VW security system, a true nightmare

Hi all, as many of you may know, I'm a big fan of Subarus.
Our whole family owns and drives second-generation Outback wagons.
After an unfortunate accident last year, our youngest son totaled his Subi (no one was hurt)
Needing a vehicle to get to work, he quickly located a 2006 VW TDI Jetta, a 4-door car with a small turbo diesel engine, at a giveaway price of $750...
He loved it, said it handled like a race car, and the turbo diesel was super zippy.
From me, he received the side-eye look, with grumbles about knowing nothing about newer VWs (My last VW was a 1962 Beetle)
We/ he quickly learned that there is an entire line of tools that only fit VWs... Despite having three stuffed tool chests... I did not own any... I made him buy them...
Then he learned that common parts like brakes, wheel bearings, struts... all cost more...
But these past two weeks, he/we have gone to school on what we now know to be an infamous security system, known as a Skota IMMO system.
Used with all VW vehicles since 2000.  
A three-part system that must be synced perfectly, or your computer thinks the car is being stolen and activates the immobilizer system.(IMMO)
A small light on the dash will flash: a car symbol with a key.  As long as this light flashes, your car will start for apx 2 seconds and shut off.
There is nothing easy you can do to bypass this system. Your car is simply stuck wherever you may be.  With luck, in a city, a quality mobile locksmith can come to you.
The underlining problem here is the locking barrel that the ignition sits in. It controls the locking steering wheel. This part is known to fail. When it does, most people keep trying to turn the key... usually violently. When you do that, you destroy the IMMO connection. However, you will not know this for a while yet. First, you must remove that barrel; it uses breaking head bolts that you must drill out... takes hours; your locksmith or mechanic will be taking his wife out to a fancy dinner at your expense...
If you're unlucky like we were, after removing and replacing that locking barrel, and your car won't run, you rent a trailer, then load up a car that is super heavy but won't run for more than 2 seconds...
You trailer it 65 miles one way to a locksmith, who charges $150 in cash to try to program your new ignition switch and keys... with no promise it will work!  
In our story, this did not work; the replacement part from Rock Auto did not identify itself with the computer.  A $180 switch with keys made in Germany has to be removed and returned!
After many phone calls and hours searching the internet, we discovered the dirty truth.
The only place you can buy a switch with keys is a VW dealer, for the minor cost of almost $400.
You have to give the dealer the VIN number of the car, and it takes 10 days for them to program a new keyed ignition switch with a spiffy new fob.
This piece fits in the palm of your hand; without the keys and fob, it is about the size of your thumb!
All for a car that is twenty years old... talk about a long term rip off...
An honest car company would have timed that system to stop functioning after 10 years...

When my Subaru blew its motor this spring, we borrowed this car from Bill in Helena. I drove it home. As reported, it is a zippy car, lots of quick acceleration.
We filled it with diesel in Helena; it is 260 miles home. Then another 50 miles back to Plains the next day. It took 6 gallons of fuel for 310 miles... that's 51 mpg at 80-90 mph
Needless to say, I was very impressed.  Front Wheel Drive, low to the ground; it is absolutely NOT a Montana winter car.
BUT...I started looking on Marketplace; perhaps I should find one of these for a summer road trip car...
After spending the last three days struggling to make a simple new key switch work, watching the boy spend hundreds of dollars.
Finding out that VW continues to rip people off twenty years later... No pucking way!

I wonder if I can stuff one of those little 1.9 diesels into a Subi outback???