We are officially domesticated. Last week, we traded in the sporty two door VW GTI for an economical and sensible VW Passat shaggin wagon. We had been wanting something it would be easy to get L in and out of, while still having enough space for the front seat passenger to have actual legroom in front of the carseat.
We are completely in love with it, we got a great deal and it’s still under warranty until 2011. It has 18,000 miles on it, and has the 2 liter turbo engine found in the GTI.
Last month, we made the decision that the Jeep, with 135,000 miles on it, needed to be sold as well. We did a Craigslist cash sale, and leased a 2009 VW Jetta. It has free maintenance for the first 36,000 miles. Between that and the manufacturer’s warranty, I shouldn’t have to spend any time under these cars fixing them.
The rough part is going up to two car payments again, but we made it work before and can make it work again. The piece of mind that accompanies getting rid of two money pits is worth its weight in an extra monthly payment.
We posted E’s Jeep on craigslist, and immediately got a few emails. I brought the Jeep to work last week to show it to someone, as I don’t want people coming to the house.
The first guy liked the Jeep, argued with E that the Yakima bike rack (retail $700) comes with said Jeep, and E told him it wasn’t for sale. He gave me a deposit of $3400, I gave him a signed piece of paper saying I had received a deposit and that the sale would be completed with an additional X amount of dollars.
When E told him the deal was for no bike rack, he flipped. We met to give his deposit back. He told me he doesn’t want his money, he’s talking to a lawyer. Apparently to him, the receipt of deposit is now a sale contract, and in his mind he’s 90% owner of the vehicle. We told him to get fucked, his lawyer told him to get fucked, and I returned his $3400 to the lawyer in exchange for a receipt relieving me of any obligation.
Our final email to him ended with “You have no contract, no title, no part ownership, no completed sale, and after your legal threats and the annoyance you have caused me and my husband, you certainly no longer have an opportunity to do business with us.”
The second guy didn’t like the Jeep, threw $50 gas money at us since we had driven to Plano to meet him, and texted E “trash” at 6am the next morning, followed by “Sorry that was meant for my ex”.
Needless to say, we sold the Jeep yesterday to someone level-headed and well-adjusted, and it was a struggle free sale. I still, however, hate craigslist.
The GTI has been in the garage for a little over a week. I changed the passenger side strut bushing and bearings, the spark plugs, oil, and ECT sensor.
I got a check engine light a few weeks ago with code P2181, which is a cooling system performance error. It’s quite possible that the new ECT sensor will fix that, and if not it’s the thermostat, which is a royal pain to change out in that cramped engine bay.
You can see how collapsed the bushing at the top of the strut ended up, as compared to the newly installed one. When supported by jack stands, I could push the wheel up and down, which meant the strut bearings were shot also. This all explains the clunking as I turned left, which has since disappeared.
I was lucky to find an MKIV Suspension DIY, which was helpful because the job didn’t make sense at first. There really is no way to get the strut out, and the subframe really does need to be dropped. The factory service manual left this part out.
The main pain in the ass involved what my friend refers to as the “tool company that makes cars”. VW has special tools required to perform functions that, on other cars, simply use logic. Removing the strut from the knuckle requires VW tool 3424 to spread the housing, which (with 2nd day air so I could have Eilene’s Jeep back to her) cost me $50 (for a glorified socket). This is primarily why the car was down for so long, I couldn’t find anyone in town who stocked the tool.
I managed not to break any of the many now-brittle plastic parts in the engine bay, including the clips holding in the connectors on the coil pack. That’s fantastic.
I’m glad everything came together and that I can usually fix this stuff, I’ve obviously saved hundreds of dollars. But I still hate working on cars, and if we had the money and I was given the choice between spending a week under the car or paying someone to do the work so I can have a few more days to watch my son grow up, I would easily choose the latter.
