Car engine started by itself when in park.

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Polly 123

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I recently purchased a 2012 VW passat automatic, all was going well until something strange happened today. I had parked in a car park to take a phonecall, put the car in park, turned off ignition but the key was still in the ignition. About 10 mins later the engine started up by itself, I didn't touch anything, my feet were not on any pedals, would anyone know what might cause this,? I haven't had an automatic prior to this but I don't imagine it's normal for this to happen. Any thoughts on the cause, thanks?
 
ClubMan said:
Could the Remote Start feature have kicked in here (perhaps erroneously?)?
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Thanks Clubman I wasn't aware of this feature, it looks like it requires pressing a few buttons at the same time, the keys were in the ignition but not shoved in fully that would light up the dashboard, unless just by chance I had pressed them in my pocket before leaving the house, it's something il be aware of going forward.
 
What's most likely is you put the gear selector in Park and the engine stop/start feature kicked in and shut the engine down rather than you fully switching it off via the ignition. After a while, the engine will always kick back in again to prevent over-draining the battery.
 
Leo said:
What's most likely is you put the gear selector in Park and the engine stop/start feature kicked in and shut the engine down rather than you fully switching it off via the ignition. After a while, the engine will always kick back in again to prevent over-draining the battery.
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Thanks Leo, that could possibly be it, that would make so much sense, something to keep an eye on going forward.
 
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Polly 123 said:
I recently purchased a 2012 VW passat automatic, all was going well until something strange happened today. I had parked in a car park to take a phonecall, put the car in park, turned off ignition but the key was still in the ignition. About 10 mins later the engine started up by itself, I didn't touch anything, my feet were not on any pedals, would anyone know what might cause this,? I haven't had an automatic prior to this but I don't imagine it's normal for this to happen. Any thoughts on the cause, thanks?
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I had a 2008 Passat. I bought it new. It was the most disappointing and boring car I ever owned. If it had started by itself it would have at least been interesting.
 
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Purple said:
I had a 2008 Passat. I bought it new. It was the most disappointing and boring car I ever owned. It is had started by itself it would have at least been interesting.
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I had a test drive that was too boring for me to buy the car
 
Its the stop start function, you probably didnt turn off the ignition, the auto stop happened as you touched the key
and you assumed ignition was off, after a period of time the car will restart to prevent the battery voltage from dropping too low.
 
Greasemonkey said:
Its the stop start function, you probably didnt turn off the ignition, the auto stop happened as you touched the key
and you assumed ignition was off, after a period of time the car will restart to prevent the battery voltage from dropping too low.
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I'd assume this. But I wouldn't rule out remote start either. Some cars have this, to preheat the cabin etc.
 
AlbacoreA said:
I'd assume this. But I wouldn't rule out remote start either. Some cars have this, to preheat the cabin etc.
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Very few 2012 Passats have it, but it requires 4 button presses to activate and only works when the car is locked.
 
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