It took 3 dads, two cars, 3 trips to the dealership and 4 parts store runs

But The Boss Lady's VW is back, baby!

Racecar Man walked me though the repair last weekend. Turned out that the car had a bad rear shock mount. I figured if one was bad, they both would be bad soon. So I ordered them. And since I was working back there, might as well install some new shocks. Since you are supposed to replace the bolts needed in this repair, I decided to pick them up at the dealership. $125 for parts is still a lot better than whatever the shop would have charged.

Last night I got all of the tools together to get the job done quickly. I had to raid Racecar Man's stash and make a quick run to the tool store. But everything was waiting for us when we got back with the last of the parts.

New shock mounts arrived at the parts store this morning. I was there at 8:17am to bring our treasure home. The broken side was buttoned up by 9:20. Since the repair had gone easily, I decided to swap out the other side, too. By 9:45 The Princess and I were cruising around the neighborhood with both new rear shocks installed and no creaking or groaning noises coming from the car. Yeah for us!

I was feeling so good about finishing the job with no complications, other than waiting on parts for days on end..., that I figured we would give the Bug the once over and a good cleaning.

Can you feel the sense of dread and impending doom?

Anyways, I topped off the windshield washer fluid without incident. Then I checked the oil.

That is when all hell broke loose. Or at least I thought it had for a few minutes. Turns out was just the plastic oil fill tube shattering into a million pieces. At least one of which fell right into the oil pan. I watched slide down it in that cool but totally helpless sports/horror movie zoomed in slow motion view.

A quick call to Other Dad and I borrowed his car for a ride back to the dealership. Sure, I could have driven the truck, but The Princess is home today and I did not want both of us stranded across town if it broke down. While I was there one of the mechanics assured me that any piece should be caught by the oil pump screen and will hopefully drain out with the next oil change.

Yep. He said "should" and "will hopefully". And those are the two words I am taking to the bank.

Anyways, we got home, installed the new $8 oil fill tube and after I read the same advice on a VW net forum, we cranked Itty Bitty up and went for a ride. So far, no blown engine. Let's hope that trend continues until I can get the oil changed later this week.