On Thursday, January 26th, my 12-year-old Piece of Shit (POS) car died and left me stranded on I-94, making me late getting to the bar (obviously, the last straw for me). Chris and Elliot had to come rescue me and if I'd had a baseball bat handy, I totally would've gone Office Space on it before leaving it at the side of the road. It was the second time in two days it had left me stranded because it overheated for no obvious (translation: inexpensive) reason. We came back to get the car on Friday, hoping that I could get it home without having to have it towed. We didn't have to have it towed, but it took two days for me to get it back home. Saturday morning, I parked it in front of the house in the spot where our old VWs apparently go to die and then we drove to Perrysburg, OH to look at a used car. I drove back that night, in hock up to my eyeballs, in this:
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| Stock photo from the internet because I'm lame and didn't take proper pictures. |
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| Isn't it just like me to only take a picture of the ass-end of my new car?! Still pretty awesome though! |
I bought a 2007 VW GTI Fahrenheit with less than 25K miles on it! It's beauteous. I think it sends one of two possible messages: I've hit my midlife crisis early or I'm clearly not having more children. Or both. The funny thing is that I bought it from the same dealer I bought my 2000 Jetta from, brand new. VW only made 1200 Fahrenheit edition GTIs in the US and 150 in Canada, and they are all numbered (there's even a registry). As you can see, it's BRIGHT orange. It's an automatic, but it has a Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG) with paddle shifters. Essentially, it has a dual clutch that allows for almost seamless automatic shifting as well as "manual shifting" using up/downshift paddles located on the steering wheel. I've only tried the manual mode once in an empty parking lot, as I'm a little afraid that I will break my new car. It's fast and even the exhaust burble is sweet. The downside to having a fast orange car is that it's ORANGE!!!! I've been driving it like a grandma because I'm afraid of getting pulled over. I've only ever been pulled over once and I've never had a ticket, and I don't want to start with all that now. Aside from salt trucks and road patching crews, I'm pretty much the only bright orange vehicle on the road. If the registry is reasonably accurate (I haven't updated it yet), my #722 is joining only 8 other Fahrenheits in Michigan. As far as I can tell, mine is the only one in Metro Detroit/SE Michigan, so if you see one driving around or cutting you off in traffic, it's probably me. Sorry in advance.
