Not a Total Waste of Time...

If you've been reading my ramblings for some time, you may recall this post from last December, where I described how I fixed the rear window of my VW and documented the process on Flickr.

I described the photo set as a "self-paced auto-mechanic class in high school that you never took but wished you had". To my surprise and elation (I helped someone!), it turns out that someone did take my class, and recently left me this comment:

This is precisely what I intend to do to my door today. The window's been held up by tape for long enough. Someone tried to cut the tape and get in. I'm just going to prop the thing up and remove the tape.

This photostream is exactly what I needed to make sure it could be done. Thank you.

MPG

The other day I brought my 1997 VW Jetta into the shop to get fixed.

When I walked in the main door of the VW dealership I walked past a few new cars -- a Passat, a Rabbit, and a Jetta. It seemed like the average City MPG rating was around 20-22, and a Highway rating of around 28-32 MPG.

My 10 year old Jetta averages 28 MPG. Anyone else find it painful that in the past ten years automobile engines for the most part have not become any more fuel efficient? You can go buy a car that tells you where to turn, heats your butt, plays movies, and helps you parallel park...but you can't buy one that takes you 60 miles on a gallon of gas?

But now for the real question: Who's to blame? If we consumers didn't purchase these inefficient machines, would automobile companies continue to make them? I think not.

Fix Your VW

My 1997 Volkswagen Jetta's rear windows don't like to stay up. My left one fell down by itself 3 years ago when I first lived in Minneapolis. Although I didn't (and still don't) know a thing about cars, I was determined to fix this problem by myself. I had graduated from college and was finally self-sufficient. Shouldn't I therefore be able to fix a little problem like a broken automatic window?

I scoured the internet and found some hints of how to get started. Slowly but surely, I kept making progress, and finally figured out the problem. I called up the dealership, picked up a replacement part, and fixed the window. It was honestly one of my more rewarding experiences -- no one really thought I'd be able to fix it, including myself. I just figured it was worth a shot. Who knew? (Joost -- you would have been so proud!)

Recently, the same thing happened to my right rear window. This time, armed with my trusty camera, I documented the fix. You can view the set here. It's like a self-paced auto-mechanic class in high school that you never took but wished you had.