The ins and outs of a "new" car
Recently I bought a new car for me. It's a 2003 Volkswagen GTI. I've had it for a month, and I love it. Today Mike and I were driving back from Auburn and the check engine light went on. I was not pleased. I bought this car because I was ready to have something that wasn't more quirks than good attributes. I knew that VWs required more maintenence than Japanese cars. All European ones do. I was not, however, expecting that I would need to do major service before 90K. Since the car had 51K when I bought it, and 53K now, I thought I was fine.
After the CEL blew, Mike and I went to an Autozone to get the code checked. Basically, when your check engine light goes on, you can take it to one of these stores, and they have a diagnostic computer tha you can plug in that will give you the code number and a breif description. You can use that to narrow down what your issue is. Mine came up as "coolant system performance." This can mean many things. According to the dealership, the water pump going out is the most likely, but they won't know until they diagnose it themselves (for $104 plus tax).
Now if you wonder why I'm going to the dealership, it's because yesterday in the mail I received notice that my car has a platinum warranty on it that is expiring in 10 days. They want me to renew it for some unspecified (likely $2k at least) ammount. I don't normally subscribe to warranties. I know enough about how they work legally, and how much money companies make off of them, so I never buy them myself. This one may save my ass.
My research did turn up, however, that my timing belt may go out at 60K. This is one maintenence I do not screw with. Your timing belt goes, your engine goes. Period. That is not covered by any warrenty, since it's a "consumable" part. According to research, that can be any where from $700 at an independent shop to $1200 at the dealer. I'm going to ask about it tomorrow.
If you asked if I still like my new car, the answer is still undenyably yes. It's exactly what I want for a car right now in my life, I got it for a very cheap price, and I knew that I was running a risk buying a German car. I'm a little miffed that this is all happening now, while Mike is unemployed, and we're trying to live as cheaply as possible, but shit happens and we move forward.
Who knows? Maybe I'll find out it's all something cheap tomorrow, or that the warrenty will cover more. Here's to hoping I get lucky...
After the CEL blew, Mike and I went to an Autozone to get the code checked. Basically, when your check engine light goes on, you can take it to one of these stores, and they have a diagnostic computer tha you can plug in that will give you the code number and a breif description. You can use that to narrow down what your issue is. Mine came up as "coolant system performance." This can mean many things. According to the dealership, the water pump going out is the most likely, but they won't know until they diagnose it themselves (for $104 plus tax).
Now if you wonder why I'm going to the dealership, it's because yesterday in the mail I received notice that my car has a platinum warranty on it that is expiring in 10 days. They want me to renew it for some unspecified (likely $2k at least) ammount. I don't normally subscribe to warranties. I know enough about how they work legally, and how much money companies make off of them, so I never buy them myself. This one may save my ass.
My research did turn up, however, that my timing belt may go out at 60K. This is one maintenence I do not screw with. Your timing belt goes, your engine goes. Period. That is not covered by any warrenty, since it's a "consumable" part. According to research, that can be any where from $700 at an independent shop to $1200 at the dealer. I'm going to ask about it tomorrow.
If you asked if I still like my new car, the answer is still undenyably yes. It's exactly what I want for a car right now in my life, I got it for a very cheap price, and I knew that I was running a risk buying a German car. I'm a little miffed that this is all happening now, while Mike is unemployed, and we're trying to live as cheaply as possible, but shit happens and we move forward.
Who knows? Maybe I'll find out it's all something cheap tomorrow, or that the warrenty will cover more. Here's to hoping I get lucky...