If only everything in life was as reliable

This morning on the way to drop my pal home the whole van started to shudder violently. It felt like a wheel was about to come off. I quickly pulled over into a handy lay-by and we checked out the wheels. They all seemed to be fine, so we started the van up and she started okay and revved fine in neutral. But as soon as I tried to put her into any gear she shuddered and screeched. It seems the tiptronic gear box might have gone. However the mechanic who towed us home told me he thought it was the drive shaft. This seems to be confirmed by my neighbour who also has a T5 and told me they were a very common fault.

I've owned the van 1 week shy of 6 months and the van isn't yet 3 years old so I'm sure I can get this fixed under warranty. It's just another frustrating thing on top of not being able to finish off my battery box yesterday.

But on the plus side I broke down only 10 miles from home and within 55 minutes of pulling over crock, I was back home, with the van parked up outside the house. Awesome service from Insurance Choice Breakdown I have to say!

If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagon? Hmmm.