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bonniegrrlOkay so part two of the "What the Hell is Wrong with My Car" saga...
Saturday morning I dropped off the car to Toscalito tire, in San Rafael, where I usually get all the work done on my VW. A couple of weeks ago my engine light went on and I drove it in to see what was up. They said my vacuum hoses are broken and they fixed it and the engine light went off. All good.
Then as you all know, my car did that thing where after driving it for almost an hour you hit the gas pedal to accelerate and you hear the engine rev but nothing happens. Folks here commented that it might be the engine coil (which was recalled on a lot of the new Beetles like mine) or the spark plugs were shot or the transmission needed some looking at.
So as I dropped it off Saturday for an oil change, I asked them to look at the spark plugs and check the transmission fluid and all that. Then since they would have her all morning, I got some brekkie then went to the book store in the mall.
After about 4 hours they called back and the conversation went a little like this:
THEM: "Your car is ready to go, and nothing was wrong with it. The spark plugs are fine and we couldn't replicate your problem. It seems to be working just fine."
ME: "Er...it's not really fine though, because nothing was fixed. I mean, I know you can't see for yourself what the problem is because it's not doing it for you when you test drive, but trust me -- that problem exists. Did you get a chance to check the transmission fluid?"
THEM: "The weird thing about that is that your transmission fluid can't be checked because it's in a closed container. So the only way we'd know if there was a transmission fluid problem is if there was a leak, and there doesn't seem to be."
ME: " So you can't even check the fluids because the container is sealed?"
THEM: "VW did that so you'd be forced to go to the dealer and get it fixed instead of a cheaper mechanic."
ME: "Ugh."
THEM: "Try driving it home again and if it gives you more of the same trouble, bring it in on Monday."
So I drive it back to San Francisco on Saturday, and sure enough, three blocks from my house, I'm pressing on the gas pedal after waiting at a stop sign and nothing happens except the reving.
I floor it. Nothing. It doesn't even bother lurching. Ugh. It finally goes again and I slwly drive it home and wonder what the hell to do next.
Sunday, full planning on going to both a pal's birthday party at Baker Beach and the to APE, I get in my car and try to drive to the beach. I go to the wrong beach and as I try to retrace my path to the right beach the car does the same gas-pedal-rev-no-go action only this time it's a lot worse and the car doesn't act like it's going to make it much further. So I park my car in a place that doesn't have street cleaning on Monday and walk to my friend's house (who's having the birthday) and wait for them to come home. I didn't get to the party, and I didn't make it to APE which really REALLY sucks.
I hate that my car problems totally ruined my chances of going to the two things I was looking forward to for the last few weeks. The thing that irks me the most, is that I can't replicate the problem on demand for my mechanics so they'll believe me when I say it's happening.
So first thing this morning, I get in the car and drive SLOWLY back to Toscalito. The guy that has been working on my car is gone on vacation and they have no one else to look at it -- and they're at a loss what to test for next, so they recommend that I take it to a transmission specialist in central San Rafael. I hope back in the beetle and drive over there to see if they can do anything for me.
Jim over at AAMCO tells me that they'll do a free diagonistic to see if they can pinpoint what's up and then if they can figure out the transmission issues, will tell me how much it's gonna set me back. Then they were nice enough to give me a ride to work, so I was only an hour late. I'm waiting to hear back from them, but I honestly hope they can figure this out.
I don't really want to go to the nearest VW dealership, mainly because I don't have a warranty, they charge 3 times as much as a normal mechanic, they mostly sell Porsches, and they've been rude to me the two other times I went there years ago. It's like I'm a lower-class citizen to them since I won a 2000 VW Beetle and not a shiny new Porsche. I went in to get my gas lid fixed (the door activated lock wasn't responding) and they kept me waiting for an hour before they even asked me what the problem was and then proceeded to roll their eyes at me because it wasn't a "real" problem. I was so disgusted I vowed never to go back. And tI've heard ugly horror stories about the VW specialists in the San Francisco. So I'm a bit nervous about going there too.
Let's just hope Jim and his crew can figure out why my Priscilla is sick and fix her up. I can't help be see the parallel between Sophie being sick a couple of weeks ago and the vet not knowing exactly what was wrong with her and having to take her over to a dog specialist, and now having to do almost the exact same thing with my car. Let's hope I'm not next!
P.S. Thanks for all of you who posted car advice when I first started writing about my car troubles last week. It really does help!
