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Dying sound system?

yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
Make sure your letter fits on one sheet of paper and I'd change the "I request that you consider a "goodwill" repair" to "I request a goodwill repair" - you don't want them to consider it, you want them to do it.
Very true. Edited accordingly along with the safety aspects. My wife proofread it as well, so this is going to the post office ASAP!

I also noticed post #234 of this thread suggests providing video to expedite. I'm thinking of putting https://tinyurl.com/vwinfotainment in the letter, which will send them to a dropbox folder in which I'll put some video. Thoughts on that?
 

pieterjan

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
belgium
Car(s)
Golf GTI 2023 PP DSG
If we make waranty claim for any mib(infotainment) faults we have to put video/foto in the dosier to proof the fault.
This so vw can on there hand make claim at the manufacture/supplier of the hw/sw.
So guess it would hurt to already provide that.
 

pieterjan

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
belgium
Car(s)
Golf GTI 2023 PP DSG
Sure, it is just a little drama
Sorry, but COVID-19 response seems to be my life right now and everyone needs to take it seriously - not only for yourself, but for those around you.
I'm from Belgium, her it is less and hoops it stays that whey.
I was not minimizing the issue, I just meaned that my workplace is closed due to covid, and there for am not able to check the data systems of vw
 

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
I'm from Belgium, her it is less and hoops it stays that whey.
I was not minimizing the issue, I just meaned that my workplace is closed due to covid, and there for am not able to check the data systems of vw
Sorry, I know a Pieter from Holland and had a brain lapse. Here is the data from Belgium and actually a bit worse than the Netherlands. While it is far too early to draw conclusions from data, the one factor that can be useful to compare nations is illness/deaths per million inhabitants. Here, Belgium has 1205 cases and 71 deaths (per 1million), Netherlands has 1053 and 68, Italy at 1829 and 218 and the US at 618 and 14. The numbers are a bit misleading because Italy and Spain are (hopefully) near peak and peak is still ahead of us in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, the US and many other countries.

With that, I'll go back on topic and will try to stay on topic from here on out.

While it will help to have video/audio documentation, I know of nobody that would go to a computer and input a link. That said, like Pieter said, they'll want it at some point - probably when they send the OP back to the dealer.

I'd probably add a short sentence that reads something like "I have a video of the recurring defect that I would be happy to provide via email in support of my claim"

He could also include a copy of the video on DVD - not that they'll look at, but something else they need to get off their desk. One thing that DietCokeFiend did with his successful petition to NHTSA was mail it in a big envelope. That way the letter doesn't need to be unfolded and takes up even more space on the desk.
 

yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
I like the idea of offering to continue via email, good call. The big envelope is hilarious... certainly worth improving my chances by whatever means possible. Anything else to include before I drop it in the mail tomorrow morning? Maybe some snacks, $50 bill... just kidding (it's April 1st, after all).
 

George Ab

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Pacific NW
If it was me, I would order a new head unit from a junk yard, purchase a vas5054 and contact Jack to have him remove component protection and reinstall functional enablement codes (Fec's) or you can have your dealer remove component protection and reinstall Fec's. The dealer is likely to charge a riciulous price of $1,300 for a new head unit, so put in a used unit yourself. Replacement of head unit is a 5 minute job, and used they can be had for under $150US, then add a hour of shop time for CP removal and reinstall Fec's associated with your VIN that are stored at the VW mothership (Fazik). Make sure to store your units coding settings if you do it yourself. Although this diy was for MIB1 to MIB2 there is still applicable information for a straight swap. https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...infotainment-conversion-part-1.343701/page-46 All in it should be $150 for unit and $150 for your dealer so $300. If you were set up with VAS5054 and Jack did it it would be $150 plus 80 Euro.
 
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yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
Well now, I haven't really thought too much about a swap (although I will absolutely explore that route if VWoA doesn't help). Are there any other units I should look at instead of a straight swap? Something like what's in a Mk7.5 (I am Mk7, 2017) or perhaps a ROW unit? Obviously a local junkyard is only going to have local stuff, but if I look online the sky is the limit. Android Auto stability is something I've struggled with quite a bit (although it's gotten much better lately... go figure) so any improvement on that would be incredible.
 

