0-60 in 7.8 seconds...if you can start it...

So we finally got a new car. We probably need another one for a commuter, but, you know, baby steps. It's a 2004 VW Touareg. And it's nasty. 2004 Motor Trend SUV of the Year. Porsche Cayenne frame. Audi V-8. Leather. Flippin' Sweet!

I took off work early on Wednesday and went to trade in the Trooper. On the nasty drive home froim Cuz's, I vowed that the next time I drove it over the hill would be the last time. It didn't occur to me at the time that that is a really potentially morbid thing to vow.

Anyway, a friend of ours (Eva - I mean Marla from the 4th of July post) works at a dealership and they had two '04s on the lot, one black, one beige. I went with the beige because our black Jetta doesn't hide dirt well at all and the bird poop really stands out. Also, the beige, although it has more miles (47,000), was in much better shape, was more cush, and felt safer on the test drive. Not sure the why of that other than the owner of the black one put some really hard miles on it, or perhaps he had a sportier suspension.

Anyway, I buy the thing, take it home, and park it up by the mailboxes. I then put the key in the mailbox and walked home. I tell Rachel the Trooper broke down (a very believable story) and asked her to come for a ride with me in the golf cart to get the mail so I could vent.

On the ride there, I tell her a great story about how and where the Trooper broke down and what a pain in the ass it was and how I couldn't reach her on her cell phone, and it's a good thing our friend Marc runs a towing service and she's buying it. And she opens the mailbox. And she gets the key and is thrilled.

So she drives it home and I drive the golf cart home and we go inside and decide to go take a ride to get some dinner. I let her drive. We get in and she goes to put the key in the ignition and says, "That's weird." And as I say, "What's weird?" she goes to put the key in again and the ignition switch disappears and falls in behind the dash.

There's a hole in my dash where my key used to go.

Piece 1 there is the root of the problem. My part 1 is a flimsy little plastic O-ring, nothing as substantial as the 1 shown in the picture. Thanks to spockcat at ClubTouareg.com for the schematic).

I dropped many f-bombs. And the dealership was closed by this time. I called my friend and she said, "Just bring it in." And I waited a polite few seconds before I said, "Well, I'd love to if I could start it." So she called the owner and he said it has to go to Volkswagen because there's 3,000 left on the factory warranty before the warranty I purchased kicks in. And it's going to have to be towed there - 40 miles or so.

But then I managed to fish it out of the dash using two tent stakes. So it's in place and all. So we can start and drive it. And it has an appointment at the VW dealer in Vallejo. And I'm supposed to get the royal treatment because dear Sis has a friend Robert that used to work there. Thanks again Sis.

There some hassles on the horizon, but McConnell is going to give us a loaner while it's in the shop. So in 2-6 days, we'll have it back.

It is cush and fast and has ridiculous conveniences. Like if you unlock the car with my remote, it sets the seat and mirrors to my position and if Rachel unlocks the car with her remote it sets them to hers. The stereo cranks. It's like a light show driving at night. It is just fantastic - the nicest car we've ever owned, and probably ever will.

That is, you know, once we get it back from the shop and all.

Gotta run now. Mike and Dolores are already here, having brought Jake home from a visit with his Dad and some friends in Petalumer. And Lauren and Paul are coming up after work. Gotta take the Treg (that's apparently what the uber-cool owners call them) down to the grocery store. We will be getting a lot more exercise parking at the back of lots from now on.