Has anyone attempted to drive these cars that are supposedly bricked?
I think the point is that in a partly fixed state, they are not legal. The service rep repeated that they are not allowed to drive the car, and have to push it in and out of the service bay.
I did stop by today to give it a try.
first, noted that the battery was at 11.5 volts, and tires at 25 psi. (left rear anyway.)
I used a jump box to start the car, and verified that indeed, it would go into gear and move forwards and back.
ran the car, for a half hour to charge the battery some, and took some time to lube the door and hood latches and hinges. made sure the hvac direction controls still operate. (some were sticking a bit at first from sitting)
hooked up the VCDS and saw that the measured soot is 0, but the calculated soot is close to 15 grams.
and the oil ash reads around 129.
so at this point, they have not operated the ECU functions to reset for a new DPF.
I noted a missing screw in the bottom engine cover. ( I snapped two of them at last oil change, from the loctite that comes on replacement screws bonding to the AL subframe, but the middle one was there doing its job.)
Service rep said they would replace the screws (as good as they were when the car was dropped off), offering they may have stopped and parked the car mid-fix.
He also said he would comp a new VA inspection, since it has been there so long the inspection expired.
Also heard back from the lawyer. She said that VW said it could be another week or perhaps more.
