Rear window went down by itself and at first would come up halfway and then go back down automatically. I tried hitting the switch intermittently and it went up, up, up and then made a clicking sound and went back down. Now it is stuck down but the motor runs when the switch is pushed.
This is a convertible and a manual tranmission.
Sounds like one of the switches for that window is stuck in the “DOWN” position.
No, it sounds like the little cord or cords that pull the window up and down have broken or become detached. The usual cure is to replace the window regulator.
Actually sounds to me like it may be a little of both - multiple interacting systems failure.
Either way, the door panel as to come off and someone needs to look at it who knows how to use an electrical meter & trouleshoot circuits.
I think that inspection will show that the regulator is broken. The regulator and motor can be replaced together for less than $100 of you do the work yourself. Then check the switch. Sure, the switch is cheapest, but if the regulator is broken, a new switch is of little use.
The fact that you can hear the motor running, and probably some other crunchy grindey noises, says that it’s definitely the regulator that has died. I see lots of front ones on ebay, but no rears. You might try contacting one of the sellers of front ones to see if they have rear ones too. These are probably Chinese built. If you don’t like that sort of thing, I’m sorry. The only Chinese one I ever bought that gave me any problems was for an automatic window on a Buick. Apparently they forgot to tell it how to quit going down when it got to the bottom so two of them stripped their gears before I gave up and got an original one from http://www.car-part.com .
Thanks. I ended up taking it to the VW dealer and they fixed it. It was the rear window regulator. We complained a bit so they called headquarters who actually offered to pay for half. Not pleased that it broke and don’t even get me started about Chinese made stuff. But am satisfied that VW did acknowledge some responsibility.
Why did you spend all that money, even if it were only half. A dry cleaner back and some duct tape is all it really needed. ?