Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Patience, young Padawan

Ever since I purchased my new-to-me 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI last October, I’ve been doing small jobs here and there every weekend. The downside of buying a used car is that there’s bound to be existing blemishes and inconsistencies. The upside is obviously you save a bit of money buying second-hand. Though I didn’t really have a choice: if I wanted a seventh generation GTI, used is the only game in town.

I’ve no interest in the LCD-screen festooned eight generation GTI currently on the market. Car interiors should have physical buttons and dials, and I will gladly die on this hill.

In the process of fixing up a car, you kind of realize things about yourself. I found out that I tend to dive in without a care. Rambo-ing it. Leroy Jenkins. The consequence of this is that I’ve broken a few parts that I wouldn’t have otherwise. No big deal in the grand scheme of things because thankfully the Golf platform has parts a plenty - VW has sold millions of them. Nevertheless, I’ve learned that I got to be a lot more patient.

The enthusiasm stems from me wanting to get the job done as quickly as possible. Because I am chasing that sense of accomplishment after the work is finished. There’s nothing more grating to me than leaving in the middle of a project to tend to the human stuff. Like going to bathroom, eating, or going to bed. My personality is such that open-ended loops are crushingly stressful for me.

Owning the GTI have slowly weened me off that affliction. Because there’s nothing I can do about waiting for a replacement part to arrive. It’s already bad enough that I broke it in the first place, but then I get to stew in my incompetence and impatience. I’m not rich at all to pay for overnight shipping. Ever so slowly I am learning to tolerate - hopefully reach peace someday - open-ended loops.

Owning brand new cars is way less stressful for sure. But then I wouldn’t have learned a lesson about myself.

I'm once again asking for competence

When you trade you hard-earned money for a service or item, you expect to be treated correctly. No need overly slobber over my knob, no: I’m just asking for mere competence. Do the job properly! Return emails and phone calls in a timely manner. You know, basic customer service stuff.

In the never-ending journey of fixing my used 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI back up to my standards of acceptable quality, I’ve been buying quite a few parts. In order to save as much as possible, certain items I’m okay with buying used on eBay. It’s already a used car: there’s no point to making it perfect.

The previous owner of the Golf must have frequently hauled large items in the hatch. Which is great, because I love seeing cars being used for its intention. However, that means the inner hatch cover of the GTI is a bit too beat up for my liking. One side doesn’t even fit flush anymore.

I bought a replacement panel on eBay off a wrecked car. However, the seller failed to cover the entire piece in cardboard. When the shipping company - doesn’t matter who, really; they all don’t give a crap - inevitably drags the part on the ground, the exposed corners got marred. Not the end of the world, but annoying nevertheless. You’d think a seller of used car parts would know how to package them properly for transit.

From a different seller I purchased a used rear door skin. This seller actually covered the entire thing in cardboard. It’s a sad state of affairs that I have to be impressed at mere competence, but here we are. At least I’ve now found a known quality seller, should I need additional replacements parts for the VW.

If you’re looking for car parts off of wrecked cars, look first at Enthusiast Car Parts.

Two things of awesome

No matter how many times I empty the water tank on my dehumidifier, it never ceases to amaze me just how much moisture it has pulled out of the air. A true wonder of technology that the same heat pump that functions as an air conditioner can also serve to dehumidify a space. What did people do before its invention? Oh right, Chinese people used mothballs - to prevent mold - so much that it became a discriminatory meme.

In humid San Francisco - the city’s famous fog is essentially 100% humidity, a dehumidifier is an absolute must. Especially if you’re like me and live on a semi-subterranean first level of a very old house. I’ve found out the hard way that if not controlled for, humidity will cause mold growth in closets and drawers. Any steel that isn’t stainless will rust.

Another gadget that’s an absolute must in San Francisco is a dashcam. Even for someone like me who does not have a driving commute, having a recorder in the car is cheap insurance against the vagaries of other San Francisco drivers. You just never know if some old lady might plow her car into a bus stop. When actual auto insurance is the complete opposite of cheap, it matters greatly there exists concrete proof of your innocence. (Conversely, if you drive like an idiot all the time, maybe don’t get a dashcam to record your crimes against fellow humanity.)

