…my VW Golf would’ve been shot and put out of its misery a few years ago.
Today’s latest adventure with the car involved it setting off the alarm indefinitely which also disables the ignition until it’s reset. The hard part is doing this with both front-door locks being busted…for several years. VW’s Roadside Assistance was of no use unless I wanted the car towed or needed help putting on the spare tire. The uglier problem is finding a mechanic or dealership open on Sunday in Texas. You’d have better luck finding a Democratic candidate who could defeat Rick Perry in this state.
Right now we’re on Plan B (borrowing a car from the in-laws) until I get the assessment from Underground, hopefully tomorrow. I would’ve preferred Plan C (renting a car for the interim due to my immediate plans) but thanks to Austin’s recent hail storm, every place is booked until Thursday, except for Bergstrom (Airport). If I have to drive that far South, I might as well hit the car dealerships in the region too.
Fingers crossed Toby’s crew can solve this and it won’t cost very much. I had to call Jose today to let him know my car decided that we won’t be joining him in Las Vegas around his birthday next month. The upside is…well, I think it’s too early to declare an upside until tomorrow as this will push the VW’s average cost to $100/month now.
Update Apr. 19, 2009 (Evening): After I demonstrated to my father-in-law (Tom) how my car was freaking out and disabling the engine through the alarm system, he decides to disconnect the battery, thus killing the incessant honking/flashing lights. This much I figured made sense because I didn’t want to exhaust the battery with four-minute bursts of aural torture nor did we want to tow it in such a state. But I countered that the steering wheel would be crippled (correct). So Tom chose to reconnect the battery temporarily, hoping there was a way to regain steering control. Voila! The whole alarm system reset itself which I thought was impossible and the car started. Tom then told me the negative cable connector had come off with little effort anyway. He theorized something had bumped it enough to interrupt the flow and triggered the anti-theft system. I don’t find it re-assuring though. My car can still be stolen if what we did worked most of the time. Bust the window, pop the hood, disconnect the battery, wait a minute, re-attach the battery, unlock the car from inside and hotwire the ignition. The only downside to this strategy is the radio being in a frozen state without the special code. Yeah, I’m sure the car thief’s disappointment over what a fence would give him for a broken cassette deck-FM/AM radio could give me solace in the loss of my wheels.
My in-laws were gracious enough to follow Somara and me all the way to Underground because I want Toby to give it a once over. Tom probably fixed it. Me? I won’t the touch battery. Knowing my luck, I’ll get zapped real well despite my recent Apple Hardware certification on CRTs.
Fingers remain crossed due to my upcoming agenda requiring a car to get around Austin.