You guys want a good horror story? Here we go. February 15th, my girlfriend is on her way to work with our 2001 stock MP3. All of a sudden the check engine light is on and she's losing power, as if the engine couldn't breathe anymore. Towed at a nearby dealership, the mechanic there reads a (quote) "Problem with the spark plugs" as error code. He replaces the spark plugs and let the car go. The next day, my girlfriend is on her way again to work when the check engine light is on again! She tries to reach the dealership but as the whole car starts to shake and she cannot get higher than 1000 rpm, she has to stop and call for a towing again! The same mechanic diagnoses melted (yes melted!) catalytic converters (both of them), replaces them (had to wait until friday for that) under warranty and let the car go. The weekend goes by and we don't use the car much, almost no highway at all. On monday, while coming back from her work, my girlfriend sees the check engine light again! She manages to come back home in one pice. The same night I go on a little test drive while the light is still on and do a little speeding on the highway. Nothing happens. We agree the next day that I will drive the car to the dealership and try to experience the problem by myself while my girlfriend is following with a friend in another car. It doesn't take long until I lose power (exactly around 109 km/h, 3300 rpm) and the car starts to shake again. I slow down, but now the check engine light is now blinking and my "backup car" is flashing its lights furiously. I pull over the side of the highway and my girlfriend tells me that they saw fire come from the exaust pipe! A little shaken, I let the car cool down a bit and I slowly reach the dealership a few minutes later in one piece. It takes them until next tuesday (March first) to replace one melted catalytic converter again, the PCM and something called a Air pressure sensor or something like that. 10 minutes after getting the car at the dealership, my girlfriend is on the side of the road again, calling me for help with her cell phone! Now the car is again at the dealership and they want to keep it until friday. Anybody here has any clue of what is going on with this lemon? It has about 98000 km. Any help is appreciated, we need it!
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