Alex Robbins is contributing editor at Telegraph Cars where, as well as responding to readers’ queries, he also contributes reviews of new and used cars, together with articles on buying and selling. 

His knowledge of the used car market informs his many buying guides relating to the best buys in particular sectors, with an emphasis on value for money.  Every week he will answer your questions on buying and selling, as well as solving your car problems, whether consumer or mechanical.

Do you have a motoring dilemma you’d like our expert to solve?  For consumer and used car advice, or car faults, email CarsAdvice@telegraph.co.uk and include your subscriber number. This week’s question…

Dear Alex, 

I have a 2014 Volkswagen Passat Estate, which has a rear-view camera (specified as an option when I bought the car from new). As I was reversing, it was working fine, then suddenly a message on the screen announced: “The camera is not available at this time.” What might be the cause?

– GO

Dear GO,

Volkswagens of this era suffer from this issue more than you might imagine. The cause is usually one of two things: either the reversing camera module, or the wiring harness within the car’s boot lid.

The reversing camera module is a ­silver electronic box about the size of an A5 piece of paper, which sits on the boot floor, underneath the storage compartment on the driver’s side, just behind the rear light cluster. Moisture can collect within its cradle, causing it to rust and its connectors to corrode.

If you’re confident of checking it yourself, you can remove the storage compartment relatively easily to get to the module. If it looks crusty or the connectors are in poor shape, that’s more than likely the culprit.

If not, the other common fault is with the wiring harness within the boot lid. The wires are only just long enough, so they are held quite taut and are put under further tension every time you open and shut the boot. Eventually, the wires start to break up, hence if the 12-volt feed to the camera is broken, it will stop working entirely.

The trouble with this fault is that most VW dealers won’t be able to identify it, because they’ll plug the car into a diagnostic machine, which will tell them there’s a fault with the camera but won’t be able to ascertain precisely where that fault lies.

Instead, I recommend that a qualified auto electrician checks the condition of the boot lid wiring harness. If the fault is there, they’ll be able to repair it with a slightly longer piece of wire, so that it doesn’t happen again. If it’s not that, at least you’ve ruled it out.

One more thing: when these wires break, they have been known to pop the fuse for the reversing camera in the process. So, if the wire is broken and fixing it doesn’t solve the issue, it’s worth trying the fuse for it, as well.

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