OFFICIAL Beetle window issue thread

[jpitzer4]

My passenger side seems to work fine, it's my drivers side that is acting up, I would put donuts to dollars that it is a stupid fix, like a 3 dollar washer or something, most of the time it is

[cbugrun]

Mine was built in May and I do have the drivers window issue.

[Babie]

I was told today that the problem were a bunch of bad window motors and they are waiting to release the official TSB until they have sufficient new window motors at dealer sites.

I can buy that.

[ridgemanron]

I was told today that the problem were a bunch of bad window motors and they are waiting to release the official TSB until they have sufficient new window motors at dealer sites.

I can buy that.

Since I am waiting on the motors as of today, here's hoping that they are the cause of all our
grief. I did notice that if I hold the 'up' motion switch until the driver's window travels
1/2 way up, and then release it, the window will complete the run upward with no problem.
As far as the passenger side, it doesn't ever seem to malfunction and I need only quickly
touch the 'up' (auto mode activator) switch for it to run all the way up. This will have to
do until the complete fix is available. Going 'down' has never been a problem.

[Babie]

Since I am waiting on the motors as of today, here's hoping that they are the cause of all our
grief. I did notice that if I hold the 'up' motion switch until the driver's window travels
1/2 way up, and then release it, the window will complete the run upward with no problem.
As far as the passenger side, it doesn't ever seem to malfunction and I need only quickly
touch the 'up' (auto mode activator) switch for it to run all the way up. This will have to
do until the complete fix is available. Going 'down' has never been a problem.

Ridge, makes sense, the dealer said he tried to order the motors under the old number, and now have new numbers. He said all his window motors for the old number were kicked out?
Anyway, we may be at the end with the problems, let's hope,

[ridgemanron]

Ridge, makes sense, the dealer said he tried to order the motors under the old number, and now have new numbers. He said all his window motors for the old number were kicked out?
Anyway, we may be at the end with the problems, let's hope,

Perhaps VW has found a better motor manufacturer than was the case previously.

[ridgemanron]

If anyone finds out the new part numbers for the window motors that Babie mentioned,
please post them.

[plex03]

Plex ! Are you having the 'upzy downzy' with both or only the driver's side? To be honest,
my passenger side hasn't ever acted up but if a fix was available I figured it would be
best to do both sides at the same time.

Mine are now doing it on both sides. (after window motor replacement)

The drivers side is every time now. It'll go down no problem but up it stops and goes down at either 1/3 or 2/3 no matter what.

Passenger side right now is only about 50% of the time.

It sucks but it's not unbearable. Just hope a fix truly is coming.

[ridgemanron]

Ridge, makes sense, the dealer said he tried to order the motors under the old number, and now have new numbers. He said all his window motors for the old number were kicked out?
Anyway, we may be at the end with the problems, let's hope,

My service mgr said the window motor part numbers are still active in the VW system.
The part numbers are 5C5-959-801-D-Z01 and 5C5-959-802-F-Z01

[Babie]

My service mgr said the window motor part numbers are still active in the VW system.
The part numbers are 5C5-959-801-D-Z01 and 5C5-959-802-F-Z01

My dealer today said he can't order any window motors in the system. He said they are trying to produce more, so maybe this is the caca culprit. I hope so.

Anyone know

[Babie]

Mine are now doing it on both sides. (after window motor replacement)

The drivers side is every time now. It'll go down no problem but up it stops and goes down at either 1/3 or 2/3 no matter what.

Passenger side right now is only about 50% of the time.

It sucks but it's not unbearable. Just hope a fix truly is coming.

Uggggg...were they the Mexican motors or the German ones, ask your dealer cuz I did find out that the German ones were the better ones.

I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY CAN PIN POINT THIS PROBLEM. REALLY IS THIS A MONEY ISSUE

[ridgemanron]

My dealer today said he can't order any window motors in the system. He said they are trying to produce more, so maybe this is the caca culprit. I hope so.

Anyone know

When I 'Googled' the window motor numbers I did find VW dealers who had them in stock,
but I feel if they are the same ones everyone is having problems with, there doesn't seem to
be any logic in trying to have them installed. Let's hope VW gives us some info as to where
they stand concerning our needed 'fix'. Will check with my service mgr every day or so to see
if he has found out anything.

