>I can’t fucking believe this! My car won’t start. Two weeks ago (literally to the day), my car was overheating due to a bad water pump. Now, the car just won’t start. The electrical stuff works. My headlights turn on, the radio turns on, the air conditioner turns on, but not the damn ENGINE! I turn the key and it just makes this scary ticking noise like a toy machine gun going off. All the lights come on on the dashboard, so I have no idea what is causing the problem.
Since I moved to Sacramento, I’ve had more car problems in the past three months than I’ve had in the past three years. I drive less, but my car is in the shop more.
I had a little red Ford Festiva in high school. It had a manual transmission, no air conditioning and an AM radio. It was the best car I’ve ever had. The thing got like 50 miles to the gallon on gasoline. It never broke down when I drove it. It looked like shit, but it never let me down.
I guess this is what I get for choosing a car based on looks and not reliability. But, to be honest, I didn’t know Volkswagens were such a pain in the ass. Next time I buy a car, I’m going to buy the cheapest American piece of shit I can find. No more cool foreign cars for me.
Actually, I would really like to own one of those old Mustangs, like a ’65-’68. I want something simple, classic, and RELIABLE. I’ve always liked old cars. The problem is that I don’t know a mechanic I can trust to fix it. I’m beginning to think the dealerships are a little sketchy, too. I feel this way because I just don’t understand much about the functions of an engine or the other systems in a car.
I think they should make auto shop a requisite for high school graduation, instead of P.E. Everyone should be taught the basics of car maintenance. I also think home economics should be required. They should teach things like how to balance a check book, basic cooking techniques, etc. These are all things that our parents may not know how to do correctly. Screw calculus and physics. Learning how to sew on a button and change the oil in a car is way more important.
Since I won’t be driving anywhere for a while, I guess I’ll go have a drink or two.
>I’ve had two VW’s. My first was a 1999 Jetta. The car broke down every month. And these are expensive cars to fix. 500 here, 700 there. It was ridiculous. So, I traded it in for a 2003 VW Golf. I’ve never had a problem with it. I think you have to be careful about making sure not to buy a first year model of any car. Too many problems…
>Good to know. I think the New Beetles came out in 1998, but apparently I just got a shitty one five years later.
>That sucks. Sorry to hear your car isn’t being friendly. If you’re sure your battery is good (charged), sounds like your solenoid or starter is bad. The clicking makes me thing the former. The engine doesn’t turn over at all, right?
>*think, not thing. D’oh.
>No, the engine doesn’t turn over at all.
The battery can’t be more than 3 years old. I just looked at the warranty and batteries are covered under the warranty for 4 years. How long do batteries usually last?
Actually, I just went out to test it and I noticed that the passenger door wouldn’t unlock when I used the remote. It unlocks if I stick the key in the door. It also was having trouble unlocking the passenger door when I was actually pushing the unlock button on the door (driver’s side).
I think it might be the battery, too. I finally got it to start after a few more tries, but I shouldn’t be having any trouble starting the car. I’m going to get it towed tomorrow. I don’t trust driving it.
>I had a 1999 VW golf for a couple of years, after a year the Sun Roof motor gave up the ghost, this was replaced under the warranty, however the next year the passenger side window came of the rack that it sits on and fell into the door. They wanted £300+VAT to fix it. The part cost £100 all that was broken of the part was a plastic gear about the size of a beer bottle cap. But you had to buy the whole mechanism which was the size of the door. My ex kept the car when we split up and a year later the exact same thing happened to the drivers side. Luckily I could fix it myself at a fraction of the cost but it was when they told us that this happened alot and so they changed the plastic gears to metal that I went mental at them. I have had 3 VWs that was the only problem.
>Honda’s baby, all the way! Also, when you find out what was wrong, let me know ’cause I’m curious. I like car stuff, but I’m not very good at it… If I HAD to guess, I’d say it WAS the battery, because as I understand it the battery needs to give off a full charge to start the car, but other accessories (such as dash lights) take much less power to run.
>Sounds like it might be the alternator. I don’t know much about cars, but I had a 92 Saturn and it had that problem every 4-5 years.
>bummer,
i have a VW too.
>Great, that rules out a Saturn. I’m going to go with a Kia or some other cheap boxy piece of crap as soon as my car is paid off.