Door Lock Modules OEM vs aftermarket

So my wife's wagon needs 3 door lock modules, front passenger and both rear doors. I have been putting off the task for a year and have actually been dreading the job. I only want to be inside each door once. Which door lock modules should I buy OEM VW or aftermarket. It's about half price for aftermarket. I will be buying them from a vendor here...

Also, do I need to reprogram them or is the programming stored elsewhere?

Thanks

I certainly wouldn't be looking to put a non-OEM in the driver's door. As for the other doors, I dunno, it's a crap-shoot- even if doors aren't used that much it's possible that some other lower-qualityness of the unit could get stupid.

I don't like doing this work. It takes a bit of time. I'd weigh the labor costs/time against any "savings" from non-OEM.

I buy my modules from German Auto Supply:

https://www.germanautosupply.com/store/volkswagen-vw/door-latch-assembly.html

Looks like they don't carry any for the rears. Seeing as I have a rear one flaking out on my car (original) I'm going to have to be doing some research.

I put in a "non-OEM" and regretted it. It looked just like OEM but did not act properly. Stick with OEM.

It's hard to know which alternatives are any good sometimes. I found a supplier over here in the UK and the modules are so far perfect.
But on the other side I've never had any problems with oem when fixing other people's cars. I don't mind testing on my own car though.
I'd say basically it's up to you whether or not you'd like to risk it. Personally it only takes me 20 minutes or so to replace one, I find it fairly easy but if you're having to pay someone else to do the work or find it awkward etc then you're probably best just go oem. At least it''s proven to be reliable.

I've heard bad about the common aftermarkets and eBay one. Quick failure. Fixmyvw does have them on clearance right now. They might have all you need for a good price.


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I would rather fix them and save money and retain the OEM door lock module.

The OEM replacements have some improvements over the originals. Of course, it is tough to say in the long run if they are really going to be better or not. And when I say improvements, I mean even beyond just the "quieter" actuators that they started using around 2002.

I used a pair (both left sides) from an aftermarket supplier in a car I was refurbishing for resale. They were incredibly inexpensive in comparison, and I was not really wanting to experiment on a customer's car. I installed them in this Jetta, and they worked fine during my tenure of the car while I completed the rest of its makeover. I sold the car to someone I know who already has an older Jetta and a Sprinter so I get to see the car still for regular service. It is still working OK so far and it has been a couple years.

I am not a big fan of doing that type of thing, but at least these parts are not a "critical" item if something fails. And I did disclose everything I did to this car, including these cheap door latches, to the new owner. I think they were $40 apiece instead of $160 or whatever Volkswagen gets for them.

If you are handy and you want to you can try and repair the ones you have. It is *usually* just a bad solder joint somewhere, or a bad microswitch. But not always. If you are doing it yourself, and the labor to R&R them is your time, then whatever value you place upon your time can determine the best course of action for you.

My Golf had 3 of the 4 bad when I got it, and I bucked up and put all new OEM ones from Volkswagen in there, along with new regulators, one at a time, starting with the driver's door (the most necessary, IMHO).

As far as being only 20 minutes to replace, would that also be for the rears? (I've heard these are more of a bear.) First time doing this it isn't going to be done in only 20 minutes.

oilhammer, I have to disagree that there isn't any risk from failing modules. How many people get locked out of their cars due to a misbehaving module? Yes, one ought not leave a key laying inside the car (and close the doors): my wife just learned this lesson (set purse inside car and closed the door to pursue a runaway tomato)- I had to go rescue her. Also, if you don't monitor for proper locking you may end up leaving a door unlocked, do any valuable could be fairly accessible (alarm may sound, but with so many alarms on cars going off all the time people tend to ignore them).

The later versions of the modules use a different mechanism for the door latching. Early versions would wear a groove in a cam and the plungers wouldn't activate because they would no longer get pushed due to the grooved out cam.

Another option is to have your modules refurbished. There's a company in Idaho (don't recall it's name- they do LOTs of different car module rebuilds) and they give a pretty good guarantee on their work: it's cheaper, but not by a lot.

I have a new, OEM, lock module for my left front, but I opted to leave the old one in place and bypassed the micro switch per a mod I found here recently. I did this just last month. It involves using a conventional momentary switch that is closed until the button is pressed in, and a separarate ground wire is spliced into the existing ground wire for the puddle light on the door. The switch opens and closes this ground connection. So far it has worked like a charm. The switch is mounted just above the fuse panel.
In other words I created a separate chasis ground using the existing torx bolt behind the fuse panel. I can go into more detail if anybody wants to PM me.

UhOh said:

As far as being only 20 minutes to replace, would that also be for the rears? (I've heard these are more of a bear.) First time doing this it isn't going to be done in only 20 minutes.

oilhammer, I have to disagree that there isn't any risk from failing modules. How many people get locked out of their cars due to a misbehaving module? .

Click to expand...

Yeah, that happens I am sure a lot, and random alarms going off, and dead batteries (remember, I work on these every day ).

What I meant by risk was something more like using a poor quality timing belt that can destroy the engine if it fails, or some off brand pressure plate and clutch that spontaneously explode and send chunks through the transmission case, or a crappy fan that uses a plastic blade that cannot stand up to the heat of the environment in which it needs to operate so the hub melts and it comes off and chops a round hole in the radiator.

A phone call to get a ride to go get your other key seems like much less of a risk than any of those above mentioned items, all of which I have personally seen many, many times.

UhOh said:

As far as being only 20 minutes to replace, would that also be for the rears? (I've heard these are more of a bear.) First time doing this it isn't going to be done in only 20 minutes

Click to expand...

The rears are also very straight forward once you figure them out, no more hassle than the fronts. You can just push the window clip piece straight I and collect it later once the doors stripped.

Seatman said:

The rears are also very straight forward once you figure them out, no more hassle than the fronts. You can just push the window clip piece straight I and collect it later once the doors stripped.

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Seatman,

There's 2 sorta plastic rivets holding a plastic brace inside the regulator that goes to the latch.
Do you push the pins in to release the brace so you can get the regulator out first or do you pull the regulator out with the latch attached?

If so, how do you get the brace back in the 2 holes when you reassemble?

TIA
Rich W.

That was what I asked about.
Had a BEAR of a time going back together.

The non OEM door lock I got worked OK for 2 or so years.

Now I have to use the key to lock & unlock the drivers door.
Remote will lock and unlock the other 3 doors.
Alarm won't beep (it does set) with the remote.

Haven't scanned to see which switch is not working right.

I think the lock module comes out along with the carrier. Otherwise, you will have a difficult time releasing the wiring harness from the lock module. The window would have to be removed to make room for the whole assembly. There are u-tube videos that demonstrate this procedure. I have never had to pull a rear lock module, but recently I was inside the left rear door to replace the two part pin that attaches the window to the carrier. In this case I did pop out the three rivets to the lock module.