Strange Stereo Problem (Monsoon)

I feel sorry for you, but you can't expect VW to give you a free radio for something like that. I have seen radios with, coke, Pepsi, water, coins jammed into the cassette player. I have even seen the same inside the climate control units on such equipped car.

I understand your rationale but my concern is that the stereo actually works. Even if not covered by warranty (again, the car does not exist in a vacuum environment so every time something breaks it must be due to an "outside cause"), there is no way the whole thing has to be replaced especially given the price the dealer quotes me. Actually I would expect VW to solve this problem. I have used the cupholder the way it is intended. I think we can all agree that this is not the best place for a cupholder, especially now that I know you have seen other such issues. The only reason I replaced my A2 Golf, which I loved, with this one was to avoid the constant repair bills. The VW salesman was certainly convincing when he said that the warranty will cover everything that goes wrong with the car. Maybe I am naive for thinking this would be the case but by saving themselves a few hundred dollars by denying a warranty claim, VW certainly will loose me as a customer, and I intended to have many other VW cars in my life. And I guess I will stop advertising VW to my friends and colleagues (which I have been vehemently doing) or run the risk of being a hypocrite.

If all else fails, you might get another Monsoon on ebay. There is one from a 2003 car currently at $80 with one bid and three days to go. I have no idea what they normally sell for. But whatever it is, it's probably cheaper than a new one from the dealer. You need to find out first, however, what Monsoons are interchangeable with yours. By the way, perhaps your regular car insurance would cover part of the cost.

Stanislav, what I'd recommend first is going to another VW dealer. What happened to me was that I had to change 4 dealers that were major a-holes and the 5th one turned out to be quite OK. Unfortunately for some reason service satisfaction doesn't seem to rank very high with VW dealers. I can say that I've been happier with my Ford, Saturn and Nissan dealers on previous cars I've owned.

With that in mind I'd first try a new dealer. Don't mention what happened to the stereo - let them diagnose that for you. It could be a mechanical failure that they're trying to blame on your soda spilling but actually it could be something else. Let them diagnose it for you instead of telling them what happened.

If that doesn't work I'd try to take apart the stereo myself and clean up the inside - there might be gunk from the soda you spilled that could be causing the problems.

If that doesn't work - I'd rather get a new stereo from Crutchfield that go the Monsoon route again cause you can get better bang for your buck.

My 2002 Jetta TDI wagon contains examples of notable idiocy from end to end. That cupholder being strategically placed where it obstructs (and endangers!) the radio is merely the 0.01% tip of VW's bonehead iceberg.

And cars were made for the purpose of driving from point A to B, and not being a traveling restaurants. I do agree it's a bad place for a cup holder unlike the Passat.

Jim B.

Did you purchase this car sight unseen, or did you ignore these examples of notable idiocy during your test drive and while conducting your pre-purchase research?

Seems like I see another example of notable idiocy.

Craig

Craig, usually on a test drive you don't look too much on where your armrests are set or think that the door handles will start peeling, or that the cupholder is idiotically set. Well, besides the cupholder placement, the doorrest lid breaking and the interior plastic peeling complaint I can't say anything much is an example of idiocy on the Jettas. The really funny thing is that every other car I owned (Satturn SL2, Nissan Sentra, Mercury Sable) had better placement for cupholders or had a place where you can put an aftermarket one. The Jetta has none.

Uh, I don't know about you, but when I test drive a car, I look very much at things like arm rest placement, cup holder placement, etc. The little things that you have to live with day-to-day are important, and when I'm spending the kind of money that a new car costs, I want to be very sure about my purchase.

I knew that I didn't like the cupholder placement, but it wasn't a deal breaker. I don't have any issue with the arm rest placment.

As far as the peeling, you're right that you wouldn't see that during a test drive. I haven't seen that (knock on wood), but I did see it in a '01 (IIRC) Eurovan that I was checking out at the dealer while the Jetta was getting new ignition coils a while back, so maybe I have that to look forward to... hopefully not.

Don't think that I'm blindly supporting VW here, I'm well aware of the issues, but to blame them for you not noticing that you didn't like the interior layout before you bought the car isn't reasonable. Maybe you should've bought another Mercury Sable? ;-)

Craig

In my case, I blame VW for being thoughtless in some things they do. My bone-head example is placing the trunk light in my Golf near the floor. It is next to useless. Should I have refused the car because of this?

That all depends how important a well-placed trunk light is to you... ;-)

Craig

Gentlemen,

It's not my criticism of the VW design that bothers me in this case (although we probably all agree that the cupholder location is not the product of a design genius). My concern is that VW readily dismisses a claim on the grounds that they stand by the dealer diagnostic, which essentially means the mechanic who looked at my car. My questions, again, is: how do I trust the diagnosis when the stereo works when plugged? I have been busy so have not had the chance to go see another dealer but, of course, I will probably be able to schedule an appointment only as early as a month from now. It is just the quality of the service -- here is another odd experience: shortly after I got the car, I realized that the reard window wiper is deprived of fluid when the lever is depressed. Of course, I opened the hood and found that the hose leading to the back is disconnected. Simple, I thought -- plug it in and it will work. It worked, all right, except it was not spraying on the back window but one my legs on the driver's side. How was this not noticed during a pre-inspection? My opinion is that it was noticed and therefore purposely disconnected. Luckily VW did not resort to the "outside cause" story and fixed it. The rear doors have been sagging to the point that they grind during turns, air comes in, not to mention the scratches. After asking two times, I was told that this is within the factory specification. Really? Surprisingly, when I went for the battery problem, I was asked whether had any success at the body shop?! Oh, did I not know that VW called me and authorized the alignment of the rear doors? But they left a message on my voicemail at work? What voicemai?! We do not have any voicemail but we have two secretaries who always promptly deliver any messages. Anyway, I am sure most of us have stories of unpleasant experiences to share -- I have read quite a few in this group. I will keep you posted on the stereo issue as I am sure tat even if this is the problem, it does not merrit the replacement of the whole head unit. again, I admit I should have placed as much weight on the quality of VW service after a car purchase as on my passion (steadily on the decline) for VW automobiles.

