Car wont start after disconneting battery

Call the tow truck and have the car hauled to the dealership to have some of the computers unlocked. VW was one of the first to design this trick into their cars so unsuspecting owners had to go to the dealer. There are people who will tell you this is not true, but there are way too many stories, going back to at least 2006, that involve simply disconnecting the battery to replace it. An entire industry has sprung up to address this problem. They make "memory saver" devices that plug into the cigarette lighter, but those only work on cars where the lighter works when the ignition switch is off. I use a small battery charger while the battery is disconnected, but I have to be very careful to not knock one of the cables off or allow them to short together.

Some national trainers have been telling us about some VW models that wont start or run, and some that do start but will stay at idle speed when the accelerator pedal is pressed, and not come out of "park". The cars have to be dragged, skidding, off the hoist, to the tow truck for the trip to the dealer. VW is also very selfish about divulging the software codes to the aftermarket industry, so independent shops do not have the equipment to unlock the computers. That may have changed in the last few years.

This trick is incorporated into a number of GM models now too as well as many other European models. GM has a lot of business practices that benefits GM, and this is one of them. In the future, do not disconnect the battery or allow it to run dead.