With Jamie acting up lately, I thought it was time to give Max a call. So, bright and early this morning, I got in the car, said a little prayer that she'd make it to Van Nuys, and drove out to see the king of German car repairs. Max turned out to be a pretty cool guy. After reviewing the service paperwork from the last three times I took her to the VW dealership, he decided that it was probably the ignition module* or something like that. He replaced that for less than $200. I also needed an oil change, but Max didn't have any oil. I offered to go to a nearby auto parts store to pick up some oil and Max told me to take his car and drive up to PepBoys. So I did. I
bought him a case of oil and in return I got an oil change, air in my tires, all the dead leaves (and condom wrappers) vacuumed from inside the engine and trunk area, and a lesson in pistons, rings, and the basic workings of an internal combustion engine. Not bad. At least I know where to take her if she breaks down again before I can trade her in.* In looking up that part to see if that was the right name, I found this--complaints from other VW owners who had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Apparently, this was a design flaw in 1999--2002 VWs. Great! I wish I had seen this before taking it to Max. Look at these quotes: "was driving it and all of a sudden it started shaking." "began misfiring and vibrating violently while idling. The vibration did not improve with increased RPMs. There was also a smell of rotten eggs." "..the exact same problem again: misfiring in cylinder 2." (mine was cylinder 3) and my favorite, " my 2002 VW is a ticking time bomb. 3 out of 4 ignition coil sets have been replaced and the other one (or any of those already replaced) may go. There is no guarantee by VW that the old or new coil sets will last." OMG, I'm a little outraged now. Apparently, this was happening to NEW cars for four years and VW didn't think it warranted a recall. They finally began using a different coil module for 2003 and newer models. I wonder how many times Jamie's coils had been replaced before I bought her. This just strenghtens my resolve to Go See Cal.
2 comments:
Man, I wish there were condom wrappers in MY car. I mean, not NOW. But at some point in my pre-child life it would have been nice.
Max rocks.
I had a similar problem with my Saturn and a CRACKED ENGINE BLOCK. They ended up reimbursing me for all the $$ I was out trying to repair the problem, but when you're 8 mo.s pregnant and it is a problem the company had been having for years, that doesn't quite make up for it.
Post a Comment