things that annoy me in my mk5

[gti]

my knob fell off too!!!

(seriously)

I've only had it for a few months too! I thought I was being too rough and maybe the heat caused the glue to melt or something.

I'm getting it fixed but at the moment I've just tried to put it back on but it's not very secure. Did this happen to your current one or the lemon?

[decksla]

nutha that annoys me is the fact i cant see the front or really even tell where it is.

i sit to low in the car it have not a clue where to stop. its the first car ive owned where parking front on worries me that i might kiss something.

[BarneyBoy]

I've only had it for a few months too! I thought I was being too rough and maybe the heat caused the glue to melt or something.

I'm getting it fixed but at the moment I've just tried to put it back on but it's not very secure. Did this happen to your current one or the lemon?

I'm currently looking for one of these switches for my sister's Mk4 - her knob fell off too - and came across quite a few on FleaBay. This quote was interesting:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-heated-mirror-switch-VW-Volkswagon-Audi-Seat-Skoda_W0QQitemZ330302475951QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item330302475951&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1689%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

"This replaces the manufacturers part numbers:
1J1959565E (1J1 959 565E)
These are a common failure."

So it looks like they didn't learn too much in all the years they've been making these puppies

[Maverick]

In this case " reassuring" means "lying", plain and simple. The temp guage and speedo should really be set to indicate more accurately than they do.

The temperature guage is accurate, not really sure what you would like it to do to satisfy you however.

And the speed error is a requirement set by the government not by VW.

http://www.my-gti.com/140/volkswagen-speedometer-error-correction

[gti]

I'm currently looking for one of these switches for my sister's Mk4 - her knob fell off too - and came across quite a few on FleaBay. This quote was interesting:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-heated-mirror-switch-VW-Volkswagon-Audi-Seat-Skoda_W0QQitemZ330302475951QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item330302475951&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1689%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

"This replaces the manufacturers part numbers:
1J1959565E (1J1 959 565E)
These are a common failure."

So it looks like they didn't learn too much in all the years they've been making these puppies

Thanks! Worth getting a new one.

[lincs]

that my side mirrors dont fold in completely. lost the drivers side about 6 mths ago parked on a main road.

[CatonaPC©]

The temperature guage is accurate, not really sure what you would like it to do to satisfy you however.

And the speed error is a requirement set by the government not by VW.

What I mean is I wouldn't mind a better resolution. Even if the variation is a few degrees, it would be good to see. And I know about the Government requirement. However, it doesn't seem to be applied consistently from one car maker to the next. My previous two rides were much closer to the mark of actual speed than VW is. 10% variation is too much and potentially dangerous - I know you would have to agree as your site outlines a fix. At 100km/h indicated, speed limited B-Doubles overtake you!!

[Maverick]

What I mean is I wouldn't mind a better resolution. Even if the variation is a few degrees, it would be good to see.

Why would you want to see the needle moving side to side by a tiny amount? All it would be is a distraction, just like the fuel gauge the temperature gauge has a movement that is "damped" to prevent excessive movement.

Check the coolant temperature as it stays at an almost constant temperature. You can check the oil temperature by selecting 19-2 (Engine Temperature). You'll need Vagcom/VCDS to check the coolant temperature.

http://www.my-gti.com/224/volkswagen-climatronic-diagnostics

And I know about the Government requirement. However, it doesn't seem to be applied consistently from one car maker to the next. My previous two rides were much closer to the mark of actual speed than VW is. 10% variation is too much and potentially dangerous - I know you would have to agree as your site outlines a fix. At 100km/h indicated, speed limited B-Doubles overtake you!!

How old where you previous cars?

ADR 18/03 took effect from either the 1st of July 2006 or 2007 (depending on the model changeover) so unless you had cars after the 1st of July 2007 they would have had the old error which allowed + or - 10% so manufacturers generally aimed for 2-3%, however when ADR 18/03 took effect all this changed.

ADR 18/03 is available from http://www.my-gti.com/140/volkswagen...ror-correction

The trucks that are overtaking most likely have modified their trucks to allow them to go faster.

You can fix the speed error by a simple change using Vagcom/VCDS, or you can use a GPS and work out the error and remember that at an indicated speed of 109 you're actually doing 100. It's really not that hard to do and there are benefits to leaving it that way.

