Goodbye, Jetta, Pt. 2

[Tom Boyer <cyng@lamere.net>]

Greetings.

   Well, the insurance company did declare the car a total loss. In fact, 
their assessor estimated the damages at $11,240. Value of the car was 
about two hundred dollars more than that. Thus, a total loss.

   After the assessor looked at it, I went by to take another look. 
Apparently, the assessor had been able to open the hood, because I was 
able to. Smashola. The battery was in contact with the coolant expansion 
tank. The power steering fluid reservoir had been destroyed, with pieces 
(and fluid) everywhere. The exhaust header had ripped from the back of 
the engine (which betokens an engine that has moved, and thus quite 
likely torn or damaged the engine mounts). Obviously, the radiator is 
absolutely smashed. The driver's-side front quarter panel got tilted and 
pushed up and back, which is what made the door difficult to open - it 
dented the door's leading edge. It also pulled up and away from the wheel 
well (and the tire), which brought the mud flap in contact with the back 
of that tire. My year-old Neuspeed upper tie bar remained fastened to the 
strut towers, but it's askew (which indicates that the strut towers are 
askew). The windshield, I now notice, is splintered, and there are TWO 
dimples in the roof, not one.

   I have taken photographs, and will be making a little web suite for 
them. I'll let give you the URL when it's up and running, so that you can 
see for yourselves how your car will look once you've installed the Dodge 
Neon upgrade.

   I do have a Garret chip that's for sale. It's about the only thing 
that I still have that's not broken. That's because it wasn't in the car. 
In fact, it's never been in any car. I never got around to having my ECU 
socketed. The chip was purchased at Waterfest in 1999 for I think $120. 
I'm willing to sell it for $75. If you're interested in purchasing this 
Garret chip, intended for my 1995 GLX, send me an email privately.

   In other news, we went and test-drove a 2001 Jetta 1.8T. It's a pretty 
nice car. This one was silver and had the sport luxury package (17" 
alloys, suspension, moonroof), the moonsoon sound system (not half bad), 
cold weather package (since I'm in Maine), and 9 miles on the dial. 
Unfortunately, it doesn't have an MFA. Anyhow, it drove very nicely. It's 
quiet and smooth. Almost no wind noise. Driving 50mph with the moon roof 
all the way open and no deflector gave hardly any noise at all. Cornering 
was smooth and responsive. In fact, the whole car was incredibly 
responsive. The sport luxury package suspension is really nice and firm, 
and quite predictable. The brake felt somewhat soft, but that may be due 
to the car's age. The only thing that the car lacked was the hammering 
punch of the VR6. Being forced to drive our doggy Grand Am these days, I 
really miss that surge I'd get when mashing my Jetta's accellerator. The 
turbo lag was definitely there. But, it's a 20-valve engine, and the AMS 
chip, I believe, brings it from the factory-rated 150bhp to 196bhp, and 
ups the torque to something in the vicinity of 220ft-lbs. I wonder if 
that'll do the trick.

   I'm interested in buying this one at some point in the next month or 
two. If you have any information about the vehicle, please share!

   Well, that's it for now. The search for the pre-1993 Cabriolet 
continues. We'll see how it all pans out. Thanks to you folks who shared 
your concern. And wear your seatbelt.

-Tom Boyer
ex-1995 GLX (black/black) - Dodge Neon feature added