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mattbward

Our VW Golf 2003 model has been into our mechanic twice because the key gets stuck in the ignition. After unsuccessfully getting it repaired a first time, we took it back. The second time they spent a further four hours trying to diagnose the problem and found the ignition cable was binding about every sixth time. They replaced the ignition cable, tested it and found everything OK. On getting home from the mechanic, once again the key wouldn't come out of the ignition. We've spent over $1000 trying to sort out this issue and we're not sure what to do. If replacing the ignition cable hasn't fixed the problem, what can we expect our mechanic to do to remedy this issue. Is it reasonable for him to expect payment for any further work or should we get a second opinion?

Anon

Hi there,
Intermittent problems can be very hard to diagnose and even harder to know if what you have done actually fixes the issue as it could take a while before it shows itself again. I recommend taking it back and letting them have another look, they might need to ask a VW agent for advice if they haven't already. Sometimes it can be the barrel and steering lock itself that can break and jam up.