My mum has a Volkwagen Polo and ABS light won't go off and have had it tested and told it is ABS pump. What can I do?

I feel bad for you kid and its nice you want to help you mum, but you and her are going to have to save your pence and go with the VW repair shop, good luck kid....

You are perfectly safe to drive the car without ABS. It means Anti-Lock- Brakes. Your mums brakes will work just fine. In an emergency stop the brakes will lock and skid but half the cars on the road don't have ABS anyway. No worries. Relax.

Thank you for your reply. My mum is driving it. She rarely speeds, and I also occasionally drive her car, but am a very careful driver (touch wood). Thing is though, we have been told by a local garage that it will fail the MOT if it (the ABS pump) is not working. Now, my mum's MOT is not until next year, but does this mean eventually it will have to be done or are you implying there would be a way to take the ABS system out? To dispense with it?

To joemum. If it comes to it that it does definately need fixing then the next hurdle is WHO can fix it? is the ONLY solution VW dealers who charge a LOT of money or are there other options?

I understand that you were addressing joemom, I don't think he will mind if I chime in. Now, I'm not sure what MOT is (an inspection?) or where you are but it is not a law a car be equipped with ABS in Calif. Or anywhere in the US for that matter Now if it came factory equipped with ABS and the pump has failed a dashboard light will be on and any fault that that is shown will prevent it from passing, granted. But a competent shop will be able to fix and certify it. NO, you do NOT have to go to the dealer. But the keyword here is 'competent' shop-- one that specializes in German cars. And it can not be just do away with. That would cost more than fixing it. Best wishes to you and I'm confident joemom will agree. If not joemom, lay it on us

Fordnut I think he is in the UK...

I understand but VW dealers are the best in repairing you car...

Yes I live in the UK. Sorry the 'MOT' is a test all cars have to go through every year and pass so you can keep them on the road. They test brakes etc etc etc As far as I am aware VW 'dealers' are THE most expensive regarding repair costs. So someone elsewhere advised to look for a VW specialist as they are supposed to be far cheaper so it is claimed.

Ok my previous answer was for some reason glitched and did not post so the following below was what i said. Actually if you go to google map and search vw repair or vw specialist you will most likely come up with a dozen or so specialty shops that deal with vw's and audi's only. There is no need to head to the stealership unless you have a warranty. This issue can some times just be a bad fuse or bad wiring harness. Its an old car and with all the elements it tends to take its tole on exposed wiring. The relay for the abs can even do this. Tho if the abs pump is in fact gone then its not a terribly hard fix. even a wheel sensor can be the issue all easy fixes. But in all honesty if you head to a vw specialist shop some of them will even check the car for free you can even buy the usb harnes and program your self from amazon for any where from 15-45$ and do it your self with any old laptop you got lieing about. You just need to search for rosstech software.

