A Minor Hitch In My Latest Plan

My propensity to drum up interesting situations has not been tempered by adulthood.  It’s just made things more expensive, and more of a mess to figure out.  Sometimes I do things without thinking them all the way through.  Usually there’s only a minor hitch, but I’ve really done it this time….

For almost a year now I’ve only had one car for the household.  I’ve had two drivers, but only one car for 5 extensive schedules.  When the shattering first happened driving around was a chore due to the panic attacks I’d suffer.  Then as time went on, and I was let go from my job, driving around accommodating everybody became a welcome distraction.  Something to fill my time.  Finally, it just became annoying.  School, sports, work all started and things started colliding.  We have done the best we could do, with very little resources to pull from.

I began looking for a second car for the kids when a family member generously offered to help with the purchase of a beater.  None of us expect anything fancy for this second car, so after working out an arrangement for funds that wouldn’t break either of us in the end, I started looking at local postings.

The ability to look for a car as a woman is one of the most frustrating thing on the planet.  Almost every seller is male, and almost every used car private seller is looking for some dumb woman to buy a pile of crap for top dollar.  Having 18 years exposure to the car sales industry, I refused to be that dumb woman.

My friend’s husband is a mechanic.  I spoke with him about what I was looking for and he offered to help with test drives or whatever.  I was so grateful for their help on that.  My friend is an outstanding woman who can research/locate listings like nobody else.  They teamed up with me to start this process.

I contacted so many sellers through facebook or craigslist that either never contacted me back, or refused to be reasonable.  I mean if you’re selling a car and the buyer requests to see more than the 1 picture on the listing wouldn’t it make sense to text/email a couple more to them?  Maybe I’m the crazy one.

Then on the flip side there were the ones that would answer and got crazy fast.  One seller set up a test drive for me.  Sent pictures, told me he had receipts for all repairs done, said the only thing wrong with it was that the motor on one window had burned out so that would need to be replaced.  So off my friends family and mine went to check it out…

What a pile of crap!  This seller lied through his teeth!  Yes the window motor had burned out, with the window part way down so the rain had been getting into the back seat.  The sun roof had been sealed shut with bathroom caulking.  The brakes and tires needed replacement.  The exhaust system wasn’t even connected to the engine.  The engine was 3 different colors!  They’d pieced this car together, gotten bored, and then tried to pawn it off on me!

This particular seller continued to contact me for a week.  He was obviously desperate to unload the car and have cash.  He had a whole story he told me about expecting a baby and needing to get ready for them.  I think it was a manipulation to try and guilt me into buying his pile of crap.  He finally stopped contacting me when I confronted him on all the repairs and the amount of money I’d have to invest to get it drivable let alone looking decent.  I flat out told him he was a young liar.  I told him if he continued to harass me I’d turn him in to authorities.  He stopped contacting me after that.

Another seller sent me all the pictures in the world.  Said he was motivated to sell his grandfather’s car since he’d lost his license.  Didn’t want the car around for grandpa to be tempted to drive.  We worked out specifics and set up a meeting time.  His work schedule changed last minute so we had to reschedule.  Upon reschedule he asked me about my west coast phone number.  I responded I just couldn’t bring myself to give up the last of my west coast life.  He said that if I was from California the price just doubled.  He said he knew Californians had money.  I said, “Well then you don’t want to sell your car very badly.”.  He attempted to call/text me several times over the next few weeks to “cut a deal”, however the bottom line is I don’t want to deal with snakes anymore.  I never responded back.

Yet another seller told me they’d be home at a specific time, to come on by and look at the car.  I text them that I was on the way.  Got to the meeting spot, text them to tell them I was there…. waited for over an hour and left.  He said his girlfriend had an emergency pop up and they didn’t think to text me.  Thanks.  So then I set up another meeting with him; benefit of the doubt and all.  I told him I wouldn’t leave the house until I got a confirmation from him that day that they were planning to meet me.  He agreed.  The day came, I sent the text, they didn’t respond for 5 hours.  When they did respond he was upset with me that I “expect too much from them, and possibly am not the right buyer for their car.”.  OK.  What is wrong with people?  Do you want to sell or not.

However the person that takes the cake was the guy an hour away that was selling a newer model car due to his daughter going away to school and purchasing another car wherever she was.  He seemed decent, but something about him made me uneasy.  On the confirmation call for our appointment I said something like “we’ll be there”.  Suddenly he got shifty…. wanted to know who “we” were.  Instincts kicked in and I said my friend and mechanic were coming with me.  He started saying he doesn’t like a crowd, and if I wanted to buy this car I needed to come alone.  Yeah dude, I may sound stupid but I’m not that stupid!  I reported him as a possible predator based on the call.

In the mean time, I’d had enough.  I’d been stranded at work a few times waiting on my kids to get me.  The kids had had to wait on me a couple times.  We’d all been late to meetings/practices multiple times.  This was obviously not working.

Then I heard of a friend’s acquaintance that was selling an older model car that would give us a good fair price.  They had all the repair records from the last 19 years, and would turn over everything to us.  Intrigued I set up the meeting.

Broken Girl and I went to look at it.  The exterior was decent, the interior has some issues, but it’s an old car.  Nothing some seat and steering wheel covers couldn’t fix a little.  I drove it while Broken Girl stayed with my car.  Drove well.  Stopped in an empty lot and called my mechanic friend.  Sent him videos of what he requested.  He said it sounded good, and wouldn’t be a bad purchase.  So I bought it.  We were so excited!  I drove it all the way home, with Broken Girl driving my car.  Everything went great.

Then I turned onto my street, excited to show Welding Boy the car he’d be sharing with his sister.  Suddenly it dawned on me…. NEITHER of them drive stick.  The car I just bought them is a manual transmission.  Damn.

Looks like they get my shiny new car, while I get their beater for a while.  We’ve started driving lessons…. or as I call them whiplash and migraine sessions.  I’m hoping they catch on soon because I miss my heated seats and remote start capabilities!