[apiegare]

Does anyone know what this device is under the left dash near the diagnostic connector? Looks like a kill switch or something similar? Self Destruct Mechanism? Any thoughts?

from a different angle:

It has 2 heavy gauge wires leading to it - one red and the other black which tells me it cuts off or controls a lot of juice! It is attached to the back of the in dash fuse box. It is not mentioned in the owners manual or any of the repair manuals I have read so far, Thanks

 

[CRVW]

It looks like it is just the main power to the fuse box. With a fancy connector. The red wire probably comes through the firewall somewhere from the fuse box under the hood. There are a lot of circuits coming from the dash fuse box (heated seats, etc.) so that's why it is so big I guess.

Self destruct would be much more fun though.

 

[PanEuropean]

It is a retaining clip to ensure that the connector for the main power supply line (the fat red wire) remains firmly connected to the fusebox.

This is a high-current supply line - the connector is probably red to provide an alert to everyone that this connector should not be removed without first thinking seriously about it.

 

[apiegare]

I have been doing some research. The red wire comes from fuse 1 on fuse panel A in the engine compartment and feeds half of the in dash fuse panel (fuse panel C). The black wire comes from fuse 4 in the engine compartment and feeds the other half of fuse panel C in the dash. The connecter itself is not mentioned in any component location or connecter list. It is shown in some of the drawings but is not explained or identified. I believe the red part retains the connector in the fuse panel. You pull out the red knob slightly which then allows you to depress the red tab then the connector comes away from the panel. I am not going to pull it out fearing I will lose all my settings!

After some more hunting I found it is a flat contact housing for fuse box/relay plate VW part number 5Q0 972 752 It is manufactured by Delphi now known as Aptiv