Cars

Many years ago, probably when i was 13 or 14, my dad told me cars are one of the biggest wastes of money I'd ever have to endure. How right he was. But oh how I love having a car.

Needless to say, the Jetta needed some exhaust work... yet again (3rd muffler replacement in 5 years). The rear muffler hanger weld rotted out and broke, leaving a hole in the muffler. Quite annoying. The guys that put the new muffler on didn't do a great job. In the process, they loosened a heat shield on the engine. They fixed that. But a new rattle/buzz has started.

When the exhaust is cold, there's a rattle/buzz that seems to be coming from directly below the rear seat. Could either be more loose heat shielding, or could be that the exhaust doesn't have enough clearance. I'm not a mechanic, so I don't know. Once the car's warm, the rattle goes away. While it's cold, the rattle occurs during acceleration/deceleration (hitting the resonance frequency of the exhaust). I can also hear the rattle during bumps. But again, only when the exhaust is cold.

It seems so hard to find a good mechanic. Argh.