stranded.......saved!

[Kevin Collins <kcollins1@socal.rr.com>]

So Saturday I'm blasting up US 101, headed for the bay area to meet up with
some old buds and catch the Giants game Sunday at Pac Bell Park.  Shortly
after passing through downtown Santa Barbara, about 120 miles from home, 
the car coughs once, then dies completely.. at 75 mph in #1 lane.  I manage
to coast safely to the shoulder.  There is so much traffic inches away that
I can't hear a thing, but it seems apparent that I either have lost a fuel
pump, or perhaps have an ignition-related problem of some
kind, or <gasp> maybe some mysterious electrical gremlin that could take 
forever to find.  First time the car has ever stranded me, hopefully
it will be the last..

I call my brother first, who lives just south of town, he's not home.  Then
call AAA and request a flatbed.  15 minutes later, w/o having gotten my
message, bro happens by, sees my car and pulls over.  WTF am I doing up 
here?  Headed to SF!  I tell him I've got AAA en route and he blasts off,
headed to the local Audi dealer actually (picking up an Allroad Quattro
today, the rat bastard).

So while waiting for the truck I call the local VW dealer.  It's now just
after noon on Saturday.  Service and parts are closed.  A sales drone 
suggests I get towed to a particular 76 station where the owner is cool
and should be able to help me.  I get there, he's out of town, rest of
crew are too busy doing nothing to give me the time of day.  After about
10 calls to various shops trying to find someone open, I manage to find
a combo shop/tire shop that's actually open and sez bring her on by.  So
I get towed over there, way across town.  As my car is being unloaded,
I notice a Porsche/BMW repair shop right next door - and 2 guys are in
there working!  Tire joint looks like a disaster.  So I go to one of the
Porsche dudes and tell my sad tale.  He offers to help.  First he verifies
I have spark, then that the transfer pump is working, finally that the main
pump is dead.  He's pretty sure both pumps are on the same relay, checks
his Alldata (or whatever) on the computer to verify, comes back and sez
yep, gotta be the pump.  It's now close to 2pm - any idea where to find 
one on Saturday afternoon?  Shakes his head, then the other dude suggests 
ONE place to try - he calls and sure as shit, the guy has ONE in stock.. he's
on his way out the door but will wait.  So, #2 mechanic and I jump into his 
968, #1 starts to remove the bad pump, and we blast clear across town to 
pick up the new one.  Once back the guy is still wrestling with getting the 
old one out (almost had to torch the bastard) but once free all was good and 
was wrapped up quickly.  I had to pay retail for the pump and 1 hour of labor
at $80, but it was WELL worth it as I managed to get back on the road
in time to continue my trip rather than abort and be stuck
in Santa Barbara (there are worse places!) with my car laid up all weekend.
Just a lucky twist of fate that I got towed to where these guys were.  
I thanked them profusely, and I think I will follow up with the Crown Royal
gig or similar to make sure they know how much I appreciated their help
in a time of extreme need...   ;D

I'm signing up for the AAA deal that gives you massive free towing
miles, I'd hate to have been 100 miles north of where I was, I'd have
been in the middle of BFE and would have been royally screwed.  As it was
I got towed way farther than the free alottment and the guy waited 
patiently as I took time calling all over town looking for a soft landing 
place, and didn't charge me for the extra mileage.  All in all it was an 
amazing day of stellar service from AAA and Schneider Autohaus of Santa 
Barbara.

--
Kevin Collins
Huntington Beach, CA
'86.5 16V 2.0
'00 Passat GLS 1.8T

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