When it rains, it pours

I've had the Jetta for just over 6 years now. I love that car. It's fun to drive and it's "stick and move capability" is awesome. Or at least, was until about a month ago. The clutch started to give out. Initially it was subtle; just a slight revving every once in awhile. Then it grew worse. Soon, I couldn't drive it anymore. In case you didn't know, replacing a clutch on a late model European vehicle isn't exactly what one would call affordable. But anyway, I find a mechanic who does this type of thing on the side and then I find the part. Plan was to drive it down to his place (10-15 miles from our house) on Friday night and he would work on it over the weekend.

Adam drove the Jetta. Something about how he trusts his reflexes more than mine. Whatever, I tuned it out. I followed in his car; a '92 Mazda MX3. We're toodling along. Adam can't accelerate like any car other than a Metro so it's slow going but we're getting there. I'm continuously chanting "You can do it!" a la Rob Schneider. Unfortunately, the old girl couldn't do it. 5 miles out from our destination, we had to pull over and call a tow truck. Sweet. There goes another $70. We wait about an hour and a half and he shows, throws my baby on the bed (that sounds wrong), and off we go. 5 miles. Doh. We drop the Jetta off and happily celebrate that she is there and will be fixed soon!

So we start to toodle home. We make plans for dinner and a movie together; a quiet night at home. And then, the unthinkable happens.

Going 65 or 70 down highway 55, all of a sudden the Mazda FREAKS OUT! It's banging, clanking, throwing itself around, and grinding. So we pull over. Honestly, it sounded and felt like something was caught in the wheel well or some such thing. Adam gets out, looks underneath, doesn't see anything. Gets back in the car, starts her up and she purrs (loudly) like normal. Off we go again. 18.7 seconds later, it starts to freak out again. Pull over and repeat. This time when he starts it back up...well, it just wasn't a noise you'll find in nature.

So as the two of us sit, silently, at the side of highway 55 I'm sure you can imagine some of the thoughts playing in our heads. As well as the sailor-esque cussing that weaves its way through. We call the tow company...AGAIN...and line up a tow. Then comes the interesting predicament of not having a car for the weekend. So I call Mom and Dad. They're at Champps. Surprised? :) (I say that with love). Sure, they'll pick us up. Oh good idea, yes you can borrow the car for the weekend. And so we sit. It's about an hour before Mom, Dad, AND the tow truck show up at the same time. It was like a parade! When the guy gets out of the tow truck...wait for it...YES! It's the same guy that towed the Jetta! Sa-weeeet!

So I get the car from Mom and Dad, profusely thank them for their effort, and wait for the Mazda to get loaded. The tricky part about all of this is that we can't get a hold of the mechanic so now we're going to drop a second vehicle off to him, at his home, without talking to him. Take your manners lessons from me kids!

We get to Bob's (the mechanic) house and he's working on the Jetta...slightly stunned and I'd say not at all happy to see car #2 arrive. We get it off the bed and Bob starts 'er up. The look on that mans' face tells me that it was NOT GOOD. Luckily tow truck guy is a talker, so he's still chatting all of our ears off. Eventually it is determined that the engine is blown on the Mazda. Gone. Ran out of oil and imploded. At least 2k to fix it. We can't afford 2k. We can't afford 2k at all let alone for a car that's worth less than half of that in its current state. Tow truck guy turns to me and tells me he'll give me $200 for it right now. He'll haul it away this very minute.

You know how this ends. Between the $116 tow (yeah, I don't know why it was more than the Jetta either) and the $30 full tank of gas I put in it just hours before, we made $50 on the car last night. Poor Adam. That car was his baby. For as much and as viciously as I hated it, he loved it. And wanted to keep loving it forever.

So we are a one car family now for the foreseeable future. We've done it before and we'll be doing it again.

Hopefully the Jetta is in prime condition when we get her back this weekend.