New locks for a Mark IV Golf

Red Crow

Some **** tried to break into my car last night and damaged both locks in the process and now the car can be opened with a screwdriver. Does anyone have a ball park figure for replacing the locks on the doors? I assume ill have to replace the ignition too becuase the keys won't match now.

Also was looking into getting a new immobiliser as I lost the main key for the car. It's a mark IV Golf.

I'm guessing 300+

Wibbs

Bloody scum. :mad: I truly hate these mouthbreathers and do everything I can to piss them off and shine a light on the cockroaches.

On the lock front, I'd reckon ringing around a few scrapyards would be your best and cheapest bet EM. I'd say you'd need a stiff drink before going to a main dealer.

On the immobiliser front, I'm not familiar enough with the car, but does the Mk 4 come with a built in factory one? Doesn't sound like it if you lost the key and it still drives.

At it's heart an immobiliser is a cut in a vital circuit in the car which renders it well... immobile. More than one cut is better. Third party alarms/immobilisers that only cut the starter (very common)might be fine for automatics*, but not so hot for manuals as the scum can just push start the car. They're also easy enough for the practiced scum to find in the dashboard wires. A fuel, ignition or engine management cut is much a better bet. Two separate cuts even better.

You can get immobiliser only type things that have a key fob that transmits a signal to the immobiliser "brain" in the car so it'll only start if the fob is present. Kinda like a less sophisticated aftermarket version of what newer cars have. Last time I looked they ran around the 150 quid mark.

Only problem with that is EM it wouldn't have prevented the scum attacking your locks like they did, so me personally I'd be looking at an alarm system that incorporates an immobiliser. That way they'll get a deterrent and you'll get alerted hopefully before too much damage is done. I had scum make an attempt on my car a few weeks ago. They got as far as looking in the window before all hell broke loose and they scuttled off back to their burrows.

Now you could go the whole hog and add things like proximity sensors which will bleep warnings if the scum get too close outside the car and go full alarm trigger if they stay lurking, but that's likely too much for most people and they take an awful lot of setting up to avoid false alarms(but it can be done. You'd swear my car was alive ).

Your basic alarm with immobiliser with door/boot/bonnet opening triggers with ultrasonic sensors(in case they break a window, but will also go ape if they try to pull back the door frame) should cover most bases. Most come with a shock sensor too, which when set up right will detect shíte like scum trying to bust your locks(IMH when the guys installing it ask him to cable tie the shock sensor to an underdash wiring loom. I found that much better than a hard surface).

Costs? From 150 to a grand or over with the high end Clifford/Viper** alarms. IMHO the make of alarm - so long as it's not some cheap ebay chinese crap - isn't the important bit, the quality of the install is. I'd much prefer a 150 quid alarm installed well by a guy who knows his stuff, than a 1000 quid bells and whistles Clifford thrown together by an amateur. How to tell the difference? Get someone who will put the alarm brain somewhere other than under the drivers dashboard like most fitters put it. Far too easy to find(passenger side, center console, under the seat carpets are other locations). Get them to fit the siren under a bumper or wing rather than under the bonnet in the engine bay like most do. If the alarm has a horn output get that hooked up. People will ignore car alarms, but car horns going get attention.

Ultimate cost if you don't go mad?:) About 200-300 quid.








* I reckon the starter cut became popular because the US alarm industry is the biggest and they tend to drive autos so... Plus if the circuit fails for any reason while driving the car won't cut out like it might with a fuel/ignition cut so less chance of lawsuits. IIRC the latter is illegal in the EU anyway. Never bothered me but YMMV

** Clifford, Viper, Python, Avital(and I think K9) are all made by a company called DEI. Often a Clifford X is the same as a Viper Y or Python Z, just with different packaging. They're all a good bet. Toad is another one very popular in the UK, also a good alarm.

TrailerBob

It cost €280 for one door handle and lock to be replaced on my landcruiser in a main dealer in January. I feel your pain on the break in. It's not a cheap fix.

George Dalton

Vw can supply replacement lock barrels pre-made to fit your existing key. They are approx €100 each IIRC.

Red Crow

George Dalton wrote: »

Vw can supply replacement lock barrels pre-made to fit your existing key. They are approx €100 each IIRC.

That would be much better. I think the passenger side is just knocked out of place because the key won't turn in it. But you can open the car from the drivers side with a screwdriver.

Hopefully I'll be able to go down to VW and get one for €100.

Thanks for the advice guys. Great help

George Dalton

They take a while to arrive after ordering as they have to come from Germany pre-made.

Red Crow

George Dalton wrote: »

They take a while to arrive after ordering as they have to come from Germany pre-made.

3-4 weeks?

George Dalton

Usually a week or so.

Chimaera

Regarding the immobiliser, it's built into the instrument cluster and it talks to the engine ECU. It identifies the key when you insert it and instructs the ECU to start the engine. The ECU and immobiliser are matched to each other using diagnostics.

Each key has a unique code embedded in an RFID chip in the key. The ignition barrel reads this code when you insert the key and sends it to the instrument cluster. If the code is on the list of recognised keys for the immobiliser, the car can be started with that key. If you've lost a key, you can get it deleted from the list on the immobiliser but it requires special tools (normal diagnostics can't do this).

There's a third party utility called Vag-Tacho that can do this. The official version costs about €300 but the ebay knockoffs work well enough for older cars.

On newer models (last 3-4 years IIRC), the system for authorising keys has been changed so that you must go to a dealer - they hook up to diagnostics and the car communicates directly with a VW server to authenticate the keys. No-one outside the factory has direct access to the codes necessary to do this.

discodavie

OP I'm breaking a 99 golf ATM and can sell you the few locks or a full set if ya like you can PM me