OK, can you please further help with this. I sent off an amial to a possible alternative to a VW dealer (who charge £100) even before they test. I will copy the email I sent them and their reply. By the way, the ABS light is on all the time now: OK, can you please further help with this. I sent off an amial to a possible alternative to a VW dealer (who charge £100) even before they test. I will copy the email I sent them and their reply. By the way, the ABS light is on all the time now: It is my elderly mum's car (Volkswagen Polo AK04SUU) and I desperately want to get a fair deal for her. The ABS light came on and stayed (but it did got off seveal days) but then came on and stayed and then went off, and now it is on again. Yesterday I took it to a local garage to be tested and they said it was 'hydraulic pump' but when I asked the guy to write down he wrote 'ABS pump', they did not charge me for the test but said they did not have the programming and only volkdwagen have it. I know that with a Volkswagen dealer they charge £100 just to test it, and another mechanic said they could then put in new pump and bill could be up to £700 odd which is astronomical for us because of lack of funds. So I am trying to find out if this can be repaired for much less? We know that it seeds to be done to get through its MOT which is next year. Please can you offer advice? And their reply was: Thanks for getting in touch. If you are not 100% sure on the repair required then in this instance we would recommend a diagnostic inspection to help identify the problem and fix your vehicle. This will include just under an hours labour and cost between £40.50 and £59.40 depending on which area of the country you are located in. Often the fault is fixed within this time, however if it is not – the mechanic will diagnose the fault and give you a quote any parts and labour needed to repair your vehicle. If you are sure which pump needs replacing then please do get a quote direct through our site for the work. Its super quick and easy and if you have any problems provide a car reg number and postcode and we’ll be able to assist you. We take all our bookings through the website – ClickMechanic.com Simply enter your car registration number and post code on the homepage to get started. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Kind regards, Well as I had said, the first garage did test it and when I asked what the problem was they just said 'ABS pump', and that they did not have the proper programming to repair it. Not sure if they meant repair or test? maybe someone where will guess what they meant? So IF say I was goin gto pay up to £60 to test, this then could be a waste of money because as far as I am aware it has already been tested. And what does he mean when he asks me "which pump"? Do they mean there is a difference between hydraulic pump and ABS pump? I admit I was confused by first garage, who first said 'hydrailic' pump but when I asked them to write the problem down they wrote 'ABS' pump. I assumed they muct be the same. It is my elderly mum's car (Volkswagen Polo AK04SUU) and I desperately want to get a fair deal for her. The ABS light came on and stayed (but it did got off seveal days) but then came on and stayed and then went off, and now it is on again. Yesterday I took it to a local garage to be tested and they said it was 'hydraulic pump' but when I asked the guy to write down he wrote 'ABS pump', they did not charge me for the test but said they did not have the programming and only volkdwagen have it. I know that with a Volkswagen dealer they charge £100 just to test it, and another mechanic said they could then put in new pump and bill could be up to £700 odd which is astronomical for us because of lack of funds. So I am trying to find out if this can be repaired for much less? We know that it seeds to be done to get through its MOT which is next year. Please can you offer advice? And their reply was: Thanks for getting in touch. If you are not 100% sure on the repair required then in this instance we would recommend a diagnostic inspection to help identify the problem and fix your vehicle. This will include just under an hours labour and cost between £40.50 and £59.40 depending on which area of the country you are located in. Often the fault is fixed within this time, however if it is not – the mechanic will diagnose the fault and give you a quote any parts and labour needed to repair your vehicle. If you are sure which pump needs replacing then please do get a quote direct through our site for the work. Its super quick and easy and if you have any problems provide a car reg number and postcode and we’ll be able to assist you. We take all our bookings through the website – ClickMechanic.com Simply enter your car registration number and post code on the homepage to get started. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Kind regards, Well as I had said, the first garage did test it and when I asked what the problem was they just said 'ABS pump', and that they did not have the proper programming to repair it. Not sure if they meant repair or test? maybe someone where will guess what they meant? So IF say I was goin gto pay up to £60 to test, this then could be a waste of money because as far as I am aware it has already been tested. And what does he mean when he asks me "which pump"? Do they mean there is a difference between hydraulic pump and ABS pump? I admit I was confused by first garage, who first said 'hydrailic' pump but when I asked them to write the problem down they wrote 'ABS' pump. I assumed they muct be the same.

all the pumps in the vw's are hydrolic. The abs pump is hydrolic powered. I would recomend reading my last post and doing that forget about the stealership all they want is your money. Find a speciality shop of get the rosstech program an old laptop and the usb dongal from amazon.com and save yourself a headache. Once a car is out of warranty the dealers are jsut standing there rubbing there hands togheat chuckling like a hyena going "yes yes bring us your car we can repair it Muhahahaha!!! cha ching cha ching chaching!!!" they don't want you to think some one out there can do better then they can and to be honest most specialtiy vw and audi shops are 100% better then the stealership in repairs.

OK so you say VW specialists and audi shops are the people to look t?. Not sure what 'audi shops' are though?

Yes and audi specialist shops are the same as a vw specialist. Both audi and vw use for the most part the same parts and engines in there makes of cars. or at least they did till 2008. But as i said pick up your phone or open google map on your web browser and type """"vw repair or vw specialist""" find the one you think is the best and go there. Most vw specialist shops will take very good care of you.