DISQUS

DC DAVE · 2 years ago

I was a VW service advisor for 3 years, and constantly reading VW Vortex -- perhaps your service advisor lacks initiative or the enthusiasm of dealing with VW's :)

I went thru 2 advisors during my stint and neither one of them took an active interest in the product.

Cizzle · 1 year ago

Thanks, buddy. Saved me a whole lotta time and trouble!

Brett Peters · 1 year ago

VW Vortex has been a far greater resource to me than any VW dealer I've visited, which is really too sad.

Michael Stephan · 1 year ago

VW PASSAT - STUCK IGNITION KEY???

This can be caused "accidentially" if the shifter is pushed into the "OVERDRIVE" slot. If the button on the shifter handle does not release when it is pushed into PARK, just moving the shifter into the overdrive slot "AGAIN" which should cause the button on the shifter to pop out as usual, and in turn, allow the ignition key to release.

blindsquirrel · 1 year ago

Michael, I can definitely see how that can happen, but in my case at least, I must have moved that shifter 100 times and it never made a difference. It wasn't until I hit that button a couple of times that it finally released.

What's interesting is that this happened a few times and has not happened since.

Michael Stephan · 1 year ago

This just happened to me in my Father-in Law's car! I moved the damn thing 20 feet, and in doing so, accidentially shifted into the overdrive gate, and took in right out. Then shifted into park but the button and key were stuck.

My Father-in-Law thought I broke something, and took the car out and drove it around with no luck. It wasn't until we wwere back out in the driveway, and I remembered the "accidental" overdrive shift. He repeated the shift into the overdrive gate, and then back to park and "voila" problem solved!

Tom · 3 months ago

Thanks for the the post. It helped me this morning!

robyn · 1 year ago

this post was a life saver... i thought i was gonna have to go to the dealership tomorrow and pay to have this crap fixed

cmhodgson · 1 year ago

I want to thank you for posting this information as it was extremely helpful. I own a 2006 and 2008 VW Passat and accidentally inserted the wrong key into the ignition. Using the information posted above I was able to release my key from the ignition. Thanks again, it was a true lifesaver!

Mary · 1 year ago

Thanks - that solved my stuck-key problem!!

Jim · 11 months ago

This fixed my problem too. Thank you very much!!! 10 below zero here and the wind chill is more like -30.

Lonnie · 11 months ago

This blog was very helpful, I'm in DC for the Inaugeral festivities and a tow truck just wasn't an option.

Larry · 9 months ago

Great, have this problem and this is the first site to come up... But you NEVER put in how to fix it and I can't find it in VWVORTEX.com anymore...

Can you just add HOW you fixed the problem?

Thanks.

blindsquirrel · 9 months ago

Larry, I did say how to fix it in the post. Put the car in park and press the shifted button a few times and the fob will release.

Sheri · 8 months ago

I tried it, but the buttin on my shitfter won't even let me push it. It is stuck, but thnx anyways it was worth a try.

Christi · 7 months ago

Awesome! Thank you! Saved me a lot of money!

rstuetzle · 5 months ago

My Passat is a 2006 and has no overdrive button. The key is stock and no mater how many times I presss the button on the side of the shifter, the key will not release.
Any new ideas?

Eddy Frost · 2 days ago

Brilliant - worked for me! Thanks.