Saturday morning I dropped off the car to Toscalito tire, in San Rafael, where I usually get all the work done on my VW. A couple of weeks ago my engine light went on and I drove it in to see what was up. They said my vacuum hoses are broken and they fixed it and the engine light went off. All good.
Then as you all know, my car did that thing where after driving it for almost an hour you hit the gas pedal to accelerate and you hear the engine rev but nothing happens. Folks here commented that it might be the engine coil (which was recalled on a lot of the new Beetles like mine) or the spark plugs were shot or the transmission needed some looking at.
So as I dropped it off Saturday for an oil change, I asked them to look at the spark plugs and check the transmission fluid and all that. Then since they would have her all morning, I got some brekkie then went to the book store in the mall.
After about 4 hours they called back and the conversation went a little like this:
THEM: "Your car is ready to go, and nothing was wrong with it. The spark plugs are fine and we couldn't replicate your problem. It seems to be working just fine."
ME: "Er...it's not really fine though, because nothing was fixed. I mean, I know you can't see for yourself what the problem is because it's not doing it for you when you test drive, but trust me -- that problem exists. Did you get a chance to check the transmission fluid?"
THEM: "The weird thing about that is that your transmission fluid can't be checked because it's in a closed container. So the only way we'd know if there was a transmission fluid problem is if there was a leak, and there doesn't seem to be."
ME: " So you can't even check the fluids because the container is sealed?"
THEM: "VW did that so you'd be forced to go to the dealer and get it fixed instead of a cheaper mechanic."
ME: "Ugh."
THEM: "Try driving it home again and if it gives you more of the same trouble, bring it in on Monday."
So I drive it back to San Francisco on Saturday, and sure enough, three blocks from my house, I'm pressing on the gas pedal after waiting at a stop sign and nothing happens except the reving.
I floor it. Nothing. It doesn't even bother lurching. Ugh. It finally goes again and I slwly drive it home and wonder what the hell to do next.
Sunday, full planning on going to both a pal's birthday party at Baker Beach and the to APE, I get in my car and try to drive to the beach. I go to the wrong beach and as I try to retrace my path to the right beach the car does the same gas-pedal-rev-no-go action only this time it's a lot worse and the car doesn't act like it's going to make it much further. So I park my car in a place that doesn't have street cleaning on Monday and walk to my friend's house (who's having the birthday) and wait for them to come home. I didn't get to the party, and I didn't make it to APE which really REALLY sucks.
I hate that my car problems totally ruined my chances of going to the two things I was looking forward to for the last few weeks. The thing that irks me the most, is that I can't replicate the problem on demand for my mechanics so they'll believe me when I say it's happening.
So first thing this morning, I get in the car and drive SLOWLY back to Toscalito. The guy that has been working on my car is gone on vacation and they have no one else to look at it -- and they're at a loss what to test for next, so they recommend that I take it to a transmission specialist in central San Rafael. I hope back in the beetle and drive over there to see if they can do anything for me.
Jim over at AAMCO tells me that they'll do a free diagonistic to see if they can pinpoint what's up and then if they can figure out the transmission issues, will tell me how much it's gonna set me back. Then they were nice enough to give me a ride to work, so I was only an hour late. I'm waiting to hear back from them, but I honestly hope they can figure this out.
I don't really want to go to the nearest VW dealership, mainly because I don't have a warranty, they charge 3 times as much as a normal mechanic, they mostly sell Porsches, and they've been rude to me the two other times I went there years ago. It's like I'm a lower-class citizen to them since I won a 2000 VW Beetle and not a shiny new Porsche. I went in to get my gas lid fixed (the door activated lock wasn't responding) and they kept me waiting for an hour before they even asked me what the problem was and then proceeded to roll their eyes at me because it wasn't a "real" problem. I was so disgusted I vowed never to go back. And tI've heard ugly horror stories about the VW specialists in the San Francisco. So I'm a bit nervous about going there too.
Let's just hope Jim and his crew can figure out why my Priscilla is sick and fix her up. I can't help be see the parallel between Sophie being sick a couple of weeks ago and the vet not knowing exactly what was wrong with her and having to take her over to a dog specialist, and now having to do almost the exact same thing with my car. Let's hope I'm not next!
P.S. Thanks for all of you who posted car advice when I first started writing about my car troubles last week. It really does help!
