[200q20v] 1989 audi 200 Stereo reset

[Brett Dikeman]

On Sun, 18 Mar 2001, omllenado wrote:

> After a successful alternator transplant, thanks to you guys, there
> goes my stereo is in safe mode .The security code written on the manual
> is bogus... so after 3 attempts = lock.
> can I  reset it without bringing it to the dealer?, (dealer fright!),
> and a supplier for coolant here in colorado.

In regards to your question, http://brettd.dsl.speakeasy.net/cgi-bin/fom

Navigate to:

Electricals : "Can I/you/anybody reset my radio?"


Dealers are just like mechanics.  There are good dealers, and there are
bad dealers.  Let's please quit the "dealer bashing" which has been
getting a little out of hand here; among other things, I know several 
enthusiasts on this list and the main list, who are dealer employees, and
I'm sure they don't appreciate it.

  If you have a reason for your comments, fine...but if you don't, then I
believe that's what the legal community calls slander.

  I don't feel this way just about dealer comments.  I also feel the same
way about vendor comments.  Nothing pisses me off more than to see
someone bitch, whine and moan about how there's a problem with part XYZ,
but lo and behold, it's discovered they haven't even bothered to pick up
the phone and call the company.

That is NOT to say that I'm trying to censor opinions; rather, I simply
want comments to have some basis in reality...

If you're wondering why, in general, dealer service is in the can(or
was; it's improving, from what I can tell), then the details of a
conversation I had with the owner of a high-level Porsche/Audi dealer in
the boston area might be very enlightening.

Basically, he laid it out right away; Audi sales were in the shitter, and
that means no money, and no need for, say, several factory
representatives(ie, the guys who come to the dealer when a customer is
complaining, looks at the car, etc.)  So, they laid off a lot of
customer service type people, and if the dealer was doing crappy 
servicing, there wasn't much Audi could do about it.

Now, with the incredible boom, recent problems are that the remaining guys
are overloaded; Audi is trying to hire more people to meet demand, but
sales have far outpaced hirings.  As a result, Audi actually capped last
year's sales(or they were going to.)  It might be this year, I can't
remember.

The point is that I think AoA has always been aware of a problem...there's
just been no money to deal with it; now, there's money, but no people.  As
a dealer friend said to me, "I don't think anybody realizes just how close
Volkswagon and Audi came to pulling out of the US entirely a few years
back."

Brett