Question:
So I purchased a 99 New Beetle a little while ago and it was running great until the check engine light came on, which ever since, the car engine sounds and feels like it is skipping and it takes longer than usual to shift gears (it is an automatic).
I brought it back to the dealer immediately and they supposedly brought the car to an authorized Volkswagen dealership because the dealer I purchased the car from is just your average, used car dealership and does not have experienced Volkswagen service people. The mechanic at my dealership told me the problem had something to do with the vacuuming something or other (I can't remember exactly, sorry!) and said the light wasn't on anymore and the skipping was gone.
The next day, you guessed it, the same stuff happened except the engine light never came on. I planned to bring it back to the dealer again after the holidays because I figured it could wait because the engine light never did come on again.....theres more! keep reading...
Answers:
If you are up to the challenge, remove the cover to the dash controls and look at the bulb where the check engine light is. If it's missing, they removed it. If it's burnt, it's not their fault. It should only be a couple of screws to remove it and then turn on the car and look.
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Now, on to the issue of the car not running right - You can take it back, but be prepared to pay more money for additional diagnostics. They will try to get as much money out of you as they can! As you stated, you don't know the exact issue and they love when people don't comprehend what they say. They could tell you it's a vacuum tube from the transmission to the air cleaner that's clogged and you need to pay for a cleaning, new hose, & a new air filter, plus labor and it will cost $300! This is an example of something that sounds plausable, but in reality, what I described is pure BS. Air filters have nothing to do with the transmission. It's how they word it and your actual knowledge to know if it's true or not. I would avoid the Stealership from now on. I AM NOT SAYING YOU ARE STUPID, ITS JUST NOT YOUR AREA OF EXPERTISE AND YOU EXPECT PROFESSIONALISM AND HONESTY.
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There are plenty of reputable VW shops that are indepedent of VW and do a great, if not excellent, job. They are dependant on your satisfaction and your return business, and your "word of mouth" advertising. I always find someone local who has treated me right. I have lived in Mass, Mich, Quebec, Illinois, and PA. There are plenty of these shops. I would look at
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www.vwvortex.com
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for feedback from others on shops local to you. If not, post a question about shops you have found to see what others think.
Good luck and e-mail me if you have any questions on how to remove the cover to check the light.
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Simple advice but not cheap advice. Take your car to a Volkswagen dealer or an independent shop that specializes in VW. Even if some fool removed the check engine light (report them if they did) the engine computer will still give codes based on the problem. Pay the shop one hour of labor ($75?) to scan your vehicle for codes. I love VWs and I recently bought one but they are expensive to keep up. Make sure you fix it before another problem pops up.A great VW site is www.vwvortex.com
I agree with e e on this one. Take it to the local VW dealer yourself and have the car scanned.
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What the used car dealer did by removing the check engine light is illegal. In California, you could report them to the Department of Motor Vehicles and an investigation would be started into their illegal actions. If they seem to have anyone working on repairing cars on the used car lot, you also could report them to the Bureau of Automotive Repair and they would investigate them to make sure that they are repairing cars properly and that they are licensed to be working on cars at their site.
These guys seem to be very shady and I would be leery of anything else they said about your car as well.
ok well here is my opinion. i am an ase cert tech and also a vw cert tech and have been working at the vw dealer for many years.
the misfires you are speaking about are most likely caused by a cracked ignition coil (very common problem on vw's). the car needs to see the same problem a few times before it will turn the light on. as for the light not lighting when the car is started is a diffrent problem, i really dont think that someone could have removed the bulb because the insterment cluster on your car is a sealed unit and it uses leds not bulbs. i would reccomend that you bring the car to the local vw dealer yourself and have the car scanned and then take the bill to the used car dealer you bought the car from.
alot of atuo stores with scan it for free, like autozone but ,check around for prices, autozone want $140 for spark plug wires, vw dealer $65 shipped to me, mass senser, autozone $120, vw dealer $62 shipped to me, so look around
coils may be covered by dealer, check regaurdless of miles
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