If only everything was as reliable as a Shark_90

[AvantSE]

What a crap couple of weeks, what with the £1000+ spent on furniture (arrived late) and household repairs (late), having to have 2 new tyres and the tracking done (twice) on the Passat (£270), topped off with last weekend's demise of my cars RCD500 radio/CD.

Because the radio/CD had suddenly stopped doing anything, taking the VW hands-free kit with it, I threw caution to the wind and bought an identical unit from a Golf off fleabay as a straight swap. I knew it was a bit of gamble but it was a good price so I was prepared to take the chance. As it happens, it'll be going straight back on ebay in the morning.

Although the new unit fired up nicely, it did everything except produce sound. So, through gritted teeth, I booked the car in to a certain main dealership in York, ran the gauntlet of 'reception bints' who insisted the only coding the unit needed was the security code (durr... I've done that, I want you to code it to the vehicle speaker setup and see why it's not working...), and took the car in to be looked at.

After not very long at all, and £46 later*, they announced that "that radio won't work in your car in a million years... it is incompatible... we found loads of faults and though we have coded it to the car, it's never going to work...".

Hmm. Call me a cynic, but it sounded like total bollocks.

To cut a long story short, Tyresmoke came to the rescue in the form of Ben aka Shark_90, who I remembered has a penchant for all things VAGCOM from the days when I drove an A4 and frequented this forum on a more regular basis.

After a quick blast down the M1, Ben plugged his laptop in and it was clear that both radio units were working fine, with the original coming back to life, and that channel 47 Sound System was at fault. Why the hell the halfwits at VW couldn't have told me this, I don't know. Some head-scratching and trim removal (me) and internetting (Ben) later, we both discovered the whereabouts of the amplifier which is hopefully going to be the offending article. Fingers crossed that I get a replacement and that cures the problem, no thanks the main stealer.

Anyway, during the diagnosis, the conversation turned to the subject of retrofitting. Ben mentioned he was now offering remaps and in one of those "oh f*** it" moments, the expense of the last fortnight went out the window and I found myself agreeing to getting the car remapped, something I had been toying with for a long time. The fact that the cost was signifcantly lower than I had been thinking, along with the words "I can do it now", meant that no persuasion was needed.

Having got set-up, we had a good run around the local roads to check everything was in order with the car, which it was. Phew. Half an hour and one cup of tea later, we were back in the car uploading the new map, followed by another test run.

I didn't go for too aggressive a map as the car is a daily driver covering 30K per year so I didn't want to compromise fuel economy, nor have to replace the clutch every five minutes. Having had a couple of quickish cars in the past including an Impreza WRX and a V70 T5, the Passat has always felt a bit flat in comparison, with a pretty narrow power band that started off with lag, had a big spike of torque, and then went pretty flat afterwards.

It's a bit of a cliche, but it's true to say the remap Ben did has transformed the car. The car revs much more quickly than before, and the thing just keeps pulling at the point where it used to fade away. On top of that, the run up the motorway on the way home followed by a good thrashing round the hilly, twisty lanes near my house, has actually shown a decrease in fuel consumption, which is obviously no bad thing.

If anyone is considering getting their car mapped, don't do anything until you have been in touch with Shark_90 - the guy's enthusiasm and knowledge of VAG cars is incredible, and puts the main dealers to shame. On top of which, he has two nicely rapid cars to feast your eyes on

Cheers matey, top job

*somehow I think I will be in there asking for this back from the thieving, lying ****s.

[Omi]

Ben is a true hero and has helped me out countless times with no thought to his own inconvenience. - I know that everyone who has met him or used his services will agree that the guy is a dudemeister.

Everyone needs a Shark_90.

[shark_90]

Thanks for the kind words chaps!

I hope you get your money back from VW AvantSE, what they told you was bobbins... they obviously couldn't be bothered to fix it. Seems strange but hey.

Hope the car's running well, did you get home in 2/3 of the time it took you to get down?

[330dcoupe]

Sharky - fancy PM (ing) me some prices through for the Mk5?

cheers!

[AvantSE]

Thanks for the kind words chaps!

I hope you get your money back from VW AvantSE, what they told you was bobbins... they obviously couldn't be bothered to fix it. Seems strange but hey.

Hope the car's running well, did you get home in 2/3 of the time it took you to get down?

LOL. As it happens, I am off back to the tyre place for a third time tomorrow, as the s/wheel still isn't straight after it was tracked (two attempts), and VW are round the corner so I might just go and shout at them for a bit.

Haven't yet told the missus about the remap but she did say "ooh, it picks up well" as I booted it past another car coming off a roundabout this morning :D

[shark_90]

Haven't yet told the missus about the remap but she did say "ooh, it picks up well" as I booted it past another car coming off a roundabout this morning :D

Just tell her there was a fault code on the engine that I cleared

[AvantSE]

That suggestion is nothing but underhand and devious.

I'll do that then.

Edited April 6, 2009 by AvantSE
Can't spell.

[theduisbergkid]

Shark_90 - top bloke Might even buy him half a shandy on Saturday....

[cruiser647]

The Power of TSN?

If we ran a garage/dealer we'd be broke as we'd be too damn helpful!

[AvantSE]

Die Diagnose war, dass der Radioverstärker im Unrecht war, also ich VW anrief und fand, dass ein Wiedereinbau £234 plus Mehrwertsteuer ist. So habe ich ein aus Deutschland bestellt, das kleiner als Hälfte Preis ist, da keine der Unterbrecher in Großbritannien scheinen, ein zu haben. Finger kreuzten es löst das Problem!

[AvantSE]

AND BACK FROM GERMAN TO ENGLISH:

The diagnosis was that the radio amplifier was in injustice, called and found thus I VOLKSWAGEN that a re-installation is £234 plus value added tax. Thus I ordered from Germany, which is smaller than half price, since none seem the circuit breaker in Great Britain to have. Fingers crossed it solve the problem!

ISN'T BABELFISH GREAT? £234+VAT for a replacement unit, a giraffe you are having... This was after the usual conversation with the Parts Man who said the car needed to be booked into VW to be diagnosed (ha-ha-ha, I nearly pissed myself laughing).

******s.

Edited April 6, 2009 by AvantSE
To add a rant

[shark_90]

£234 for a replacement amp? As I said to you mate, as it's less than 3 years old I reckon you have a warranty case there despite the mileage.

[AvantSE]

Quick update - have covered around 600 miles since the remap and fuel economy is pretty much as it was before +/- 1-2mpg despite me using the extra oomph on a regular basis.