Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:46 pm
[quote="drewbar" With regards to exchange items, on an electronic computer, its pretty unlikely they'll be able to do any form of exchange on it as they're just not worth repairing as they're quite cheap to produce (despite the massive shelf price 
) and yeah if you can afford it, go for a decent extended warrenty mate.[/quote]
I think that you will find that there is a repair industry growing up to support these expensive modules. As most of these modules are designed and manufactured by a relatively few companies, and their generic architectures are similar, any electronics fixers will the test knowledge and equipment and able to handle surface mounted devices, will be able to repair quite a lot of faults - except the ones that have been flooded with water or damaged by fire or mechanically in a crash - I am meaning just the majority of "failed in service" modules - where failure have been prompted by external wiring or attached sensor failure. I'd also gues that for each module installation there will be only about a dozen classic module failure modes - so fixing is a commercial possibility. The dealers are not interested in this as VAG have not bothered to extend their exchange unit range, and for them dealing with outside the VAG parts net would be problematic as VAG protect themselves very well. They just need the car in and out again, its the way main dealer must work to keep things moving.
) and yeah if you can afford it, go for a decent extended warrenty mate.[/quote]I think that you will find that there is a repair industry growing up to support these expensive modules. As most of these modules are designed and manufactured by a relatively few companies, and their generic architectures are similar, any electronics fixers will the test knowledge and equipment and able to handle surface mounted devices, will be able to repair quite a lot of faults - except the ones that have been flooded with water or damaged by fire or mechanically in a crash - I am meaning just the majority of "failed in service" modules - where failure have been prompted by external wiring or attached sensor failure. I'd also gues that for each module installation there will be only about a dozen classic module failure modes - so fixing is a commercial possibility. The dealers are not interested in this as VAG have not bothered to extend their exchange unit range, and for them dealing with outside the VAG parts net would be problematic as VAG protect themselves very well. They just need the car in and out again, its the way main dealer must work to keep things moving.