[Babie]

we need some of you to check your local lots and ask to test the windows on the 2013 please and post your findings to this thread.

THANKS

[Babie]

When I 'Googled' the window motor numbers I did find VW dealers who had them in stock,
but I feel if they are the same ones everyone is having problems with, there doesn't seem to
be any logic in trying to have them installed. Let's hope VW gives us some info as to where
they stand concerning our needed 'fix'. Will check with my service mgr every day or so to see
if he has found out anything.

I just called my dealer and they will say made in Germany on the motor. stay away from Mexican motors. Mmmm sounds like a south of the border car company.

[VWNDAHS]

Uggggg...were they the Mexican motors or the German ones, ask your dealer cuz I did find out that the German ones were the better ones.

I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY CAN PIN POINT THIS PROBLEM. REALLY IS THIS A MONEY ISSUE

Not a money issue, a trial and error solution. Same thing we saw with the massive DSG recall, took a while to sort out what had failed and what production run.

[sethdude]

Babie, you are strange. Likable, but odd.

[Babie]

Babie, you are strange. Likable, but odd.

Thanks, my boyfriend says that to. But I do get all A's in college.

[Cadenza_7o]

Thanks, my boyfriend says that to. But I do get all A's in college.

You know that's not good, right???

Einstein failed 8th grade math and Ferdinand Porsche - creator of the old Bug, Technical Director at Mercedes-Benz, and designer of many Third Reich armed vehicles - never officially went to college.

And me.... I'm a genius in my own mind. My genius-ness tells me VW NEVER fixes anything quickly, particularly windows. Actually, they often move at glacial speed when it comes to window regulators.

Or... it could be the JaegerMeister talking.... typing.

[RedTurboS]

I just picked up my 2013 Turbo Beetle last night. So far the windows are fine but I have had it for less than 12 hours. Haha

I'll keep you posted how mine does.

~Matthew

[Cadenza_7o]

It's always a money issue. More money for them and less for us.

It's just accounting...

Vw (credit)

Vw Owners (debit)

[silverspeedbuggy]

Hi all -
By now we've established there is an issue with 2012 Beetle windows. Here's what we know so far:
- Windows lower with no problem
- When using the 'auto-up' feature, the window only raises part of the way, then lowers quickly
- It appears pinch protection is kicking in
- It then takes a number of 'ups' and 'downs' to get the window to finally close resulting in the 'auto-up' feature to then be disabled
- A TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) was issued to dealers with instructions to replace the gear guides and motors
- The TSB repair did not cure the problem and was recalled
- VW IS WORKING ON A REPAIR though no updates other than dealer rumors have been given on what the repair is and when owners can expect the repair
- It is not yet known if the 2013 Beetles just arriving at dealerships have this problem

With all the above in mind, this is now the OFFICIAL Window Thread for the Beetle.

If you have an issue with your window, or an update, or a suggestion, post it here. The best way to stay informed is if we have all the information in one place rather than scattered around miscellaneous posts on this forum.

This post is stickied, and I will update this first post as new information is disclosed.

Also, I will be condensing posts into this sticky over the next few days.

[silverspeedbuggy]

On a more personal note, I struggled with creating this post. I'm a pretty firm believer in letting you all talk this out, but I feel it's gotten to the point that we need to have all the information in one place. It's difficult to find out any real information when there are posts all over.

I also want to tell everyone here that is having a problem, I really feel for you. I think there's nothing worse than buying an expensive product and not have it live up to your expectations. I don't mean to stifle or restrict your ability to vent here with other owners, so I hope you understand that. It truly is one topic so I feel that we should keep one thread to this one topic.

As a fairly new moderator, I'm sorting through my responsibilities here. I read almost every post, and you are all a great bunch of people. Your positive attitudes and mature postings make my 'job' easy. So thank you! This allows me to keep a pretty 'hands-off' approach to this area of Vortex. I believe we can keep it this way for awhile.

I hope this helps all of you struggling with this annoying issue understand the need to make this change. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want something added. I'm completely open to feedback!

- Chris

[Babie]

OK cool thanks

PS my brother is checking on some 13" today, He is in college on the east coast. The are some 13's there. He will let me know later today. I sent him a video of mine to compare.

