Hi all, hope we all had a good Xmas.

Got my car washed before xmas and drove it for the first time since the 24th today. Upon reversing, i get a message saying something along the lines of rear parking sensor - clean rear sensors with a ! next to one of the sensors on my screen.

I cleaned the sensors properly, but to no avail. I am led to believe that it got water ingress when it was being jet washed. Ive checked fuses etc and all seem OK. I have found a replacement sensor online through a link someone sent in this group (about £45) and it looks like a simple unplug, pop out and reverse jobby. What i dont know is how to actually get to it. Do i have to take the bumper off, or can i jack it up and give it the old reach around

Thanks in advance folks!

Annoyingly I’m about to have to replace my second reversing sensor. They must be made of toffee, as they only ever get touched with finest microfibres.

On 29/12/2025 at 09:08, KiloGr said:

Hi all, hope we all had a good Xmas.

Got my car washed before xmas and drove it for the first time since the 24th today. Upon reversing, i get a message saying something along the lines of rear parking sensor - clean rear sensors with a ! next to one of the sensors on my screen.

I cleaned the sensors properly, but to no avail. I am led to believe that it got water ingress when it was being jet washed. Ive checked fuses etc and all seem OK. I have found a replacement sensor online through a link someone sent in this group (about £45) and it looks like a simple unplug, pop out and reverse jobby. What i dont know is how to actually get to it. Do i have to take the bumper off, or can i jack it up and give it the old reach around

Thanks in advance folks!

Hi there. I'm facing this issue and need to replace one of my rear sensors. Did you ever manage to get info on how to actually get to it to swap it out?

Cheers!

1 hour ago, STEV0 said:

Hi there. I'm facing this issue and need to replace one of my rear sensors. Did you ever manage to get info on how to actually get to it to swap it out?

Cheers!

I ended up getting my local shop to do it for mex 1 hr labour so couldn't have been that hard haha

My guess is pop rear bumper off and unplug / plug in

17 hours ago, KiloGr said:

I ended up getting my local shop to do it for mex 1 hr labour so couldn't have been that hard haha

My guess is pop rear bumper off and unplug / plug in

Awesome thanks. Maybe I'll take mine in to a local shop if it's potentially a quick job.

One follow up question, how did you identify the dodgy sensor? Was it actually the one with the ! next to it? (I've learnt that it's not always wise to believe what the infotainment screen is telling me!)

Thanks again 👍🏻

4 minutes ago, STEV0 said:

Awesome thanks. Maybe I'll take mine in to a local shop if it's potentially a quick job.

One follow up question, how did you identify the dodgy sensor? Was it actually the one with the ! next to it? (I've learnt that it's not always wise to believe what the infotainment screen is telling me!)

Thanks again 👍🏻

Hey mate

Believe it or not, the ! One was actually the dodgy one!!

First and only time infotainment has been accurate haha

Here is a link to the sensor I purchased which is paint matched to my colour pretty perfectly:

https://ebay.io/m/ZESlsj

22 minutes ago, KiloGr said:

Hey mate

Believe it or not, the ! One was actually the dodgy one!!

First and only time infotainment has been accurate haha

Here is a link to the sensor I purchased which is paint matched to my colour pretty perfectly:

https://ebay.io/m/ZESlsj

Excellent thanks 👍🏻

Been living without the rear sensors for a while, but finally getting around to doing something about it!

I've read many times that you can easily work out which one is faulty - by listening to them - that has never ever worked for me over a total of 6 VAG cars!

VCDS does let you know which one has failed, as will a few other VAG compliant scan tools.

So, has anyone successfully managed to find the faulty one by listening to them while they are operating? Second "detection" option is by feel, ie finger tip - again, doesn't work for me annoyingly!

6 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

I've read many times that you can easily work out which one is faulty - by listening to them - that has never ever worked for me over a total of 6 VAG cars!

VCDS does let you know which one has failed, as will a few other VAG compliant scan tools.

So, has anyone successfully managed to find the faulty one by listening to them while they are operating? Second "detection" option is by feel, ie finger tip - again, doesn't work for me annoyingly!

I've tried listening to them, feeling them... Never been able to hear of feel anything, even on my front sensors which I know are all working correctly...

9 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I've read many times that you can easily work out which one is faulty - by listening to them - that has never ever worked for me over a total of 6 VAG cars!

VCDS does let you know which one has failed, as will a few other VAG compliant scan tools.

So, has anyone successfully managed to find the faulty one by listening to them while they are operating? Second "detection" option is by feel, ie finger tip - again, doesn't work for me annoyingly!

on my mk 4 you can tell which sensor it is as the sound in car plays from the relevant speaker, so if it's back left that's where the sound comes from in the car etc. Mind that may only narrow it down to two sensors, not one, I'm unsure