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Side mirrors moving on their own while parked?

jphughan

New member
Location
Austin, TX
I’ve had my 2019 R for a little over 6 months now. I’ve noticed that twice in just the last 2 weeks, when I got back into the car, both side mirrors had moved significantly from where I’d set them. It looked like they had moved to the most extreme position on one or both axes. I’m the only one driving, so this wouldn’t be a mirror memory issue even if this car had mirror memory, which it doesn’t seem to, and the mirror adjustment knob was definitely still in the middle position, so accidental adjustment doesn’t seem likely — although accidental adjustment of both mirrors seems nearly impossible. In one case, this happened while my car was in my garage, so I don’t think anyone physically messed with my car’s mirrors from the outside.

Has anyone else seen this? Should I just take it to the dealer and ask them to install any available software updates in case this is a bug of some kind?
 

gregozedobe

Battle scarred veteran
Did you use a different key ? IIRC on some VWs there is a method to program some set-up adjustments linked to a particular key.
 

jphughan

New member
Location
Austin, TX
Did you use a different key ? IIRC on some VWs there is a method to program some set-up adjustments linked to a particular key.

No, I always use the same key. The spare is kept elsewhere, so I wouldn’t have grabbed it accidentally. I also disabled the option to link driver profiles to specific keys so that instead you just choose the desired driver profile when you start the car. And even when I switch driver profiles, the mirrors don’t move, so the car doesn’t seem to have mirror memory anyway. Thanks for the idea though!
 

VL3X

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Delaware
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE
This is a weird one . Are you backing into spot and do your mirrors dip when reversing? I have aftermarket folding mirrors and coded the passenger to dip slightly in reverse, but the adjustment knob has the be in the R/Passenger position for it to work. I have noticed that it doesn't always seem to go back to the original position after leaving reverse.
 

iboost335sti

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NY
Have you Done any OBD11 mods on the car? After I did the mirror dip in reverse mod on my 17 GTI, I noticed that sometimes the passenger side mirror would be much higher than I had set it at. I call it the ghost mirror.
 

jphughan

New member
Location
Austin, TX
This is a weird one . Are you backing into spot and do your mirrors dip when reversing? I have aftermarket folding mirrors and coded the passenger to dip slightly in reverse, but the adjustment knob has the be in the R/Passenger position for it to work. I have noticed that it doesn't always seem to go back to the original position after leaving reverse.

Yeah, I don't know what to make of this suddenly happening twice in quick succession after months of no issues, and of course most of the time the mirrors remain where they are. Anyhow, both times I saw this, I had pulled forward into the spot I had parked in. My mirrors don't fold and I didn't code the reverse mirror dip because as much as I'd like to have that feature, I had read that since US-spec Golf Rs don't have mirror memory, they don't return to their original position, and that would annoy me much more than not having a dip.

Have you Done any OBD11 mods on the car? After I did the mirror dip in reverse mod on my 17 GTI, I noticed that sometimes the passenger side mirror would be much higher than I had set it at. I call it the ghost mirror.

I did code some features using VCDS, but I didn't touch the mirrors for the reason I mentioned in the quote above. And in my case both mirrors are affected anyway.
 

sterkrazzy

Autocross Champion
Location
United States
Car(s)
Turbo. Blue.
Yeah, I don't know what to make of this suddenly happening twice in quick succession after months of no issues, and of course most of the time the mirrors remain where they are. Anyhow, both times I saw this, I had pulled forward into the spot I had parked in. My mirrors don't fold and I didn't code the reverse mirror dip because as much as I'd like to have that feature, I had read that since US-spec Golf Rs don't have mirror memory, they don't return to their original position, and that would annoy me much more than not having a dip.

My mirror memory mostly works. Sometimes it ends up aiming itself a little too high when it goes back to the original position. I use it all the time though so I don't mind the occasional correction.
 

VL3X

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Delaware
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE
You're still under warranty, so just bring it to the dealer and see what's up. They may have seen this issue before and can fix it. Sounds like a faulty motor or control module. They'll likely swap it out for ya if they can replicate the issue.
 

jphughan

New member
Location
Austin, TX
You're still under warranty, so just bring it to the dealer and see what's up. They may have seen this issue before and can fix it. Sounds like a faulty motor or control module. They'll likely swap it out for ya if they can replicate the issue.

Yeah, that's probably what I'll do (after this COVID-19 mess since this is hardly a critical problem). I just have a feeling that they'll be unable to replicate this behavior since it's only happened to me twice, and even within the time this first occurred, I've taken several drives where the mirrors have stayed right where they're supposed to be. But maybe they'll be willing to run a software update just for good measure.
 

jphughan

New member
Location
Austin, TX
Pretty good chance the car is haunted.

I'd sell, luckily ghosts don't show up on the Carfax.

LOL! Even if this issue can't be fixed, I wouldn't sell a car I'm enjoying this much over this. I got it when I read that Mk7 Golf R production had ended and that the model might be on hiatus for 2-3 years at least in the US. I already had a Cayman GT4 that I was using for everything from DD to track car (my DD requirements are light), and I told myself that if I ever got tired of DDing it or that simply became impractical due to a new long commute or something, a Golf R would probably be what I'd want -- even though I hadn't driven one at that point. So when I read that story, I decided that I didn't want to risk needing another car in the middle of that hiatus and being unable to get a Golf R new. I wasn't thrilled about getting one used given how relatively uncommon they are and how popular they are with modders that might have done who knows what. I rationalized a bit by telling myself that Rs don't depreciate much, so even if I didn't end up "needing" it, I wouldn't be taking a huge loss. So I took a test drive that went very well and then bought it, and I've actually ended up really enjoying having this car. The only other car in the garage before was the wife's Honda Civic, so I'd forgotten how nice it is to have a car that lets you have fun in a more relaxed way. The GT4 is faster and more fun of course, but it's also more high-strung, so it makes you work harder for the fun. That's great when that's what you want, but sometimes it's not.
 
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