sep 22, 2:17am
If you want the hassle and expense of experiencing this 'personality', whatever that is, go for it. Its not something generally associated with old German cars unless it's a Kombi or Beetle. For the average punter who just needs cheap transport, you would have to be an idiot to have one in your life. Worse they're worth nothing to sell or trade once you finally get sick of it.
itsafamilything,
Sep 22, 2:40am
In some ways they are built better. There is a definite paradigm shift. Cars were once built simply for a reason. Ease of maintenance and thus lower running costs for the owner. Most parts were built so as to be reconditioned incl. water pumps, suspension parts etc. Now cars do not have to be built today or in any day with ever increasing complexity and built to lock out the non franchised repairer. Speaking of efficiency, the Morris Minor was said to run on an oily rag. Good solid cast iron blocks with the ability to be rebored several times, side valve and OHV with their short chains / cam gears. If they were really concerned for the planet they would have worked at efficiency and continued with the ethics of ease of maintenance. I don't buy into the modern spin. Btw, as time goes on it will be shown that EV will not be any better but they will ensure that they too are seriously big money pits, that is, once the 'honeymoon' is over. Zero emission is itself hype is it not?
itsafamilything,
Sep 22, 2:41am
Good call!
tamarillo,
Sep 22, 2:46am
I can smell the prejudice from here. Bang bang maxwell’s silver hammer.
intrade,
Sep 22, 3:44am
ok i did not read thru all of mostly garbage posted here. We have 2 facts we have fact 1 a perfectly working headlight. and 2 a message on that dashbord that does not match the status. So what there is to do is to find out how exactly is this massage genersted like what mesurments did the controller make to generate this information. mazbe it is a intermittend bad ground . VCDS or other factory level scanner could give more information about it. Otherwise research as to how the controller generates this massage must be figured out to find the fault. . if it is a bad ground replacing everything else but the actuarl problem wont fix nothing. insidently a perfect example was just uploaded. cooling system fault messsage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_eVGDYFYdY
kazbanz,
Sep 22, 3:51am
To get the codes to clear AND STAY CLEARED is a frikkin nightmare. Seems to me that "ye olde" computers were so simple they would go "yea ok socks on-good to go" More modern computers go "wool socks tick--good to go" VAG group computers (of that generation) seem to go " socks tick. Wool socks tick .Marino brand socks tick, marino brand wool socks with 5 blue stripes 9.2 mm apart.--Nope -DANGER.
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