As some of my friends might know, I had an accident a couple months ago which resulted in a shit-storm in my life. Well that might be an exaggeration, but still it was hard. After having a reliable Honda to haul my lazy butt around anywhere and anytime for 3 years, life in the US for me was seen only in the context of a car. Ergo with that gone I can't think straight. Phoenix is a massive city and as reliable as the public transport system is the sheer distance between things results in about an hour of travel even to nearby places if you use the bus. Cars and trucks are everywhere here and life without them is difficult. Still I could have lived with that. Except that the insurance claim is still open and could possibly go on for several months. Now I don't have to do anything here, except that I still have to keep paying insurance on a car I no longer own. So I have tentatively decided to buy a cheap (and nasty) car. Kind of a horse for a horseshoe sort of deal going on here.
My friend has had an interesting history with craigslist. He first got a pretty expensive Beemer. That ran for about a year. Alright bad luck there. Now this friend loves his Deutsche Autos. Next he got a Merc 190E, 1989 I believe, for an incredible 1800$. That ran for about a week before taking up permanent residence in a repair shop. But he didnt give up. He got another 190E this time a '93, for 1400$ which is surprisingly still running albeit a constant check engine light.
So I figured maybe craigslist should be given a shot. After all, there's so few expectations I have this time. I just need a car that will run for about a year and which has an A/C and a decently working engine. I have already spent hours in the past browsing craigslist for motorcycles. I know how entertaining it can be. And today morning I found no lack in its humorous potentials. There are cars for 500$!! Except that they are missing a few bits. Like a roof. And a hood. Or rear windshield. Or a motor. Or...funnily enough, an ENGINE! Another hilarious instance is claims that, "the car ran fine when it was parked...wait for it...3 YEARS AGO!!" So this guy parks his car and goes about his life and suddenly he remembers, "wait a minute...I have a car here I could sell to some noob on craigslist!" Maybe he's hoping to get some extra cash for some meth or crack.
Some people will be frank enough to admit that they have no idea why the car doesn't work. Sometimes there will be no title. I found this guy who was selling a car which was in impound. So you were supposed to pay impound fees AND pay him. Shit, I should have done that with my Accord. Here's how the ad would look like:
"Slightly smashed car for sale. Very reliable. May have a smashed coolant tank. Otherwise runs fine. This car is in a tow company's yard. I will assist you in stealing it since they wont release it to anyone. Asking 1000$ OBO.
PS: I will buy the wire cutters to get through the fence and will carry a few raw steaks for any guard dogs that might be present."
Oh wait, just found this one! I can only imagine the poor bastard who buys this:
1993 Geo Metro
runs fine great on gas. Only problems: Drivers door does not open from inside.
Rear driver side door does not open from outside.
My friend has had an interesting history with craigslist. He first got a pretty expensive Beemer. That ran for about a year. Alright bad luck there. Now this friend loves his Deutsche Autos. Next he got a Merc 190E, 1989 I believe, for an incredible 1800$. That ran for about a week before taking up permanent residence in a repair shop. But he didnt give up. He got another 190E this time a '93, for 1400$ which is surprisingly still running albeit a constant check engine light.
So I figured maybe craigslist should be given a shot. After all, there's so few expectations I have this time. I just need a car that will run for about a year and which has an A/C and a decently working engine. I have already spent hours in the past browsing craigslist for motorcycles. I know how entertaining it can be. And today morning I found no lack in its humorous potentials. There are cars for 500$!! Except that they are missing a few bits. Like a roof. And a hood. Or rear windshield. Or a motor. Or...funnily enough, an ENGINE! Another hilarious instance is claims that, "the car ran fine when it was parked...wait for it...3 YEARS AGO!!" So this guy parks his car and goes about his life and suddenly he remembers, "wait a minute...I have a car here I could sell to some noob on craigslist!" Maybe he's hoping to get some extra cash for some meth or crack.
Some people will be frank enough to admit that they have no idea why the car doesn't work. Sometimes there will be no title. I found this guy who was selling a car which was in impound. So you were supposed to pay impound fees AND pay him. Shit, I should have done that with my Accord. Here's how the ad would look like:
"Slightly smashed car for sale. Very reliable. May have a smashed coolant tank. Otherwise runs fine. This car is in a tow company's yard. I will assist you in stealing it since they wont release it to anyone. Asking 1000$ OBO.
PS: I will buy the wire cutters to get through the fence and will carry a few raw steaks for any guard dogs that might be present."
Oh wait, just found this one! I can only imagine the poor bastard who buys this:
1993 Geo Metro
runs fine great on gas. Only problems: Drivers door does not open from inside.
Rear driver side door does not open from outside.
Can you imagine how you'll exit this car. The rear passenger will step out and open the door for the driver! Now that I think could be called chauffeur service on opposite day!
Also since this is Arizona, and its summer now. People love emphasizing a good A/C. Some will put it in the title itself; eg. "Nissan Maxima COLD AIR!!!". Like its the freaking trim level above LX and EX or something. You'll see all sorts of adjectives for it. Ice Cold, freezing cold, super cold. I even saw this Pontiac which claimed to be "supercharged with cold air"! Wow so not only will you be cool, your engine will be pumped with cold air from the supercharger. Beat that Vin Diesel! I bet your Dodge Charger can't do that!
Buying used cars is almost like a blackjack game. You never know what the dealer is hiding and you can only hope to get your cards higher than him. But you'll never know until you place your bets. Fortunately Craigslist is like a nice Vegas casino which uses unintentional humor instead of free alcohol to numb you to the risk you are taking!
LOL, aren't you taking a big risk! Isn't there any other way you can buy a car?
ReplyDelete(Also, whats with the amount of expletives in this post? Older people reading here :) )
unfortunately for this price i can't think of any other option...plus i dont need it for only until my insurance claim ends....maybe 6-7 months...what i havent said here is you can get a very good deal off craigslist too...u have to sift through the 90% junk and scam before that
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