I have a 2004 2.0l jetta and its been in the dealership repair for 4 days.They were checking wires and tracing to find out why my check engine was on. They just called and told me it needs a instrument cluster because it shorted out. It costs $1,486 to replace. Thats about the cost of the car even with its good condition. What do I do?
5 Answers
If that is the only reason why the CEL is on then can you live with it? Is there an issue with passing a smog check? If that is what the car is worth then I would drive it as long as I could with the light on and then sell it or junk it.
A used instrument cluster might solve your problem.
Yup.I agree. That's dealer. Double or triple the cost of a shop, especially if you can find one yourself and have it installed for a couple hundred bucks
But hold on, a 2004 VW Jetta is worth at least $4k unless completely thrashed and 200,000+ miles .... and get another opinion. "Shorted our" sounds just too convenient. If they couldn't pull a DTC code with the light on that does not mean it needs to have wires traced. Something smells fishy here
At this point the car cant move because of how they had to strip the car and trace wires. I cant go looking for a used cluster because the car would sit there and they would charge me a storage fee until I find the part and its shipped to me. Also I have no idea of any wiring specialists that can do it. They are now telling me my aftermarket XENON HIDS's are the reason my cluster is fried.
