[Barb]

My husband replaced the battery on our daughter's beetle and now the car will not run. Apparently now, neither of the keys we have is "known" to the car's computer. After doing a little research, we found that we need to know the car's SKC (secret key code) in order to reprogram the key. We purchased the car used about 8 years ago and do not have the SKC. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[pearlgolf]

If the car doesn't start it's not the immobilizer. Try leaving the car on for a half hour and see if it goes away. The battery shouldn't cause the keys to go away.

 

[Barb]

2000 New Beetle

Well, actually the car starts but it turns off after a second or two. I tried putting the key in the ignition in the oO position for 10 minutes but I am afraid to leave it in for longer for fear of draining the new battery (since the exterior lights automatically come on when the key is in the ignition).

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Make sure the parking brake is on, the DRL should not be on and put a trickle charger on it. Just to show you that it does work, see this post: http://www.myturbodiesel.com/forum/f5/immobilizer-problem-3060/ for some reason just leaving the car on for 20 minutes, maybe up to a few hours lets it reset.

Replacing the battery shouldn't cause this problem so the fix may be as random - leave the car on and try to wait and see if it resets. It often goes away as if it never happened. If you still want to find the SKC you still need to buy a VCDS cable to use the SKC number.