One of my early long term romances were my fleet of VW diesels.  To try to keep me on 4 wheels My father bought my first car after I purchased a motorcycle on craigslist. Only problem was this 1985 Rabbit Diesel needed work, a lot of work. I was enrolled in automotive school at the time, so there was decent support for my work on this vehicle, but ultimately it was months of work before we even got to rebuilding the engine, so motorcycle transport prevailed.

After the Rabbit's battery caught the roof liner on fire and the engine seized up, I decided to adopt another 500$ VW Diesel, a black 1990 VW Jetta with clever looking pinstripes down the sides. My friend's Toyota Corolla did not have a hitching point on the back, so we ended up dragging the Jetta driving in reverse till the Jetta's engine starting running. It needed a new fuel injector like all old VW Diesels, but ultimately was a reliable transport for many years till it dropped a valve in the cylinder. Its hard to describe the mechanical violence 23:1 compression ratio imparts on foreign objects, but it was clear that it was the end of this fine Jetta's service and it was given a proper burial at the scrapyard.

Before the 90 Jetta kicked the bucket, I had an opportunity to buy a 98 Jetta TDI for again 500$. This time my friend had brought the vehicle into a shop kinda running, then it stopped running altogether at the shop and ultimately everyone gave up on it. I took a brief look at it and saw the fuel return lines were suspect. After 9$ in parts at the part store and 15 minutes of time, I was vigorously driving my new turbocharged power house around the block. This this vehicle taught me the importance of taking your time and using quality parts for critical applications. A cheap timing belt cost me an engine head, so I bought a new one and managed to leave the wrench on the driveshaft when cranking. This cause the belt to come off and bend some valves. I of course got it fixed and put it all back together again, just to leave the wrench on the same crankshaft nut and crash the motor again. I gave up on that engine, but I continue to nurture a mindful approach to technical problem solving.