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The New Car (Jay takes the keyboard)

Because of the problem of proper disposal, along with the special tools and necessary expertise required, we strongly recomend that you have your oil changed by an authorized VOLKSWAGEN dealer or a qualified workshop.

Wow. Bolded and italicized. This must be *really* important.

Never mind that the nearest VW dealer is in Anchorage (i.e., more than 300 miles away).

So, yup, Jay got the exact car he was wishing for– down to the color. He’ll be stepping in in a moment to give all the specs (he’s been reading the manual all evening) and here’s a pix he just took:

new-car.jpg

Cute little car. We bought it from a couple with two little kids who said they were running out of room and needed a bigger car.

The wife seemed positively embarrassed when she heard we were buying it with three kids in our family.

What I know:

  • It’s cute.
  • It will fit the whole family if we need it to.
  • Manual transmission
  • CD/tape players
  • Heated seats
  • Fabulous gas mileage due to diesel engine.

Jay will now take over and give as much as you’ll ever need to know.

If you haven’t guessed from the picture it is a blue 2002 Volkswagen Golf GLS with the TDI (turbo diesel) engine. It is basically exactly what I’ve been looking for to replace the Ford Escort. I was looking to get one a few years newer, but then I went flying in the Cessna 172, and I decided that I needed to conserve money so I can get my pilots license. The main reason for this car is the “fabulous” gas mileage (as Amy put it): mid 40’s in town and low 50’s on the highway. Experiencing it was a blast too, we picked the car up (in Anchorage) with ~180 miles on the tank and drove to Fairbanks, and I still have more then a quarter tank left (over 500 miles total). 🙂 🙂 The other reason is that the Golf is a very upscale economy car: heated seats, auto up/down windows, speed adjusted volume, etc. One of the nice things with the diesel engine is that with the lots of torque you don’t have to down shift very often, which makes cruise control just about as simple as in an automatic. It is definitely a different experience to pass without the engine howling and screaming at high rpm’s.

Despite the dire warning I think that I will be changing the oil myself. 🙂