Now I’m in need of some serious car help. I have a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS. It has about 160,000 miles on it, heated seats, moonroof and an automatic transmission. I bought the car new and until rather recently, haven’t had ANY problems. I took it in for maintenance when I was supposed to, every time. With that said, I’ll now go into the problem. Back in 2007, over the summer, I had thermostat/over heating problems. I had the thermostat replaced and things were fine again. In the winter in December 2007/January 2008 is when the real problem happened. I met some friends in a parking lot, and left my car on (to play my stereo) - NOT running for about 45 minutes. After, we went our separate ways, I was driving along, and my car began to decelerate and finally turn off. I’d restart the car, and the same problem happened again. Since I didn’t have the money at the time to get it in the shop, I had it towed nearby to my parent’s and the car has SAT in a garage since. The car has been untouched for TWO years. Here’s my question : Is my car worth getting towed to a mechanic to evaluate a problem? Will my car work properly after sitting for two years? I fell into some money (but not a lot) and I’d love to get my Jetta back on the road again. It was the love of my life and I just want it back again…I just want to know what you think is wrong with the car and your advice.
Sitting in the car listening to the stereo for 45 minutes should not have damaged anything, with the possible exception of the battery, but that would only be true if your stereo had a large amplifier sucking up a lot of current.
If the car started after the parking lot episode the battery was probably OK.
The problem now is that gasoline goes bad over time, and after two years whatever gasoline is in the car may have become varnish, and gunked up the fuel system. If that’s the case it could be a headache to get everything cleaned out and working properly.
There’s no way to tell from here. I’d open the gas cap and see if it still smells like gas in the tank. But even if it does there’s no guarantee one way or the other.
As to why the engine stalled two years ago, it’s anyone’s guess.
You can probably get the car running again, but how much it would cost is completely unknown. Could be a little, could be a lot. Could be more than the car is worth.
No one knows until someone checks it out, and it will cost money just to get that done.
It sounds like you love your car. Ask around and see if you can find a trusty mechanic near you. The cost of towing the car plus an hour of labor could be $100 and give you some decent answers about what you might need to do to both fix the stall issue and rehab after sitting (and anything else that might have been lurking). Me, I’d pay the $100 to get some answers and a repair plan. I might even do it twice - get a second opinion - before starting serious work.