Immobiliser urgent help needed!

[Mk1Macca]

Long story short:

The blade of my key has snapped cleanly where it would normally enter the fob.

As I'm 3 days over a years ownership VW have basically wished me luck.

Tried to start the car with the blade and a pair of pliers with the fob held next to the steering column. Car didn't turn and now displays SAFE in the MFD which I guess is the immobiliser.

The tech at the garage has no clue what to suggest and isn't even certain that the spare will now start the car.

Stuck an hour away from home

How do I reset the immobiliser to try again?

[C2K]

Edit: Have you got a pic of the fault message? Been scouring the manual online for a while (boring meeting lol) and don't see anything like the error message you infer? Can't understand why it wouldn't work with the fob nearby.

[Mk1Macca]

So, I think SAFE actually refers to the steering lock. No idea why the car wouldn't turn over, however, after taking the steering lock off, I managed to get it started.

Hopefully, I can get it started again when I need to go home later this afternoon and will gaffer tape the fob to the steering column.

It's safe to say i'll never buy another car from that dealership, which is a shame as I'd had a pretty good experience so far.

Other dealers close to Peterborough, give me a shout. I'll be looking to buy two brand new cars in a couple of years.

[C2K]

Ah so it was the steering lock after all then, i felt stupid for suggesting it but glad you're going.

[monsta]

Aren't we covered by a 2 year warranty?  Doesn't this key malfunction get covered? 

[Mark V GTD]

The car has a three year warranty from date of first registration - cant believe they fobbed you off (no pun intended)!

[Mk1Macca]

They, in not so many words, said it wasn't their problem. I can bring the key in, which they will then photo and send off to see if a replacement would be covered under warranty. The underlying assumption that I broke the key through misuse was noted.

The fact that I was nearly an hours drive to my spare didn't seem to be an issue.

The tech finally offered me a loaner car, but couldn't deliver it to me. So essentially, I had to make my own way to the dealership (which is only 10 mins from my house, where the spare is), where I could pick up a loaner car to drive back to my car with the spare key. I tried to point out the obvious floor in this plan...

I really appreciated the almost sympathetic on condescending way I was asked 'do you have any personal breakdown cover?'.

[corgi]

The blade of my key has snapped cleanly where it would normally enter the fob.

Are you sure it snapped? There appears to be a small screw that attaches the blade part ofthe key to the rest of the fob. Are you sure that the screw hasn't come out?

[Mark V GTD]

Good point re key construction - and getting some form of breakdown cover is a good idea too after the (mean) first year - the car is bound to suffer an issue on day 366 of ownership otherwise.... 

[Mk1Macca]

Yup, it snapped.