14 years in the life of...

well, it's official.

our 1989 Jetta has been declared totalled.

we suspected this would happen. it's still quite sad, though. we hadn't owned it for most of its life, but we'd tried to treat it fairly well for the time we did have it. well, except for the fact that i was learning to drive on it. but. XD

Spaz wrote something very sweet about it in the comments on one of the entries i'd written about the accident below; i'm going to move it into this entry here and now so everyone can read it...

here it is:

i feel rather badly for the car; it's a good car, and it's led a rather difficult life. poor baby's been badly abused. its life definitely has not been lucky, and i feel kind of badly about that (although we didn't own it until a few years ago).

Yes, it has had a difficult life. i feel so sorry for this car. However, i'd like to believe that it's had a relatively good time living out its final years with us.

i've fixed and improved quite a few things with this car. In fact, just yesterday i replaced a piece of trim around the trunk latch that had been broken by some dude at a party. We just put a new CD Stereo in it too. Mechanically, sure it needed new V-Belts & pulleys, and probably a valve-job. But it had already received new radiator hoses, a new low-temp fan switch to help the engine run cooler, totally rebuilt shift linkage and new bushings to help it shift smoother, a new fuel filter, O2 sensor, and knock sensor, starter motor, battery & electrical cables, timing belt, brake pads, spark plugs & wires, distributor cap & rotor, etc... Oh, and a full exhaust system from the manifold all the way back to the tail pipe. A little less than a year ago it got a new clutch installed, and most recently it had all 4 wheel bearings replaced, and a 4 wheel allignment done.

It got some hand-me-downs from the '98 too, like a shift knob & boot, headlight bulbs, a weighted shifter rod, and even 14" alloy wheels & Dunlop snow tyres. Of course, it had one of jan's first successful attempts at making car accessories! A very attractive & well made boot & handle for the hand-brake lever!

Somewhat of a rarity, it was one of the last West German production cars to make it into the USA. Most North American market MkII Jettas were made in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania or Puebla Mexico. It was always fun calling parts departments at VW dealerships... i'd tell them "8v, engine code RV, West German production," to which they would always reply "really?" in a somewhat surprised tone.

And it was a good car. We'd taken it to Indianapolis for the U.S.G.P., with absolutely no worries of getting stranded, and got 40mpg doing it! It always started, even after being burried in snow for a month when i wasn't driving it regularly. The engine ran strong, and reliably, and once i replaced the faulty knock sensor, had a rock solid idle and great throttle response. No, it wasn't a sports car, but it was great fun, totally tossable around corners, and infinitely reliable. Damnit... as old and beat up as the poor thing was, even the sun-roof (manually crank operated, thank you) still worked, and never leaked! ;)

Before we bought the MkII, it was obviously subjected to some trauma. If i had to guess, i would say it's been broken into several times, as the windshield and both passenger side windows were aftermarket glass. Probably the result of vandalizm or 'smash & grabs.' There were a few small holes in the seats, which looked like cigarette burns. Obviously, it had spent nearly all of it's life parked outside, too. Poor thing.

ironically, my brother had just bought my Silver '98 MkIII Jetta the day before, so the '89 MkII Jetta got to spend what will most likely be its last night with us parked in the garage, in the spot formerly reserved for the '98. It seemed to like this too, as it wasn't stuck out in the cold all night, and the engine ran much better today upon start-up than it ever had after being out in the cold all night.

Poor thing... and i had just renewed the tags for another year not even two months ago. =(

While we don't know for sure, i bet it'll be written off due to the extent of the damage and the cost of repairs vs. the car's current value.

We'll miss you. You were a good friend, and one tuff little S.O.B.

Goodbye, MkII.

i'll probably post up a photo later.