A couple of weeks ago, I started noticing the Passat was leaving puddles in the driveway. Damn, I’d had an oil leak fixed last year… hmm, no, wasn’t oil. A day or so later, the “Check Coolant” light on the dashboard started blinking. Sigh. Thankfully, the engine temp wasn’t running hot, so I didn’t fret too much. In a fit of optimism, I simply added some radiator fluid and hoped that would make everything magically better.
One damp driveway and one day later, the dashboard light came on again. So, I made an appointment with the mechanic. And while the car was on the examining table, I asked them to fix a problem with the driver’s side door lock too.
Three days and $1000 later… yeah, that’s four digits. Who knew water pumps were so expensive to replace? Sigh. The shop gave me a little comment card to fill out, and I wrote, “For any repair over $1000, you should really have the customer talk to a sales person. I was weak; I would have caved.”
Guess who called me that same week? Quelle suprise, it was a VW sales person. I smiled, and explained that I had already paid for the repair now, so I wasn’t feeling nearly so weak. But, yeah, I would probably replace the Passat this year, and I would come in to test drive a couple of cars before too long.
Wouldn’t you know it? Another dashboard light came on yesterday. This one for the brakes. Thank goodness it isn’t anything important!
The Passat was a fabulous car for the first five years, but the last two have been unreasonably expensive. I’m very ready for something new (with a warranty).
Now the challenge is simply to find something I can get excited about. The current assortment of cars seem to drawn design inspiration from from jelly beans and athletic shoes.
I’d like to go a little smaller than a family-guy sedan. There are no kids in my future, and I’m not making major cross-country drives in it, so I can afford to go a little smaller. Especially if that also means better mileage and easier parking at the same time.
I’m kinda drawn to the current model Beetles, which have at least a little style. I test drove one this morning and it was… ehh. Pretty good. Definitely not as plush or as powerful as the Passat, but I didn’t rule it out.
I passed on the VW GTI. It just looked a little too much like a AMC Pacer for my tastes.
There’s a Volvo C30 coming in October that I’d like to drive, if I can stand to wait that long.
My research assistant tells me I should investigate the Mazda RX-8, and the Nissan Altima.
I want to like the Prius, but something keeps me from feeling too enthusiastic about it.
Anyone else got a fabulous choice that I really must try?
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