All this contribution is appreciated. So to update: after I had dealt with the arcing plug, I found a replacement harness at the local junk yard ($50) as opposed to the retail cost north of $400. It was fine after that. never did resolve the slipping tranny, and had to replace a piece of muffler pipe (cross over pipe?) for $780 a year ago.
In the end, I couldn't resist Mazda's 0% financing for 60 months & $0 down offer in May/11. I went and traded the 14 year old Jetta for a new Mazda 3 Sport.
that Jetta is SEP now (Somebody Else's Problem).
