I just bought a 2000 Cabrio convertible. I think it still has the alarm and immobilizer that came with the car. Last week the driver side door lock stopped working, so I had to crawl in through the trunk. The car started, but the alarm went off every time I started the car. Fortunately, I have an extra key so I just open the trunk which makes the alarm go off (the trunk lock is still working). Initially the alarm went off every time the car was started.

A few days ago, I was driving with a friend. When he got out the passenger side, the alarm went off. Since then the alarms goes off every time the passenger side is opened and about 80% of the time when the car is started. The cylinder for the driver side door does not arrive until later this week, but I was OK with using the trunk workaround until then.

This morning though, I got in the car and the ignition cylinder will not turn. It budges a fraction of an inch, but not much. Three questions:

1) Is it possible for the immobilizer to cause the ignition switch to lock up?
2) Are there any ways to fix this issue (other than replacing the ignition cylinder?
3) Is there a phone number at VW where they can answer questions like this?

Thanks,

Brian

 

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The alarm siren is another issue.

You need to get your motor scanned (preferably with VAG-COM\VCDS) for any error codes logged in the ecu and post them, that will save a lot of guessing.

The immobilizer won't case the ignition switch to lock up, it will start for a second or two then stop and the immobilizer light will be on in the dash.

Faulty ignition switch is a common problem which you can Google.