RIP Joan Jetta

On or about March 15, joan jetta sang her last.
My GF & I were tooling back from seattle in Joan. I was ever so optimistic, having just gotten her back from the mechanic. I did hear something suspicious. and when we pulled into a suburban Lynnwood strip mall in search of a latte, i put in the clutch & joan stopped. Forever. Despite my GF suggesting i check the oil & try it again (sigh), there was nothing to be done. After an eventful day with a cast of colorful characters in Lynnwood & Edmunds (tow truck drivers, mechanics, greyhound bus drivers, pawn shop proprietors), we took the greyhound bus home.

Diagnosis: snapped camshaft due to overworn timing belt. Estimated cost to repair $2000-$4000. Sigh.

I will admit to a round of blamestorming: the previous owner for not replacing belt frequently enough. My mechanic for not advising to replace when replacing injection pump. Myself for not reading forums & taking a closer look...

Joan is now at a wrecker's in lynnwood. I still hope to get the custom injectors out of her & sell the conversion kit on ebay...
The only happy part of this story is the star, a lovely mechanic at the VW dealership who took pity on me... his daughter also has a 91 jetta & he could imagine, what if it were her trapped in another country with a dead jetta! He gave me $20 for 2 snowtires, and on his lunch break, pulled the rebuilt injection pump out. I paid $1000 to get the frigging pump rebuilt, and have since sold it for $500, so all was not lost. Lessons learned all around. The smartass service manager at the VW dealership said "do you feel like buying a new one today?" if i thought i could arrange financing in the US that day, i would have.

I came home & totalled up the $$ spent on used cars & major repairz in the last 10 years. ?$20,000. Sheesh. Next day i bought a 2006 diesel golf with 10000kms. I love it more than is right for a granolacruncher like myself to love a car. it cost lots of money. and i don't care.

driving to kelowna for the first time in my life, with no worries about 'what's that sound?" coming from under the hood. just smooth cruising. and once it's paid for & the 4 year warranty expires, i figure i can run this one on grease, too. sigh.

until next time...