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
I like the idea of offering to continue via email, good call. The big envelope is hilarious... certainly worth improving my chances by whatever means possible. Anything else to include before I drop it in the mail tomorrow morning? Maybe some snacks, $50 bill... just kidding (it's April 1st, after all).
Funny you talk about swag. I had a friend who had an Impala with a ton of electrical issues. He was way out of warranty but the dealer had been trying to fix it forever without much luck, so he wrote to Chevy asking for help. He collected old car magazines and found one from the 50's where Tom McCahill reviewed the "new Chevy" and included that with the letter with a little note that the marketing department might be interested in that.

Who knows if that helped, but he ended up with the regional guy looking at it, not being able to fix it and Chevy buying it back for an extremely good price.
 

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
Well now, I haven't really thought too much about a swap (although I will absolutely explore that route if VWoA doesn't help). Are there any other units I should look at instead of a straight swap? Something like what's in a Mk7.5 (I am Mk7, 2017) or perhaps a ROW unit? Obviously a local junkyard is only going to have local stuff, but if I look online the sky is the limit. Android Auto stability is something I've struggled with quite a bit (although it's gotten much better lately... go figure) so any improvement on that would be incredible.
I'm pretty confident that they'll give you something with your letter, but that is an alternative if they tell you to go suck eggs.
 

George Ab

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Pacific NW
Well now, I haven't really thought too much about a swap (although I will absolutely explore that route if VWoA doesn't help). Are there any other units I should look at instead of a straight swap? Something like what's in a Mk7.5 (I am Mk7, 2017) or perhaps a ROW unit? Obviously a local junkyard is only going to have local stuff, but if I look online the sky is the limit. Android Auto stability is something I've struggled with quite a bit (although it's gotten much better lately... go figure) so any improvement on that would be incredible.

My main point was if it is not done under warranty I would not take to dealer as they will install a new unit and this should not be an expensive repair. A straight swap is easiest as a dealer will be able to remove component protection and reinsall FeC's. It gets complicated when you add functions from another unit. For example for navigation you would need the functional enablement code to make it work. That FeC is $230 and most dealers will not have a clue on how to install, you would have to go to someone like Jack. Hope you get it sorted soon.
 
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yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
old car magazines
Hm, I don't have any old magazines, but I could include some photos from when my wife and I visited the Autostadt.
 

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yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
My main point was if it is not done under warranty don't take it to the dealer as you will get hosed and this should not be an expensive repair. A straight swap is easiest as it gets complicated when you add functions from another another unit. For example for navigation you would need the functional enablement code to make it work. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Wouldn't dream of it. I'd consider a little complexity for cool functionality. I never use the nav because I prefer Waze (especially for potholes) and sometimes Google Maps.
 

yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG

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yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
In a very unexpected series of events, the problem hasn't returned since I mailed the letter, and I also haven't received a reply (but tracking shows that it got there). I'd follow up via email except that I no longer have a reason to. Super weird.

The only thing I did to the car at approximately the same time as mailing the letter was flashing from stock to stage 1. I really don't want to believe that something that should only communicate with my ECU and TCU had an effect on the MIB2, and I didn't kill my battery or anything... could it be that the MIB2 issue was actually caused by the ECU (given that they obviously do communicate for some functions) and flashing had a side effect of unborking the ECU?
 

yeahforbes

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Car(s)
2017 Golf R DSG
Finally got a reply! I never did reach out a second time (just let the Certified snail mail go on its own), and they just emailed me back after ~8 weeks, reason being they aren't in the office (naturally) and didn't have access to physical mail. Fair enough.
We would like to continue looking into goodwill assistance for you, though in order to do so there needs to be a diagnosis made within the past 30 days from today, May 27th. [...] I can assist you in scheduling an appointment at the Volkswagen dealership [...] Once there is an appointment scheduled, or if I get confirmation from you that a diagnosis was completed within the past 30 days, I will engage our Region Case Manager (RCM) Team to look further into your goodwill request.
The thing is, per my previous message in this thread, I haven't been having the issue at all since I mailed the letter. I've done several auto-scans over the past couple months and they always come up perfectly clean except while the MIB is actually frozen-off. So, there is absolutely no point in me bringing it to a dealer, because the scan will come up clean. I'd like to keep this potential goodwill repair in my back pocket in case it acts up again, though. I suppose I'll reply back stating as much... but not until I think it over for a bit.

Suggestions? I really can't fathom what is going on here. The one thing that changed around the time that it cleared up is that I stopped commuting to work. The car may have actually sat for a week or more without key-on. The battery did NOT die. Could that have caused something to reset? I also flashed the ECU and TCU at that time.

By the way, I never got dealer diagnostics in the first place. I did my own diagnostics (VCDS) and told the service advisor that I had done so, asking for suggestions.
 
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