are Volkswagens off-topic?


Well, my 93 Golf finally refused to transport me, for the first time.
I was about to come to a stop at a stop sign on a downhill (I *do*
stop at stop signs) on Diamond at 29th, and it felt like I'd run into
a boulder... it absolutely jammed. The engine and clutch worked, it
shifted, but it moved like it was welded to the Earth, ie, not a mm.

So I called the tow truck. Luckily, the location is high and green,
breezy, with a nice view of downtown, so the wait was pleasant, even
though the car was in the middle of the street. I got a few dirty
looks and 5 offers of help, a pretty good ratio.

The tow-truck driver asked to try it himself before he towed it away.
It was still locked solid, but he put it in reverse and it backed
right up! Going forward, it locked again in a couple of feet; backed
once more, and it was fixed. Smart guy! I drove it to my repair guys,
they pulled the tranny pan, and of course they found a gear tooth.

This car has 62K miles on it, and I drive mostly on hills, and I must
shift 20 times per mile, so that's a million or two shifts so far, so
I guess I can't bitch too much. The synchronizers had been getting
soft lately, so the gears have taken a beating.

So,

1) Should I keep driving it for a week or so, until I get a new car?
There's no audible nastiness, so I must have just knocked off the top
of a tooth.

2) Should I get another VW? The 5-cylinder 2.5l looks interesting.

3) Manual or automatic? Shifting keeps me amused and feels macho, and
an automatic would make me feel like a little old lady, but these
hills are hell on clutches and manual gearboxes.

And why did they call them Rabbits in the first place, then call them
Golfs, and now call them Rabbits again?

John


.

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