On Monday I bought my first 6n2, an X reg SDi with a few niggles. I didn't know much about polos, having only had a 9n TDi for a little while.

One of the problems with this one was that the windows didn't work. I knew they were a common problem, and thought nothing of it, expecting to be able to pick up some switches for a couple of quid from a scrap yard. I was pretty shocked when I started looking at prices, and people were asking £40, £50, even £75!

So I decided to take apart the switch, and see if I could fix it. When I popped the switches out I discovered that the previous owner must have had the same idea, as the internals of the switches were completely missing! They had also damaged the bezel getting it out :(

I had a look around work and found some toggle switches with the right Momentary-off-momentary configuration,

(these are similar, the ones I used had a black rocker switch cap which I cut down to fit inside the white inner housing of the original switch)

and was about to fit them to a plate and screw the plate into the door, when I had an idea, What if I could fit them inside the original switch casing?

This is the result after a little plastic cutting, soldering and a bit of epoxy:

The switches are £17+vat from the dealer and you'd retain the one touch down function the the original switches had, plus the backlighting

Nice handy man work.

If the internals were all in tact you could have repaired them for £0 for if you ever need to so another set in the future

2 x £17 + VAT that I don't have right now.

The internals were missing completely, there was only the rocker and the loom, nothing in between.

This cost me nothing as the parts were given to me, as was the epoxy, and I did it when quiet at work. Having a job in an electronics repairers is handy sometimes!

If I get bored I may drill the epoxy, fit an LED into it, and connect the lighting pins up

I know it looks like crap, but it works, and will do until I can afford a nice new switch and bezel.

I quite like the repair. Certainly more robust that the original offering and will outlast the remaining life of the car.

For reference only:

http://www.matt-thornton.net/blog/vw-polo-...s-refurbishment

PoloD.

It also helps that my car is a sluggish oil burner with more dents than a golf ball. Pretty isn't the name of the game here. For me it's just about keeping the car working and safe for as little outlay as possible.

When I leave university I'll get a shiny mk1 polo or golf GTi, and make it a beautiful example, as close to standard and original as I can get it, but right now I just need to get about, preferably in a VW.