Roof Rack Additions

A co-worker of mine was looking to buy a roof rack for her Tiguan. Her husband wanted to get a couple kayaks and her car was the only one they could use to transport them. She knew I had one and that I research everything before buying. Like me she was concerned that she would have trouble using her panoramic sunroof if she got one. I explained my research and suggested she save some money by looking on craigslist.

I wanted to send some suggestions so I did the search myself and up came a whole bunch of racks and attachments. I had wanted to get a second bike rack for sometime but didn't want to drop the $150 retail + the adaptor kit for the t-channel. As luck would have it I saw an t-channel configured Big Mouth 599XTR for $50. I wasted no time and e-mailed the guy and set a plan to meet right after work. I'm $50 poorer but now I have a second bike rack at a fraction of the price. The only difference is that it had Honda end caps but I had already ordered a second set of the Thule end caps since I had lost one of mine. I never used them because I had found it before the replacement arrived.

 

Task 20 - Pay off Car Loan

When I bought my current car I had a choice between 36 and 60 month terms. I opted for the 60 month term since my bank was running a promotion for used cars reducing the APR to the same as the 36 month loan. There was no early payment penalty so I figured why not take the longer term and I would just plan to pay as if it was a 48 month term. 

I take very good care of my vehicles and keep up with preventative maintenance. I knew I had a timing belt coming soon so I took the car in early to get it done. I even paid cash to get a better price.  It was a mechanic I had used before and that my parents had used for years. Unfortunately shortly after that maintenance the timing belt skipped and ruined the engine. It was very disappointing that a bad mechanic could throw such an expensive wrench in my plans.

I managed to find a new mechanic who was honest and fairly priced who put my car back together at a more affordable price then the dealership wanted to charge. This however significantly slowed my increased payment stream since I first had to cover the 2800 engine I just had installed. I decided to slow my payments to the required amount only and replenish my savings account I had just drained.

While that slowed me down about 7 months I am happy to report that the car is paid off and the title in hand. It’s a great feeling not having a payment anymore. I have 120k miles on the car averaging 30k+ a year and hope to get a couple more years before needing to replace it. I plan to continue to pay myself the car payment to savings as a future down payment on a new car to keep the next loan as small as possible and also to help fund my Murphy Fund.
 

VW GTI Car Trouble Update

Finally today I got my car back. Its been almost nearly 3 weeks since the process started but I am pleased with the end result and even more happy that I found a mechanic that knows his stuff and isn't out to fleece his customers.

So finally list of items repaired. New engine, thermostat, and starter. I got a used motor rather then a new out of the box since replacing the motor doesn't effect the odometer reading of the car. The thermostat and starter while not related to the problem were replaced since they were almost due and it was easier to take car of it all while the engine was reassembled and put back in.

I won't go into too much detail since I want to run the car for a few weeks to make sure everything is perfect but so far so good "Knocking on wood".

VW GTI Car Trouble

About 2 weeks ago on Friday I had a some car trouble on my way to work. The car stuttered while in cruise control and it felt like I had lost most power. Thankfully I was less then a mile from the office and managed to limp into the company parking lot.
 
Knowing something was wrong I asked a co-worker of mine who had previously been a mechanic for his thoughts. One of the perks of working in the manufacturing industry is the variety of both blue and white collar employee's.  He suggested we check the engine codes using a ODBII tool he just so happen to have in his car. It showed a series of engine misfires.
 
Not being a VW expert he suggested I have the dealership take a look at it. After a quick call to the dealership and asking if it was safe to drive I headed up the highway a few exits to the local VW Dealership.  I met my parents there who were kind enough to lend me a car for the rest of the day so I could return to work.
 
They diagnosed the issue as a failed fuel injector and unfortunately they didn't have the part in stock and would not be able to get it until the following Monday. With no real option except to wait until the car was fixed I was stuck with no car for the weekend.
 
Monday came and the fuel injector was replaced by 12:00. Unfortunately after replacing the fuel injector the car was still running rough and still misfiring. With the car not running as it should they continued to diagnose the problem and by about 4:00 and not hearing from them I called again. This time I got even worse news. The engine had a blown piston as it was described to me and would need to be replaced and that it would cost an estimated 6,000 to repair or 5,500 to replace on top of the 550 it already cost to replace the fuel injector. 
 
The service department recommended that I trade the car in rather then replace the motor. Not ever having any reason to not trust them they called up to sales and asked them to give me a call to help move the process along.
 
This was a huge mistake. After several wasted visits to the sales floor and them unable to give me any concrete answer to what they would be willing to offer me for my car I got frustrated and decided I would investigate the alternative to repair or replace the motor.
 
Not satisfied that they had properly diagnosed the car and wastefully installed a fuel injector that I wouldn't need if I traded it in or replace the motor I had a less then friendly conversation with the service department. Only after speaking directly to the technician who did the work did they admit that with a little more testing they would have been able to diagnose it was more then a fuel injector. During that conversation I manged to get them to drop the cost of repalceing the motor from 5,500 to 4600. I didn't give them the go ahead since I still thought it was too much.
 
This process took over a week and was annoying so I began calling around to other repair shops. All suggested that the cost from the dealer wasn't just high but outrageous. I confronted the dealership about the excessive bill and they offered to remove the fuel injector and the charges and let me take the car anywhere I wanted.
 
I offered them one last chance to match a price of 3,200 I had received from a local repair shop. They managed to drop the cost to 3,800 + the 550 I already owed them for the fuel injector.  Not satisfied with their counter offer I asked them to remove the fuel injector as they offered and let me know when I could have the car towed from their garage.
 
Now over a week since I first brought them the car I called AAA and scheduled the pick up of my car. It was like a circus at the dealership with everyone watching from the repair department as my car was loaded on the flatbed.
 
For the first time since the start did I feel like progress was being made. I followed the flatbed to the new repair shop and met the mechanic who would replace my motor. He was younger then I had expected but he clearly knew what he was talking about and told me he wanted to take the rest of the day to do his own diagnosis and would call me in the morning to let me know what he thought my car really needed.
 
When I woke the following morning I was waiting anxiously for his phone call and he didn't keep me waiting. Unfortunately the news was not good and the dealership's insistence that the car needed a motor was accurate. I never particularly disputed their diagnosis just the cost to fix it and the hassle to get them to give me a true estimate to repair. He spent the rest of the day sourcing the best motor for my car at the most affordable price. He managed to find an engine that was a tad cheaper then the first quote and reduced my repair cost from 3,200 to 2,900. a bonus 300 savings I didn't expect.
 
Once the motor was picked up he began the process of swapping the motor out. He suggested I stop by anytime to check on the progress and see how it was coming along. Today I stopped by for the first time and won't lie I was a bit overwhelmed. I found my car with the entire front end apart and the motor in pieces. 
 
Chris the mechanic could tell that I was a bit overwhelmed and assured me that what I was seeing was progress and that by Monday it would be all back together and running better then ever. He also took the opportunity to show me the failure on my old motor.
 
I have attached the pictures below. On Monday hopefully I'll be able to update that I have my car back and that everything is working perfectly.
 

The first pictures show the piston with several contact marks where it had somehow made contact with the exhaust valve showin in picture two. I asked him what was the likely culprit and he indicated it was tough to say but thought it was most likely the result of the timing being off.  I just had that done about 2 months ago but unfortunatley he said it is nearly impossible to prove that was the cause.