Speakers randomly stopped working

[michaelm713]

Hi all. New forum user and new owner of an MK8 1.5eTSI in Style config here in the UK.

I had opted for the upgraded Harman Kardon speaker system in my car and yesterday after I started the car I noticed only the middle front speaker was working. Thought it was CarPlay as there was an update for the phone but the same issue in the radio. Checked the sound focus screen and indeed if I moved the focus to the back seats there was no sound.

Pulled over, restarted the car and same issue again. However after I got home and left the car for a bit, it then worked fine.

Has anyone else seen this?

I already had two trips to the dealer by now. The first night I drove the car home there was a massive rattle from the dashboard within a few minutes of driving it away... then on the same night I got a warning about the mild hybrid battery having low charge. Turns out the 48V mild hybrid battery was flat and since that is charging the 12V battery...it could have been bad.

Then a week later I got all the usual traffic assist errors that others have recorded here.

Dealer did some specific software updates but apparently they wait for the customer to raise issues before they check as then they can raise a warranty claim to VW! Better start a log of all the issues then and mail them in.

Love the car and drives beautifuly but it’s a bit like an advent calendar...a new surprise everyday!!!

The last thing the service person said to me was that these days all cars come back to us after a few days for these issues. This has not been my experience with other manufacturers and totally put me off VW. My 2018 Leon FR which I part exchanged was far more reliable. And so has my 2018 Honda Civic.

[johnsimcox]

Hi all. New forum user and new owner of an MK8 1.5eTSI in Style config here in the UK.

I had opted for the upgraded Harman Kardon speaker system in my car and yesterday after I started the car I noticed only the middle front speaker was working. Thought it was CarPlay as there was an update for the phone but the same issue in the radio. Checked the sound focus screen and indeed if I moved the focus to the back seats there was no sound.

Pulled over, restarted the car and same issue again. However after I got home and left the car for a bit, it then worked fine.

Has anyone else seen this?

I already had two trips to the dealer by now. The first night I drove the car home there was a massive rattle from the dashboard within a few minutes of driving it away... then on the same night I got a warning about the mild hybrid battery having low charge. Turns out the 48V mild hybrid battery was flat and since that is charging the 12V battery...it could have been bad.

Then a week later I got all the usual traffic assist errors that others have recorded here.

Dealer did some specific software updates but apparently they wait for the customer to raise issues before they check as then they can raise a warranty claim to VW! Better start a log of all the issues then and mail them in.

Love the car and drives beautifuly but it’s a bit like an advent calendar...a new surprise everyday!!!

The last thing the service person said to me was that these days all cars come back to us after a few days for these issues. This has not been my experience with other manufacturers and totally put me off VW. My 2018 Leon FR which I part exchanged was far more reliable. And so has my 2018 Honda Civic.
Are you certain both batteries are now fully charged? Modern cars seem to be increasingly sensitive to battery condition and as a result if they detect the battery is outside specified parameteres it starts to shut non-essential things down. It may be that it decided driving all the amps for the sound system was non-essential and switched off the ones dealing with the rear speakers

[michaelm713]

Are you certain both batteries are now fully charged? Modern cars seem to be increasingly sensitive to battery condition and as a result if they detect the battery is outside specified parameteres it starts to shut non-essential things down. It may be that it decided driving all the amps for the sound system was non-essential and switched off the ones dealing with the rear speakers
Hi and thanks for your reply - well after my first return back to the dealer to deal with the battery issue, he assured me both batteries were recharged. The mild hybrid battery was down to 35% and VW technical told them to basically discharge both batteries and then charge them up again - since then no warnings to me. Since i had to take the car back the following week for the Traffic Assist errors, i asked them to check the batteries again as i had the same suspicion as you and so did they. They confirmed that the batteries are charged and i do travel around 100miles per week so plenty of time/distance to recharge.

I am waiting on my new OBDEleven dongle to arrive as i changed phones and moved to iPhone recently and the old one i had does not work with iOS. Once it arrives i will be able to check the charge levels and other diagnostics. However, the first week i had the car and my old Android phone, OBDEleven was telling me all sorts of errors but the majority were passive and VW technician dismissed them as 'they were known to VW and not seen as critical'.