For what brand of dash cam to buy, this Project Farm video is a fantastic reference. For my particular car - a 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI - I was able to draw power from the rain sensor right above the rearview mirror, using this device. No need sling and tuck a huge length of cable in order to power the camera. The dashcam turns on and begins recording automatically when the Golf’s ignition is pressed. It’s something to setup once and forget about.

Because you really don’t want to have to use it, right? Even if an accident is not your fault, it still requires time and effort to get the car repaired. In my many hours of watching online dashcam fail videos, the best device to prevent collision: brakes. It seems the larger the ego, the less willingness to used the brakes. Me? A bruised ego and temporary indignation is worth the tradeoff for an unblemished car. Drive wisely, my friends.

The waiting game

Before you buy anything on Amazon, it’s smart to check camelcamelcamel on an item’s historical pricing. Has it been cheaper in recent weeks? Is the discount really a discount, or did the vendor simply raise the price then handed out coupons? If you’re able to wait, it’s good strategy to ensure you’re getting the best price. All the randomized savings here and there can add up bigly.

Amazon, not content to let a third party service get all the ad revenue, have rolled out historical pricing check right in the item description. The “Rufus AI” doesn’t go as far back as camelcamelcamel - the past 90 days versus for as long as an item has been listed, but I reckon three months is sufficient data to see if you’re getting ripped off. Who cares if a thing is $20 cheaper back in 2021. Inflation comes for everything and everyone.

I however am incapable for waiting. The worst part of online shopping is the lag time between ordering and the package arriving at the door. Especially if the item is part of a bigger project I am working on.

I bought a used VW Golf GTI back in October, and I’ve been slowly fixing the flaws left behind by the previous owner. The goal isn’t to make it perfect again - as much as I want to. The goal is to refresh the car to a level where it would be as if I had owned it the entire time. A portion of that is buying new parts to replaced worn out ones. And the worst thing that can happen to me is seeing that an item is backordered.

It seems I don’t get satisfaction until something is done. This in between process stuff is merely an annoyance. Good things come to those who wait? Forget that! I want a project done as quickly as possible so I can move on to other things. In the meantime I’ve got to look at an unfinished - to me - car, and it bugs me every time.

That backordered set of wheels cannot come soon enough.

There's another problem

For the obsessive compulsive, buying a used car has one big advantage: it comes already imperfect! Having purchased three new cars in my life thus far, I can say the agony of that first flaw - usually a curb rash on the wheel - hurts a metric ton. The car is no longer perfect, and it is all my fault.

A used car solves that problem. The previous owner(s) blemished the car already. It’s physical impossible to keep a car perfect, short of trailering it from the factory right into a hermetically sealed, climate controlled garage. Forever.

Sadly, the compulsion to keep something perfect rear its head in another way. A few months ago I bought a used 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Ever since delivery, I’ve been fighting a battle to refrain from making it perfect again. Existing curb rashes on the wheels? I should buy a brand new set. The leather steering wheel is excessively worn? A replacement isn’t that much money. What’s another interior trim piece to “fix” the unsightly scratches?

See the problem? Instead of obsessively trying to keep a new car perfect, I am instead obsessively trying to make a used car perfect. Both are bad, I do not recommend. Soon as they figure out a pill for this malady I shall be first in line.

The financially conscious part of me is doing its best to keep the spending in check. The goal is to have a functioning car, properly maintained. Perfection is optional. Replacing wear items like perished rubber window trim is entirely appropriate. Replacing an interior button because the lettering has worn down? I shall not go that far. Not in this economy.

I will be replacing the wheels on the GTI. Because one of them is bent. I’ll allow the extravagance of buying four new wheels, even though I could easily buy just the one to replace the broken rim. We car enthusiasts sure love new car parts, straight from anywhere, not just Japan.

