hi guys, been through the usual rigmarole of searching the forums to no avail, i have a problem with my vrs it appears to not want to get out of bed in a morning when its frosty and cold outside!

3times now ONLY when the weather has been sub zero has the car refused to start until the 5th or so time of trying and i do mean refused... here's whats happening, see if you can figure it out.

get in car, key in ignition, radio on too loud, turn it down..

turn key so all the lights come on, turn to start the car....nothing, not even a click from the starter motor yet all the electronics are fine.

turn key back, try again, nothing etc etc, finally swear at car, take key out, back in and car fires up straight away without sounding rough or making any unusual noises!!! EH?!?!

is my car just lazy on a cold day or is there a real reason for the fault/character flaw?

(please bear in mind it works totally fine, starts normally when weather is a not sub zero and does not read any fault on the ecu)

Starter motor faults are the usual cause and its common to have issues with them on the 1.8T.

They also have a habbit of "hanging on" for a moment once the engine is started.

Time to get the starter motor changed.

Mine has the habit of "hanging on" for a moment once the engine has been started, I just thought it was normal.

Mine has been hanging on after starting for the last 2 years when cold.

However these last few days it's been perfect - hopefully not a sign of impending failure.

i think mine has been doing this hanging on, do you mean where it whirrs or grates just after it fires up? the noise is like you try starting it after its already running??

also worth noting it starts fine if the weather is normal. wouldnt the starter motor just sound knackered if it were on its way out? when i turn the key its not even trying? thought it could be an immobiliser prob

Mine has the habit of "hanging on" for a moment once the engine has been started, I just thought it was normal.

I think I have the same issue too, does it make a sort of whooshing sound after started?

Welcome to the Club; mine also does that short sound after ignition... but it does so for more than a year so I do not suspect any failure in progress...

Not certain guys, but I think the "hanging on" thing is the starter solonoid not releasing as fast as it should.