In less depressing news, I had my timing belt/water pump/serpentine belt done at Walker Transmission (same place I had the tranny inspected and serviced when I bought it - super awesome place and people!).

After they were done, they showed me the parts. The serpentine belt was toast. But...the timing belt, while worn, was probably good for another 30k miles.

However, the big surprise is that I have an almost new looking water pump and an idler pulley and a few other parts that are in surprisingly excellent condition. So if anyone is needing any of these parts I can take a pic and we can work something out.

I know the previous owner didn't change the timing belt, but maybe Bimati before him did? Either way, one less thing to worry about for the Moab trip

Disclaimer: yes my last name is Walker, but no, I am not associated with the tranny shop in any way. They have just been awesome and I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone in Denver, especially since they now have intimate knowledge of at least two areas on the VX