tim’s thought property

I mentioned once that my family’s Passat is quite possibly haunted. Well, Tim (Penner) thinks that this epidemic of the vehicular paranormal is a lot more serious than first thought.

Let me recount:
The Passat
It had this shifting and alignment problem for a while where the alignment would arbitrarily turn in one direction without warning. This made driving quite difficult. After a few trips to the shop, the car was returned and made a terrible knocking and rattling noise, not unlike something heard in a Haunted House. The noise came from the console, right along the E-Brake, and when we looked to see what was the matter, my brother and I saw a glowing red-hot Catalytic Converter. Playing Sigur Ros in the car only adds to the haunted feeling.

The Tercel
This sleek silver car is a delight to drive. Sporadically in the last few months, however, the stereo decides to cut out, at will. There will be no warning. I have at times, been driving, have the music blip out, then reach with my right hand holding some kind of object to hit the speakers back on to their cradles to get sound back. I’ve done this once with a towel, driving 130km/h down the No. 1 Hwy, back from Alberta. Not too safe, granted. Now, the speakers are more or less out, and sometime flicker when I hit a pothole, or bumpy road, or even idle the car to the point before stalling. *tsk-tsk* I can only shake my head.

The Concord
Well, as mentioned in the preceding post, the car did die for no real reason on the highway. It had also had this problem driving like it was a standard transmission, by giving evident tugs when it accelerated. It was quite strange, how these problems started on being picked up from the airport, and festered until the Friday wherein it decided to give out, and have to take up residency in a garage.

The Intrepid
Upon seeing Tim Penner on Sunday, we hopped in the car and sped off to see Divorce, Italian Style, and his stereo began getting quieter, as if it were turning its volume down on its own. Yes it was playing the role of DJ, despite the fact that I held the iPod and I had hands to change volume on the stereo and iPod.

The Astro
Yet another entry in this epidemics list. My family’s Astro van and I haven’t had a great history together. I’ve damaged more on that van than any vehicle I’ve ever set foot in. But this particular situation is about the cruise control, which decided to respond on it’s own accord. Normally, after I keep a consistent speed, press cruise, let go of the gas, then cruise, it all kicks in, there is a short decline in speed, before it resumes. Well, I played with this for almost 35 minutes of my 45 minute drive one evening, having cruise kick in when I would take my foot off the gas to slow down, only to realize that I’m still driving at 105. Then each subsequent time when I would try to put it on, it would insist on not working.

So Tim suggested that perhaps the Phantom that haunts the Passat is perhaps haunting all the cars I get into. Perhaps it is floating around the garage, wanting so bad to stay in the Passat, that it decided to follow me into whatever car I get into.
Does anyone know the number for the Ghostbusters?