[LC6X]

Glad to see it all centralized

A little update on mine: First thing I have to say is my dealer rep is absolutely AMAZING! I had it scheduled to have the part replaced yesterday, so I dropped it off after work Tuesday around 3:30pm. I get all call at 5pm from my tech saying that he had some extra time and already took care of it
I wasnt able to pick it up until yesterday, because thats what I arranged with my ride. Got home from work, go to roll my window up and it goes right back down. I called my tech, left him a message to give me a call back whenever. I wasnt in a huge hurry since I knew going into this it was a known issue and probably wouldnt be fixed. He gave me a call back right away saying he forwarded my issue to VWoA and as soon as he got a response he would call me back again. 10 minutes goes by and he is calling me again to let me know it has been escalted through VWoA, and they are looking into the issue. Funny thing is as of this morning it seems to be working fine, going to have to see how long that lasts

Although imo this should be a standard for service, we all know it isnt. Being an employee of Volkswagen I know that when it comes to the dealers we seem to be at the bottom of the totem pole, but its clear that, at least with this tech, he puts any issue at the top of his priority list

[ridgemanron]

In a nutshell, the pinch-protector, when activated, is overly sensitive and its inner
brain mistakenly thinks that an obstruction has been placed in the path of the upward
going glass, when in fact no obstruction seems to be there. If there were to be an actual
obstruction in the inner window/door cavity, the problem should occur all the time, not
just part of the time. Perhaps there is a faulty micro-processor of some kind that was
accidently built in to the motors by the supplier of them and if so, VW should go over
every conceivable electronic related possibility for the problem and fix it. We are not
talking brain surgery here, but something a team of VW engineers should have been
able to correct months ago.

[Babie]

I know someone who checked some on a lot, all he said ALL worked great and he said smooth and quiet.

So here, since I am holding the bag, I'll pass it on. As my grandma would say.

He was there looking at a GTI anyway.

[sonic_va]

I know someone who checked some on a lot, all he said ALL worked great and he said smooth and quiet.

So here, since I am holding the bag, I'll pass it on. As my grandma would say.

He was there looking at a GTI anyway.

Well, mine didn't act up right away either. It was not until about 1 month or 2 later when I started seeing the issue.

[Cadenza_7o]

It ain't over till the fat Beetle sings!!!

[katie78]

I still don't understand why they don't disable the auto up feature. No need for pinch protection if you have to manually hold the button to make the window go up. God forbid we have to engage our fingers for 30 whole seconds.

[katie78]

Mine went 4 months before all hell broke loose.

[ridgemanron]

Left the car at VW Service with the driver's window now not even working properly in
manual mode, much less auto 'pinch protector' mode. They've ordered me a new
'modular motor' and it should be installed within a day or so. Am hoping this motor is
from a batch of the latest ones made, for it is widely known that original ones are
not working properly when installed. If this doesn't correct the problem I will have my
mechanic check the switch itself for proper power distribution when activated. Don't know
why VW hasn't mentioned anything about the switch, only dealing with guide gears and
motors?

[ridgemanron]

If anyone can check this 2013 Turbo Beetle's Vin # 3VWV67AT2DM603036 and find out
if the following (2012 Beetles) window motors are the same...or a new number which would
give us hope that VW has addressed the window motor fiasco, it would be appreciated.

# 5C5-959-801-D-Z01
# 5C5-959-802-F-Z01

[LC6X]

I still don't understand why they don't disable the auto up feature. No need for pinch protection if you have to manually hold the button to make the window go up. God forbid we have to engage our fingers for 30 whole seconds.

I dont know about yours, but when I have been able to disable the auto up it then doesnt close after I shut the door, which living in Oregon is not a good thing.

[Babie]

If anyone can check this 2013 Turbo Beetle's Vin # 3VWV67AT2DM603036 and find out
if the following (2012 Beetles) window motors are the same...or a new number which would
give us hope that VW has addressed the window motor fiasco, it would be appreciated.

# 5C5-959-801-D-Z01
# 5C5-959-802-F-Z01

Ridge, get the vin of a 2013, go to the parts counter and ask for a new window motor. It has all changed what I was told. Whole new monkey.

PS go to a dealership that don't know you or just call one.

[Babie]

Mine went 4 months before all hell broke loose.

Betcha it had the "frijole motor" that get frihole'd