Bad luck for car enthusiast

As a car enthusiast, sometimes luck simply isn’t on your side. I’m not talking about the big sorrowful events like horrible accidents, but rather mundane annoyances that strikes at random (like a scraped bumper), and should you be so unlucky, a cluster of them seems to hit you all at once.

Mind you I am not talking about me, thank heavens, though back in April just about the biggest rock chip I’ve ever seen was thrown into the upper portion of the GT3’s bonnet. Actually, there was also that rear tire puncture as well, which turned out to be quite the chore to fix. But no, compared to my brother’s year with his mark 7 Golf GTI, I’d consider myself fortunate.

Indeed, said brother have only had the car for one year, and within that time-span the following misfortune occurred to his precious little hot hatch. First was the time during his move back to university for the Fall semester, and my clumsy dad absentmindedly scraped the rear quarter panel when he attempted to stuff the mini fridge into the rear passenger compartment (it didn’t fit through the aperture, obviously). Shortly after that, the GTI got broken into whilst parked in the lot of a restaurant, necessitating a replacement of the rear passenger window, plus that annoying tiny triangular glass at the corner that doesn’t really do anything.

California saw its wettest rain season in many years, so road conditions this winter was not very good. My brother drove over a set of light-rail tracks thinking nothing of it, but lurking adjacent to far rail was an enormous pothole. It obliterated the front left tire, requiring an emergency trip to the nearest tire shop. Now my brother did take this opportunity to swap the crappy stock all-season tires with a solid set of summer performance boots, which I have to say utterly transformed the GTI’s character. However, I’m sure his wallet holds a different opinion.

Lastly, a month ago an errant stone chip to the windshield proved a bit on the too large side, causing two parallel cracks to form at lower left quadrant, directly in the sight-line of the driver. My brother is still in the process of getting that replaced, which is another chunk of change that with better luck could’ve been avoided.

That’s all part of owning a car, isn’t it? To keep a car pristine, stuff in a garage forever; otherwise, it’s simply things a driver has to deal with. A person could go for years without a puncture, then suffer multiples of them within a short time. I jokingly told my brother that he doesn’t have to deal with any of this if he’d only take the bus instead.

Like I do. Sort of.

Hot hatches are awesome

I have indeed seen the light.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI is universally known for being the best all-round car for the money, an indefeatable combination of power, sports, and utility. If you need one singular car to do everything in, and you’ve only got around $30,000, the GTI is the definitive answer.

Which explains my excitement a year ago when my brother brought home a brand new 2018 edition of the GTI. I’ve never driven one up until then so I was eager to get a taste of what everyone’s been raving about. For sure it seats four adults in comfort, and the boot can swallow a surprising amount of gear; but does the Golf GTI really live up to its sporting acclaims?

Initial impressions were a bit of a disappointment. Yes, the power from the 2.0-liter turbo four is wholly sufficient, and the torque shove is tremendous fun on urban routes. However, it’s when I took the GTI through some corners where it started to baffle me: it’s very quick through the turns, but to my hands it felt numb and sterile. It was as if there’s a filter between my inputs and the car’s reactions. The GTI is an adequately fast car, but as is from the factory it’s curiously lacking in driving thrill.

It turns out, the culprit was the tires.

A few months ago my brother had an unfortunately run-in with a serious pothole, and the left front tire got obliterated. A perfect opportunity to swap the stock all-season tires for a set of proper summer performance boots. I recently got a go in the new setup, and the GTI’s dynamics have been utterly transformed. The car was simply let downed by the stock tires.

I finally got to experience the genuine joy of driving a hot hatch. Armed with a sticky set of tires, the GTI becomes incredibly playful and alive. The turn-in is just mega: jerk the steering wheel with abandon, and the front-end responds with seemingly endless grip. Mash the throttle out of a corner, let the limited-slip differential do the work of finding purchase, and the GTI rockets out with the gobs of available torque. The amount of confidence in the front axle so high, it beggars belief it’s front-wheel drive.

Combined with a good manual gearbox and nicely spaced pedals for heel-toe maneuvers, the GTI, when fitted with good set of tires, is an absolute revelation. I can now see why people adore hot hatchbacks; I might need one of my own.