In August of 2005, I bought a used 2002 VW Jetta GLS 1.8 Turbo. Two weeks later, my water pump went out. Since the car had more than 50,000 miles on it when I bought it (57,000 to be exact), the maintenance wasn’t going to be covered under warranty. The dealership changed their tune on that when I told them I had just bought the car from them two weeks earlier. Not a terrible deal for the inconvenience, I thought.

Throw in an alternator and a flat tire the next year (routine maintenance issues, I know), I was starting to get a bit worried about my little German car.

I spent a week in California in January 2007 for the NAMM convention. Being the nice guy that I am, I let my (now ex-) girlfriend have my car for the week to save her the hassle of having to walk to the train at night since she worked near Cabrini Green and it was supposed to be frigid while I was gone. I came back to a parking ticket, and a week later my thermostat went out. An impeller blade in one of my fans in the radiator had also cracked off and caused a bunch of damage. But I didn’t know any of of this until my car overheated and left me stranded on the highway for two hours. To add insult to injury, I found out my girlfriend thanked me for my generosity by messing around with one of my (now former) friends while I was gone.

This past December I sprung a coolant leak and took it to the dealer. My water pump had gone out, again. And I needed a coolant system flush. And some timing belts.

Three days and 80 miles after I got my car back, the engine light came on. Last week, the coolant light came on. Today, I noticed another leak. 

I hate my VW.