The European Union (EU) regulates access to safety-related systems of vehicle manufacturers for its member states so that the information required for repair can be accessed online. Independent market participants from EU member states can request access in accordance with the currently valid legislation.

General information on anti-theft protection:

You require online access to the respective systems of Volkswagen AG (FAZIT/GeKo) for repair of specially protected vehicle components and flashing of control units. Currently, in order to be able to use FAZIT/GeKo, you must request the respective authorization (see below).

What is FAZIT/GeKo?

FAZIT/GeKo (security and component protection) is a function, that is available together with the online connection of the Offboard Diagnostic Information System (ODIS) diagnostic software. It enables the calibration of electronic control units of the immobilizer (e.g. instrument cluster, engine ECU), the component protection (e.g. Air conditioning unit, navigation system etc.), as well as the vehicle keys to the vehicle.

How can you use the functions of GeKo-VW?

• The Offboard Diagnostic Information System (ODIS) diagnostic software has to be installed. More information can be found under erWin-Produktassistenten
• All other companies and customers from EU member countries and countries outside of the EU can retrieve further information through their importer in charge (see Importeursverzeichnis).

In order to obtain authorisation for FAZIT/GeKo, specific information about the applicant and the company is required. The following provides you with further information on the SERMI process. If SERMI is not available in your country, you will find all the information you have to pass on to Volkswagen, i.e. the respective importer, in order to gain authorisation for FAZIT/GeKo, later on:

SERMI process:

The SERMI (Security-related Repair and Maintenance Information) process has been introduced by the European Union (EU) as a procedure which makes it possible for you to identify yourself and be legitimised at a national conformity assessment body. With this legitimation and registration and confirmation at what is referred to as the trust centre, you can gain access to safety-related information from all vehicle manufacturers – individual verification in accordance with the individual requirements of each manufacturer no longer applies.

n order to find out which conformity assessment bodies have been set up and how you reach them, please contact the importer responsible for your market (see Importeursverzeichnis) or visit SERMI - Home (vehiclesermi.eu).

In the following, you will find out how you gain access to safety-related information from Volkswagen AG with a valid SERMI identity.

In the process, the following requirements must be met in advance:

 You company is registered at the trust centre
 You/your employees are registered
 You/your employees have been legitimised by the national assessment body
 You/your employees have installed the trust centre app ("Digidentity Wallet") on your smartphone

1. If your country already supports SERMI, on the Group Retail Portal (GRP, see link add GRP info page) next to the ODIS service tile you will find a further tile with the designation "SERMI".
2. When you select the SERMI tile, you will be redirected to the SERMI website of Volkswagen AG.
3. Please scan the displayed QR code with the "Digidentity Wallet" app on your smartphone.
4. Your GRP identity is linked to the SERMI identity and your importer receives the request to assign a diagnostics role to you on GRP which is compatible with the use of FAZIT/GeKo.
5. Once the role has been assigned, you can carry out safety-related tasks (FAZIT/GeKo) with ODIS service.

You must forward the following information to Volkswagen, i.e. the importer responsible for your market, if SERMI is not available in your country:

• FAZIT/GeKo form (request for activation of a user authorisation)
• Original official photo identification must be viewed for checking identity of the Managing Director and the applicant. The identity document is not retained at any time. On request from the affected party, the option can be offered of voluntarily enclosing a copy of a photo identification document on a separate page (front and back). The importer checks the data using the copy, and then destroys the copy immediately afterwards in compliance with data protection law. In the case of identification documentation with access data (e.g. new German ID card), the access number must be blacked out beforehand.
• Confirmation of employment (formula)
• Excerpt from the commercial register or business registration (copy)
• Police clearance certification or comparable document of the applicant

Warning:

Repairs to components of the engine immobiliser

Since October 2021, cross-exchange of the engine immobiliser master control unit has been blocked for reasons of theft protection, and has to be approved separately by Volkswagen AG. Since August 2024, blocking has been implemented for replacement of WFS slave components as in the past, abusive conduct was detected during cross-exchange. You can also refer to TPI 2075232/1 for all further details. Given that approval requests with a view to replacement have increased disproportionately, from 01.10.2025, Volkswagen AG will charge a checking fee for approvals of replacements for all workshops (both affiliated and independent workshops). The fee will only be due if an approval is issued.

The checking fee has been set provisionally at € 45.xx plus the respective valid value added tax in accordance with the legal provisions of the destination country.

You will receive further information when submitting the ODIS query form which is generated automatically when attempting a cross-exchange. Please always make sure that your ODIS software is updated at all times. Requests with manipulated or incompletely filled out ODIS forms cannot be answered.

Please forward the above TPI to the independent workshops in your market in case of questions.

User inventory

In accordance with the IT security rules within the group, regular checking of the user inventory of all IT systems must be carried out. Therefore, in future, user inventory taking will be carried out for the FAZIT/GeKo system.
In the course of this user inventory taking all users which have not been logged on, i.e. have not worked on the FAZIT/GeKo system for longer than 12 months, will be disabled. A new user request will be required to re-establish a user ID. The request will be subject to a charge.
The aim of this inventory taking is to eliminate users which have not been deregistered (e.g. in case of changes to personnel) and to deactivate accounts which are no longer being used.
In accordance with the contractually defined IT guidelines, we kindly ask you to inform all administrators at individual distributor companies and request that they check all users activated for FAZIT/GeKo for their firm. For this purpose, it is necessary to make sure that no external user IDs are being used within the firm. In the same way, user IDs which are no longer required (e.g. change of personnel) must be deregistered immediately. This independent check within individual firms must also be carried out continually over time.

After checking, all documents except the user request must be destroyed by the respective importer in compliance with data protection rules. All transactions in connection with user IDs are permanently logged for reasons of traceability.

You will receive the necessary forms for requesting FAZIT/GeKo authorisation and the associated requirements for your firm on completion of registration on the erWin platform and after requesting a firm number from the respective importer (see Importer directory).