You Don't Need a Car Psychic When You Have The Internet

I have a new car. New to me. It has its quirks, many of which are mysteries I can't unravel due to the lack of owner's manual. It didn't come with one. The car is a 2001 VW New Beetle. Lights keep popping on and off on the dash and it's driving my better half nuts trying to figure it out. He thinks he can fix anything on any car.

So we're ready to head up north on a road trip yesterday when he turns on my VW and freaks out. "The coolant light is on! We have to take my car." Today, back from taking his car on a Clark Griswold-like road trip, we return to deal with the coolant light problem. I really shouldn't have taken my man's word for it when he said the coolant light was on, because it wasn't. He swore it was. "See the blue light?" That's not the "something's wrong light" I say. He says I'm wrong. We open the hood and the coolant is full to the top. The light is still on. So he unhooks the sensor. Now, the coolant light is bright red. Now, it is really on! I tell him to undo what he did so he does; he hooks the sensor up again. It goes back to blue and I tell him it's fine again. He's freaking out because he never noticed it before and doesn't know what it means.

I can almost hear him right now freaking out on the phone with his mother whining about how I've gone out and bought a used car that will be nothing but a money pit. But thank goodness for the Internet, my life saver! The VWvortex Forums have the answer I need. The blue light comes on when you start the car as a way of saying, "I'm not warmed up yet so drive me nice." But if the thing's busted, the red "oh crap" light shall shine.

So there you go. Female, 1 point. Male, 0 points. Unless of course I get a lengthy e-mail from my future mother-in-law detailing every car problem she ever has had and how she dealt with it.