RIP: 1999 Jetta dies

A 1999 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg, known early in its life for being a stick shift and in its later years by mechanics in three states, died on Friday, October 21. It was 18, with more than 187,000 miles on its odometer.

The immediate cause of death was overheating on the Massachusetts Turnpike, according to a family member close to – some would say too close to – the Jetta. A mechanic said that even figuring out what had led to the temperature spike would cost more than the car was currently worth.

But to owner Ivan Oransky, who drove the car off the dealer’s lot on August 24, 1998, the value of the Jetta was never financial. “It was what I could afford when I was a medical intern in New Haven. The Jetta served me, and then Cate, well,” Oransky told CarObits.com, speaking of his wife, Cate Vojdik.