I swear Volkswagen is like the paranoid friend who
thinks everyone's out to get them. There is a
microchip in the key fob that the ignition reads. The
car will start, then it attempts to read the chip. If it
doesn't get the right answer, it shuts off the ignition.
Within seconds. You can Google reprogramming the
key, there's quite a few websites that will tell you
how. It involves locking/unlocking/starting car in a
certain order. I was able to do it, but it's been awhile
so I can't tell you exactly. Or if you have the valet key
(just a key, no fob) it should work.
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