Stan

The Monsoon unit can indeed work normally, even though it takes out the battery. The battery drain happens over several hours, so you're not dealing with a dead short (which would blow the fuse, in any event). A surprisingly small current draw can waste a battery, given enough time. An overhead light, left on overnight, can zap a battery in less than optimal condition.

Q: How did the dealer determine the Monsoon to be at fault, vs. the battery itself, or some component of the charging system? VW's in my experience are notorious for poor electrical connections, including those on the battery.

Here is what I would do:

1. Try leaving the radio disconnected for a while. If the battery then holds a charge, you may have the problem located. Be aware that the Monsoon normally draws some power for it's seecurity features. In the case of some other electrical system problem (see above), removing this small drain may simply make the problem *appear* to go away.
2. Before replacing the radio, replace the dealer. Tell the new guy that your battery goes dead - nothing else. His job is to figure out why you went to the trouble to come in, instead of being out telling people how great VW's are.
3. If the problem is definitely the radio and the dealer won't consider making it right - even after you tell him how many friends and family members (potential customers) have heard your story - you can:

3a. Get a new radio. The best deal can be found Anywhere But The Dealer. Ebay is an option, subject to the usual caveats. You don't want someone else's battery drainer. OR... 3b. Consider cleaning the unit yourself. This entails removing the cover (it has to fit back together exactly or the radio won't go into the console again), spraying ONLY a cleaner made for the purpose on any obvious deposit of gunk, letting it dry thoroughly, and reassembling. Be sure to put everything back exactly as it was, even if it's 'only' a foil-covered piece of cardboard. Missing shields means static instead of music. As long as you don't touch anything inside and don't have any parts left over, the worst that can happen is the problem remains. In that event, return to step 3a.

Just make sure other possibilities have been ruled out. Small battery drains are second only to intermittents in terms of the frustration they can cause during troubleshooting.

Good hunting.

Stan, lucky for you you were under warranty. I had the same problem with 1 door (driver side) and they screwed it up so bad I had to visit the dealer 4 times before it got fixed. Now I am out of warranty (only have the engine/tranny warranty left) so I will have to fight it - the coupe got very noisy from all the wind coming in. Reminds me of a soviet-era vehicle (the Moskvitch) if you're familiar with it :)

Well,

As promised long time ago, here is the end of the story. The same stereo that was deemed so damaged as to require replacement (not fixing!) at the mere cost of $900 for parts alone (I am afraid to even think how much a complicated task such as inserting and plugging a new unit would require in terms of labor) has been back in the car and working with no problem whatsoever for quite some time. I did nothing other than clean what was claimed to be the leaked fluid. So much for the competency of the dealer that I have been using (and no, this is not an isolated incident) ... In case you wonder, this is Boston VW in Allston, MA. I guess I could file a complaint with VW regarding the quality of the service received at the dealer but I sure this is nothing new nor do I think this will make a difference given how stubborn and unhelpful VW were the first time (well, many times) I contacted them about this issue. I hope the best that comes out of this experience is a warning to future "victims" of poor design, bad luck, and competency deficiency (at least when it comes to the "premium" stereo found in A4 Golfs).

Regards,

Stan

Poor design, was it the cup that was designed poorly thus causing the internal liquid to spill, run, splash, etc from it's internal holding surface and causing temporary damage to your premium VW sound system.. Glad you got it fixed after putting the blame on everyone else. I had a similar issue last week at work in that I lost my computer 21 inch monitor at work. When I got there I found water dripping out from the base and the monitor no longer functioned. First I thought that maybe the cause was related to the roof in our shop that leaks when it rains. Not just any rain, but one of them heavy downpour rains which causes minor flooding on the highways. I quickly ruled out that for being the cause and still figured it was a poorly designed monitor for not having some kind of protection against heavy rains. The tech next to me then suggested the cause must have been "mother nature" for making it rain so hard. I said "don't think so... it's just a poorly designed monitor"!

Stan, just having some late night fun, and glad it's all working. I even got my monitor working again after it dried for 5 days.

Woodchuck,

I almost started writing back a bitter reply...It's OK, I won't take this personally, and I hope you do not either. I have appreciated your insight many times and I acknowledge that in part it is your affiliation and experience with VW that make your postings so useful. But admit you would have been somewhat upset if you had to replace your monitor because an expert said it was ruined and then it turned out it was just a temporary thing that would go away. I will stop reasoning as to why this is not quite right or run the risk of appearing to blame it on someone else ... All's well that ends well.

Regards,

Stan

I assume your monitor came with a manual that included warnings like "do not expose to water"? If you want an environmentally ruggedized display, you can get one from the same people who sell them to the armed forces; I'm sure you can imagine what they cost. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a "cause" in this situation, I'd say it's your crappy roof.

-- Mike Smith