Rear parking Sensors

[davidstossel]

Quick question.

Does anyone know if it is possible to have a VW dealer retrospectively fit rear parking sensors to a Golf Pacific, or is it an option that can only be fitted pre-delivery?

I look forward to any info.

[maca]

Not too sure but I think they can get retro-fitted.

Be careful though, they don't always work

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...ad.php?t=30503

[Treza360]

I believe they are a dealer option as well as a factory option. I'm sure someone will know for sure but I believe if you get the dealer option ones than they are not exactly the same as the factory ones.
Cheers,
Trent

[Paul_OH]

I believe others have had them done but am pretty sure they won't be colour coded - ie they'll be black

[davidstossel]

Thanks for the info - I will follow up with my local dealer tomorrow. At least I know what questions to ask i.e. color coding.

[warhead]

When I bought my golf the dealer offered their parking sensors installed for around $700. The after-sales lady said they would attach the sensors to the black bumper section ( hinting that the sensors are black ) so to appear "invisible".

It had a small LCD display, like a 2 line thingy, that they install inside the car.

[Maverick]

What the dealers offer is an after market sensor and many charge the factory price or factory price + $1-200 to fit this (the latter for one here in Brisbane). I was told on a number of occasions that the install was "the same as from the factory", "uses the same sensors" and so on which all turned out to be rubbish.

Often these will be referred to as factory sensors fitted by the dealer to justify the extra price but what they are is a $30-50 set of sensors fitted by the dealer in less than an hour. Generally they'll colour code them as this is cheap to have done, you can buy sensors that have a close colour match otherwise it's easy to get them painted (you can buy paint from the parts department).

The factory PDC system is superior in all respects to the aftermarket, it integrates to the CAN bus and displays the distances etc on the head unit on recent cars, has the ability to adjust the volume, deactivates automatically if you're towing and has high quality sensors that fit FLUSH into the bumper.

If you want the factory PDC system installed you're looking at around $1500 for the parts and painting.

My advice would be to not have the dealer fit the PDC unless they're willing to do it for $200-250. Better to choose your own PDC system with a display that you like and than find someone to fit this, it's reasonably easy to do and should take around an hour.

[BarneyBoy]

Or if you unwilling to go to the effort of colour coding the sensors and drilling holes in your car, there's this system available for the front or the back for about £70 each (+ shipping).

This kit is specifically for Volkswagen and looks dead simple to fit - one wire to ground, the other to the reversing lamp wire.

I have no personal experience with this kit (yet), but looks very promising. Have a look at it yourself and see what you think. For the money it seems quite good, and the big benefit being that it's totally reversible (no pun intended) or able to be transferred to another vehicle.

Good luck with your choice

http://www.parkingdynamics.co.uk/Vehicle-Sensors/Volkswagen/Volkswagen-Parking-Sensor-Parking-Dynamics-PD1

[Maverick]

Or if you unwilling to go to the effort of colour coding the sensors and drilling holes in your car, there's this system available for the front or the back for about £70 each (+ shipping).

This kit is specifically for Volkswagen and looks dead simple to fit - one wire to ground, the other to the reversing lamp wire.

I have no personal experience with this kit (yet), but looks very promising. Have a look at it yourself and see what you think. For the money it seems quite good, and the big benefit being that it's totally reversible (no pun intended) or able to be transferred to another vehicle.

Good luck with your choice

http://www.parkingdynamics.co.uk/Veh...g-Dynamics-PD1

I posted some info on these a while ago but they're a waste of money, they don't detect many objects and these can include small children and concrete bollards. If the object is behind the car when you select reverse it won't detect it until you've already moved a certain distance so say a child was standing behind your car in the blind spot the first warning you would have is the bump as you flatten them.

They looked like promising technology when they were released but there is a reason why manufacturers don't just build the strip into the bumper on all their cars and sell the $800 "interface" kit and it's because they don't work anywhere near as well as they need to.