Drivers, Good or Bad, Wanted

I am so in love with my 1997 Golf K2, that I named her Sadie. It is just such an attractive car! The sleek, yet boldly boxy profile is what made it for me, when I bought it brand new in 1997, and the performance has for the most part backed up its appealing appearance.

In six years , Sadie and I have gone about 130,000 miles on the together, and I am not a very gentle driver. We drove across the county and back, which took about three months. We really racked up some mileage doing that. We have been baja'ing, racing, curb hopping and generally wreaking havoc. Needless to say I can still rely on it to get me to work everyday! We have had a lot of good times that would not have been possible in a inferior vehicle.

I cannot say that I have not had issues with my Golf, though. Due to my extremely erratic driving, the car has really been tested. I am currently not using third gear, due to my own poor driving skills. I will need to have the transmission rebuilt at some point, but my trusty mechanic came to that conclusion over a year ago, and we are still doing just fine without third.

Other things that bug me about my Golf: the tape deck is not reliable, the alarm system is touchy, and my sun roof is out of commission. On a less abused Volkswagen, I would say that electrical problems are the main aggravation. I have seen Sadie do some very strange things electrically. For some reason, the right hand turn signal will not light up if you depress the brake pedal. I didn't realize the two things shared a fuse.

Despite some rather odd electrical features, I am still very proud to be a Volkswagen Golf owner. I attribute a lot of my complaints to my own reckless driving habits, and I actually applaud the design of the car for withstanding the test of me as a driver. I mean the ad only asked for drivers - not necessarily good ones.