Car clinic: My VW Polo's fuel display has disappeared, three weeks out of warranty
Your motoring problems solved
Q. A few days after the annual service the fuel display on my Volkswagen Polo’s digital dashboard disappeared. My car is just three weeks out of warranty but I have been told I need to pay £50 for a diagnostic check. Could the routine service work on the on-board computer be behind this sudden glitch?
GM, Perth, Perthshire
A. It is very unlikely that the service was the cause of your problem. The computer will sometimes be updated with the latest software during a routine service, but this is the exception rather than the rule. In general the computer is only “told” that the service has been done so that it can reset the service indicator.
In any case a problem would most likely be immediately apparent after the service rather than surfacing a few days later, so we’d advise you to go ahead with the diagnostic check.
If it does reveal an expensive fault, you can ask VW to consider contributing to the repair as a goodwill gesture since the car is so recently out of warranty and you have shown yourself to be a loyal customer by using the dealer for servicing.
TIM’LL FIX IT
Tim Shallcross used to train AA patrols to fix cars. Now headvises the Institute of Advanced Motoring
Search for and buy a used car on driving.co.uk
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