Monday, May 19, 2008

NEVER BUY A VOLKSWAGEN!!!!

So we all know how much I love my car..well, I love it even less after today. I left school today in the 107 degree weather and got in my car to go and I could not get it into gear!!! I have to put the brake on to get it into gear, and for some reason it was not registering that the brake was on. So i sat there pumping the brake for awhile (in the meantime I was rolling up my pants and stripping off my shirt cuz it was SO HOT. Luckily, my undershirt was sleeved, so I was not immodest mom, don't worry), anyway, after about half an hour I decided to try calling a volkswagen dealership (thank goodness for google text). Although at first the guy told me that the method of getting it into gear was 'too complicated' to explain over the phone (he may as well have said he couldn't explain such things to a woman), I finally got him to realize that unless someone could explain it to me, I would never be able to get it in to get fixed. So he told me the method, which was not as complicated as he had made it sound (shocker), and I went on my merry little way to the salvage yard where I got the alternator for my car that is now sitting in my closet.

I would like to take a moment for any of you who still may ever have the slightest desire to buy a volkswagen, and tell you what has happened to that car since I have been its owner. When I got it in May the cruise control worked sporadically. By August, when I made my first long trip to Utah, it no longer worked. It was fine, nothing big all the way until last year. The lights on the radio stopped working. Then one day I was driving down the freeway, every possible light that could flash at me started flashing and my car started losing speed. This turned out the be the timing belt, which resulted in a new engine. At this point, the odometer read 92,000 miles. $4,000 later, the engine was fixed. 3 days after getting it back, the driver's side window fell into the door. Calvin fixed that in Round Valley for $20 by putting a board under it to hold it up. It no longer rolls down. I came back to the valley of the sun, and 2 days later the passenger side does the exact same thing. Back to Calvin, now both front windows don't work. About 6 months ago, the car didn't start and since I was told it was the alternator, I got a new one. It turned out to be the battery, the salvage yard wouldn't take the alternator I got back, and so now I have an extra one. Today, this happened. If you need more reasons not to buy a volkswagen, please speak to Jason.

I do have to say that even though this happened on the first day of a two day heat advisory, I am pretty lucky. It happened AFTER I got out of class on a test day. Imagine if I had missed my test! I didn't have anywhere else I HAD to be, so I could spare the 2 hours it took to finally get it to the repair shop. I have an online class for school tomorrow, so we are not required to go to the school. Jason knew what was wrong with it, and probably saved me from excessive tears worrying that my brakes were out or something. Mom calmed me down and said a prayer for me (for the record, I had said a couple) and shortly after that I was driving. Her prayers must have higher priority than mine. It happened when Jacob was back, so I had someone to come pick me up. And he went above an beyond by bringing me some of a quesadilla and a dr. pepper from Cafe Rio, since he was there eating with his sister when I called. He said he knew I would probably be hungry. What a great guy. So thanks to mom, jason, and jacob. And to everyone else, don't buy a volkswagen!!!! (Sorry Justin, but this really required exclamation points.)

2 comments:

Brittany said...

Rufus! I am so sorry about your car. Dang cars huh. We've got to have them, but the majority of the time, they are nothing but trouble! I'm glad you could see the silver lining though. Way to be positive girl! Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

Cin said...

Heidi Roo,
Some Monday's are really the pits! Sounds like you had one...your Mom was telling me the story and I couldn't help but laugh when the guy at the dealership wanted you to "bring in the car"! It's like hello, what planet are you on, I wouldn't be making the phone call if I could even drive it let alone "bring it in!". Glad you had good people (your Ma, Jas and Jacob) and prayers on your side. Hang in there! Love ya