Recently I had to replace the battery on my 96 Jetta. When I got the new battery hooked up, my radio would not work. I Learned that there is some sort of code that will unlock my radio. I bought the car used and I don’t have the original owners manual. I was told by several dealerships that the only way to regain my radio is to bring the car into a volkswagon dealership, where the radio can be removed from the car and “unlocked”. The charge for this is $45.00! Is there any other reasonable way to get my radio ( and NPR) back?
Probably not. Most O.E.M. radios have to be unlocked by the dealership shop. Maybe there is someone here that owns a Jetta, had the same experience and can share how to get it unlocked.
Goooooooooogle Jetta radio unlock. Maybe you will get lucky
If you don’t have the code, you don’t have much choice. $45 is cheap. I’ve heard of dealers charging much more for this.
The code is a 4 or 5-digit number you enter through the radio preset buttons. In my opinion you should get the code when you purchase the car, but that’s not always the case. Why should you have to PAY for access to something you already own?
unless you want to have a new one installed. thats the cheapest way to go… but ask the VW dealership for the code while your’e there.
You should be able to do what I have done on Honda’s which have this fabulous “security” feature. Get the serial number from the side, or back, of the radio (CD player, whatever), and call several Toyota service departments and ask for the security code. They (the service department people) won’t LIKE, but, one of them will give you the code over the 'phone. If they won’t (the old game of trying to get some money out of you) call Toyota of America regional representative. Be firm and persistent. They, Toyota, Honda, et.al., created this Frankenstein monster.
45 is reasonable and maybe they can tell you the code if there is one. You don’t want NPR. Car talk is on it.
One of the teenagers in the neighborhood knows how to pull the radio out and write down the serial number. Five or ten dollars should do it. Then, call the Toyota dealer service departments.