2012 JSW key not in range no start problem

Bear with me as I am trying to help a friend.

2012 JSW manual trans....after a night of work (she is a nurse that does a 12 hour night shift) the Jetta wouldn't start - "key not in range" so she got a lift home and returned with the other key fob - same gig - no workie.

Local to her - Kerrville TX shop says it is prob a "steering column module" to the tune of about $3k.

Car was purchased used a few months ago from the original owner - I met him, and he said he had a similar issue but that the local (to him) VW Dealer ( College Station TX) fixed the problem before he put the car up for sale.

Suggestions?

Have a great July 4th!

When my car was delivered we were told to hold the key up to the column if we ever found ourselves in that situation

Look here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HycztXefMVw

That has been tried with both fobs, car does not recognise the keys.

I sent her that link and apparently VW was gracious enough to print it in the owners manual.

This issue is somewhat typical for VW - ignition switch problems go back to the early 1970s......one would think they'd get it right in 40 years.

Waiting until VW can figure out what the issue is early next week.

The latest is the dealer in San Antonio (northpark) says that the customer should shell out $700.00+ for a new instrument cluster & key coding to see if that is the problem and then "see" if there are other components that may have failed as well.

This must be the current (sop) method of troubleshooting for VW techs - instead of actually solving the problem they treat the symptom with the hope that the problem will either "go away" or resolve itself.

Modern VW quality? If only they built cars as sturdy as their check engine light LED's - those LED's never burn out and are almost always lit!

I had this same problem with my '12. The dealer changed out the instrument cluster and it fixed our problem. Ours was under warranty.

Happened to me once. I disconnected the -battery terminal for 30 seconds and reconnected it. Everything went back to normal. Try it!

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=424636

Hi there, first time posting. Proud owner of a 'new' 2014 GSW Tdi. This morning it dropped to -10 and when I tried turning on the ignition, it would say key not in range. I used my spare and even the valet and it still wouldn't work at all. Tried disconnecting the battery, walked away and came back 10 minutes later and it still wouldn't work.

So I called VW and they were sending a tow to go to the dealer. Since I had nothing to loose, I left the key in the ignition and let it stay there for 10 minutes. Guess what, it worked and just as the tow truck was about to arrive. I'm not sure what 'fixed' it, but I haven't had the problem again all day. Let's hope it doesn't happen again. Just try leaving it in the ignition until the car re-recognizes it.

These key fobs still on their original batteries?

First thing I thing I did when I bought my '14s (in sig) is changing out the key fob batteries in all 4.

Haven't had an issue yet, and both vehicles are some form of keyless ignition.