Changing a tire on a Jetta is much more complex than it needs to be.

OK, well, changing the tire itself isn't too bad -- it comes off and a new one pops on just like any other tire.

But what is the point of a poorly designed jack that is only supposed to fit that car, and go into a notch on the bottom that four people (including the customer service manager of a grocery store who was going WAY beyond his job description) couldn't find? (That after spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how to set up the jack in the first place -- with no instructions, just a barely readable line drawing showing which way the handle goes.) Whenever we thought we had it, it would slip. Luckily the car wasn't on it at the time.

We finally were able to flag down another shopper, who had a one-size-fits-all jack in his car, and we were done 5 minutes later.

On my agenda for today: Take a look at the jack on my Saturn and figure out how to use it. If it's similarly not-user-friendly, I will be going to the auto parts store and getting one that is.

jacks that aren't worth a damn. Personally, I despise any jack that requires you to spin the handle to raise the car instead of the traditional "jacking" action. The scissor lift type jacks suck terribly. I used to actually keep a small garage-style floor jack in my trunk. It took up quite a bit of space, but it worked flawlessly and quickly.

The ones that come with the car are junk.

Somehow I bet my Saturn's jack is simpler. My car may be inexpensive and have a crappy fit-and-finish (and no functional dashboard lights right now :eyes:), but it's simple and user-friendly.