[tdi guy]

raise the seat

nutha that annoys me is the fact i cant see the front or really even tell where it is.

i sit to low in the car it have not a clue where to stop. its the first car ive owned where parking front on worries me that i might kiss something.

My wife is only about 155cm (5 ft 1 in the old money) so she has raised the driver's seat and now feels more confortable about 'where' the car starts and ends (same in our Corolla). I did not purchase the rear parking sensors but perhaps they would have been useful...

TG

[benno]

ADR 18/03 took effect from either the 1st of July 2006 or 2007 (depending on the model changeover) so unless you had cars after the 1st of July 2007 they would have had the old error which allowed + or - 10% so manufacturers generally aimed for 2-3%, however when ADR 18/03 took effect all this changed.

ADR 18/03 is available from http://www.my-gti.com/140/volkswagen...ror-correction

The trucks that are overtaking most likely have modified their trucks to allow them to go faster.

You can fix the speed error by a simple change using Vagcom/VCDS, or you can use a GPS and work out the error and remember that at an indicated speed of 109 you're actually doing 100. It's really not that hard to do and there are benefits to leaving it that way.

Does the speed error affect odometer of economy figures at all?

[decksla]

oh a couple more i forgot and im not sure if this applies for all mk5's.

* the drivers, side rear view mirror, bit at the end that makes the image all squished!

i dunno whether its for blind spots or not, i always head check anyway so never use it, but sometimes i tend to focus on the squishy bit before changing lanes and it throws my mantra out for a split second. ill get used to it i imagine.

* the indicators on the side rear views are visable from the cabin. so that sometimes when i want to get into a lane, and there is another car in the lane NEXT to the one i get into, i indicate, and the light from them sometimes looks like its the indicator light from the other car wanting to get into the same lane. more so have this problem on 3+ lane freeways where the people want to get into the middle lanes from the outside lanes and its all very hell for leather travelling at 100+km/h and all

[benno]

* the indicators on the side rear views are visable from the cabin. so that sometimes when i want to get into a lane, and there is another car in the lane NEXT to the one i get into, i indicate, and the light from them sometimes looks like its the indicator light from the other car wanting to get into the same lane. more so have this problem on 3+ lane freeways where the people want to get into the middle lanes from the outside lanes and its all very hell for leather travelling at 100+km/h and all

I hate this! Just picked up my car thursday and haven't had time to drive much until yesterday and this was really distracting me on the highway last night. Think I might duct tape them.

[Russ59]

The problem with the side indicator distraction is fairly easily remedied if you quickly turn your head and look to see if there's anything in the lane you want to go into before moving into it Please don't take my comments the wrong way because that's not what's intended, but this is the way I was shown to change lanes safely (even in multi lanes) when I was taught to drive over 30 years ago and I still do it today. It's just that when I first read the comments about the mirror indicators (which are an added safety feature) it really is "nit picking" for faults with what I consider to be a very well engineered and smartly designed motor vehicle.

Every car has it faults, but rather than picking the cars to pieces on a public forum, I think it would be much more beneficial if everyone dropped an email to VW Australia's customer service and voiced their opinions on things that they dislike or feel could be improved on their vehicles, that way I'm sure if there were enough complaints about the same issues that VW would want to know and would no doubt work at trying to improve them. I know that some of the VW sales people go onto the forums looking for feedback, but that's more for improving customer relations and not the cars themselves.

My 2c worth anyway

Russ

[Maverick]

Does the speed error affect odometer of economy figures at all?

I just updated the page to show that it doesn't affect the odometer. Also the economy figures won't be affected but they're not always accurate and can actually be fixed by using Vagcom/VCDS.

[benno]

The problem with the side indicator distraction is fairly easily remedied if you quickly turn your head and look to see if there's anything in the lane you want to go into before moving into it Please don't take my comments the wrong way because that's not what's intended, but this is the way I was shown to change lanes safely (even in multi lanes) when I was taught to drive over 30 years ago and I still do it today. It's just that when I first read the comments about the mirror indicators (which are an added safety feature) it really is "nit picking" for faults with what I consider to be a very well engineered and smartly designed motor vehicle.


Russ

I always shoulder check first - habit from driving a '58 beetle with no wing mirrors - but it's still quite distracting at night as they're rather bright.

I don't quite understand how it's a safety feature though.... ?