I am still a bit perplexed by the policy of ' we are not willing to spend the time updating software on a brand new vehicle even if we know about the issues unless the customer raises it' Then they can recharge VW for the time as a warranty claim. In the meantime we are all driving a car that we paid extra for safety features that deactivating at random....What a way to be!!!

[Crasher]

VW technical told them to basically discharge both batteries and then charge them up again

The oldest computer trick in the book, turn it of and turn it back on again. The thing is, when a self driving car is doing its thing, the drivers had nodded off due to boredom and it suffers a software failure such as not steering in the right direction or the electrically operated brakes stop working, what are you going to do? You can't do a power off reset at 70mph... Incidentally an new 48v battery is £934.46

[johnsimcox]

I am still a bit perplexed by the policy of ' we are not willing to spend the time updating software on a brand new vehicle even if we know about the issues unless the customer raises it'
Car manufacturers and their dealer tend to follow the "if it is not broken then don't fix it policy" and it is only broken when the customer can show them it is broken or they are forced to do a recall because it is serious and they cannot wait until the customer encounters the issue

[michaelm713]

T Incidentally an new 48v battery is £934.46

Wow - thanks for that info - i better watch this space carefully in case we need to replace it. However based on issues to date, i cant see myself heading back to VW anytime soon. Shame as i liked the look of the Arteon Shooting Brake and was even considering getting the powerful Diesel version as the last Hoorah before the all electric options and give time to the UK network to build up some chargers!

[michaelm713]

Car manufacturers and their dealer tend to follow the "if it is not broken then don't fix it policy" and it is only broken when the customer can show them it is broken or they are forced to do a recall because it is serious and they cannot wait until the customer encounters the issue

Indeed but not the greatest fun when the dealership is 30 miles away....i now started creating a log and will just go in and capture them all in one go!

[Crasher]

This electric car thing, I can't see it happening, the governments approach is completely inadequate but if it does, my plan is to by an Arteon Shooting Break before they stop making them in petrol full fat R form, modify the thing as far and as obnoixlsy as legally possible and drive it till I no longer can, I refuse to be forced into buying something I don't want; if they are so good let the market decide, don't force us. Just thinking, if the average EV battery weighs circa 500Kg and by around 2040 ish there could be 2 million old electric cars being scrapped per year, what are we going to do with roughly a Billion kilograms of virtually unrecyclable explosion prone batteries; per year? ‘Zombie batteries’ causing hundreds of waste fires, experts warn | Waste | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/26/zombie-batteries-causing-hundreds-of-waste-fires-experts-warn)

[jmagee]

Wow - thanks for that info - i better watch this space carefully in case we need to replace it. However based on issues to date, i cant see myself heading back to VW anytime soon. Shame as i liked the look of the Arteon Shooting Brake and was even considering getting the powerful Diesel version as the last Hoorah before the all electric options and give time to the UK network to build up some chargers!I like the arteon shooting brake too. Shame you can't put roof bars on it. I've just ordered a new Octavia vRS instead [emoji16] went petrol too. Can't wait to get it.

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[michaelm713]

I like the arteon shooting brake too. Shame you can't put roof bars on it. I've just ordered a new Octavia vRS instead [emoji16] went petrol too. Can't wait to get it.

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Why can’t you not put roofing bars on? Is this not an option? Any why petrol out of curiosity?

I am also considering the Skoda Superb as well but it will be our family car so can’t be anything too wild!

We tend to go for at least two or three cottage holidays a year and we are planning a European road trip in the next few years hence why I am thinking estate and diesel.

[jmagee]

Shooting brake doesn't have rails for the bars. Certainly at the minute no one has made any to fit.

I went petrol for a few reasons. The 4wd diesel that I was tempted to get would've taken 6 months to order, this was in the country ready to go. Even with a trip to Europe I don't go diesel mileage about 12000 a year.

Also conscious of the diesel Vs petrol argument.

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