Touareg :: Car Won't Operate Windshield Wiper And Radio

I took delivery of a new 2004 Touareg V8 with nav system radio, yesterday. On the way home, in the rain, the front windshield wipers stopped working as well as sound from the radio (controls, menus, etc... were still illuminated) This is not very comforting. Windshield wipers are quite necessary in the rain. The general technology behind windshield wipers and radios would seem to be mature to the point that reliability need not be questioned. As a new owner having just been through an hour of instruction on operating this piece of machinery, I felt somewhat inadequate that I could not operate the windshield wipers and radio. I said to myself, it can't be this hard! My wife and I became frustrated at each other to the point of my speculation on who would get the vehicle in the divorce.

When I finally made my way into my driveway, I decided to check the wiper fuse because it was most necessary, rain being forecast for the next several days.

I pulled the 30A fuse for the wipers and found it to be OK. I then replaced it. Behold, both the wipers and radio began to work. (The manual does not say anything about the radio being connected to the wiper fuse) Case closed, I thought. 5 minutes later they went out again. I pulled the fuse, replaced it and eureka, they began to work again. I drove the vehicle today for about 30 minutes at which time they ceased to function once more.