Humor Me: The Tale of How I Sold My Truck

Hello some of my favorite people! I wanted to let you know why I sold my truck to the person I did. I will call him Mr. Nice Guy. He did NOT finish last! : - ) Sorry, it's a long one, but I hope worth the read.

I advertised my beautiful 1999 Ford Ranger on Craigslist when it became obvious that I wasn't going to get a job in time to save it. I love that truck. It's exactly what I wanted, and I thought I got a decent deal on it. The bank payments actually weren't that bad on it when I was working and getting child support, so I was actually paid ahead. But I couldn't stay in the state where I was, so it was time to put it to use and move to the sunny side of the country.

Khemosabi served me well until I reached Ohio where his 155,000 miles worth of spark plugs (they had never been changed!) started to give out and it started to miss. Going through the Tonto National Forest (GORGEOUS by the way!), he put on his best "Little Engine That Could" and finally got me to my destination for a well-deserved rest while I unpacked.

Not knowing for sure if I would be able to pass emissions testing (because I didn't at the time know what the problem was), I took Khemo to the mechanic and had him repaired... on a credit card, of course. I thought for sure I'd be able to get hired back on at Hellgreen's with glowing recommendations from my former manager. One small problem. In the week it took me to cross the country, Hellgreen's had a hiring freeze. There would be no more money coming in other than my disability payments. I was sunk. I parked the truck, cancelled the insurance, wrote the bank that I had no more money, and told them to make arrangements to pick it up. I was heartbroken. The bank said, "This is an unsecured loan, sell it yourself!" Not very helpful, so there it sat.

The credit card company financing the repairs was NOT very sympathetic even though I had generally paid ahead on my bills for 5 years. They finally put me in contact with a credit management company after my bill had doubled in interest. It will be another year yet for me to pay it off.

Since I had bought two-year tags (smart move!), I had some extra wiggle room, but things went terribly wrong. First, some fucking waste of resources tried to steal my truck. But because it had been sitting so long, the battery was dead, so they couldn't take it. You know those red, flashing "theft" lights, pinhead? Yeah, if it's not flashing, there's a reason! In the end, they had punched the driver's door lock and the ignition, thus making it next to impossible to get the bank's asking price.

Then, some total assburger came through the apartment complex and stabbed a bunch of tires, mine included. The only "good" thing out of this was that I had puncture insurance on them. The bad news is, the tires were bought on the east coast, so the tire would have to be bought, then the money reimbursed. Impossible for me. Along with that nightmare was the apartment complex's requirement that all vehicles be in running order. They were just being overly nice letting me keep the truck there with the punched ignition, but the flat tire would HAVE to be changed. For those that don't know, I am mobility impaired, and I walk with a cane. I am mentally capable of changing a tire having taken auto mechanics in high school, but physically, it is quite challenging (to put it mildly). On top of THAT, somewhere along the line, before I owned the truck, the key to the spare tire had been lost! I tried calling several Ford dealerships to ask if they would send someone out to unlock my tire, but all they wanted to do was have me DRIVE THE TRUCK OUT to be fitted for a key!!! FUCKERS. Whatever happened to customer service!? Going above and beyond!? HELPING SOMEONE IN NEED??? In the end, I had to buy a drill and drill bits and drill the lock out. I should call every one of those places back and tell them what horrible service they have. On the other hand, I have been wanting a cordless drill for awhile. It took me THREE DAYS to drill the lock out and change the tire. It took me two weeks to recuperate.

The end result was that my very best friend that I have known since Kindergarten stepped in and called the bank when she was afraid my truck would be towed and got them to release the title to me! It means my credit is totally fucked (uuuhhh... not like it wasn't before since I hadn't made a payment in a year), but at least it meant that I could SELL the truck!

So I finally got off my ass (actually, I've been recovering from surgery and having trouble keeping a good connection to the internet long enough to upload photos), took photos, composed a post (which SPECIFIED "1999 Ford Truck" in the subject line at the bottom so I KNEW that they read the WHOLE ad and didn't drive all the way out and say, "But it doesn't run!") aaaaaannnddddd.... SLAM! I seriously thought I'd have trouble selling it. Trucks like this are a dime a dozen out here. The first guy (Mr. Whiny Pants) that e-mailed wanted me to TAKE MY AD DOWN so he could have first pick! But wait! That's not all! "How much of a discount would you consider?" *facepalm* I told him that "at that point [he] was first in line". But his whiny, pushy "I WANT IT! I WANT IT I WANT IT!" was really turning me off. I thought I had a doctor's appointment today, but I forgot to schedule it. There's been a lot going on recently.

I called the next guy, but he didn't think he could make it out soon enough, but he said he would call back if he could and THANKED ME ANYWAY! What a sweetie.

Mr. Nice Guy on my list was on the other side of town as was wondering if I was willing to wait for him. Well, since I had to reschedule my appointment, no problem! When it looked like he was going to be late because he was stuck in traffic, he called back to APOLOGIZE, and asked if it was okay! I said it was fine! I'm liking this guy! (Meanwhile, Mr. Whiny Pants is calling and asking if he can come early. Sorry! My cab is going to be here ANY minute! I told you I'd call you WHEN I GOT HOME!)

Mr. Nice Guy is understandably concerned about the aspects of buying a truck with a title from another state. I was more than willing to do anything to alleviate his fears, all he had to do was ask. He put a battery charger on the truck, and even though it has been sitting in that one spot for nearly 18 months... IT STARTED!!! WOO HOO!!! *cough! cough! so much dust!* He took it for a test run up and down the drive (because of course he couldn't take it on the road) and said it ran well, everything worked except the AC (expected), but of course he was still a little leery. I didn't know what else to tall him. I told him I had all of the records from when I bought it and that was all I had to offer. If he didn't want it, I could sell it to the next guy (ANY guy but Mr. Whiny Pants!). I KNEW he liked the truck though and I didn't push. HE BOUGHT IT!!! I told him I would bend over backwards (figuratively, of course!) if he had ANY trouble with any of the paperwork with the bank or getting the tire reimbursed. He's kinda cute and in my age range, so I kinda hope so! Shhhhh! LOL! We wrote up a contract so each of us understood that he is getting it with the problems I listed that I knew of, so it is AS IS, and he is cool about it. He had a tow hitch and took Khemosabi with him when he left. I hope Khemosabi is as faithful of a friend to him as he was to me. *tears up*

As for Mr. Whiny Pants, when I got back inside, he had left several messages. "When can I come? When can I come? When can I come?" He called a few minutes later (Dear GOD!) and I told him the truck had sold. You'd think I had killed Ol' Yeller! Mr. Whiny Pants: "You told me you'd give me first chance! You lied to me! You told me you'd call me! *whine whine whine!*"

Me: "I'm sorry, he offered me more than my asking price (I lied)."

MWP: "Why would you DO that?"

Me: "For the money." *stifles laugh* : - |

MWP: "I really wanted that truck! *start crying!* You ruined my day!"

Me: "I'm sorry. I'm sure if you keep an eye out, another one will pop up on Craigslist."

MWP: "HOW COULD YOU!?"

Me *click*

He called back to cry into my answering machine too. Loser.

So Mr. Nice Guy finished last and got a really nice truck by having a really good attitude. He did pay full price, but it is true that he got his money's worth. I'm still paying on those wires and plugs that he'll be driving around on for a year because I need the money to pay some on the bank (YAY! get a bit of my credit score back!), FINALLY change my name (have wanted to for 37 years, ESPECIALLY since the Patriot Act), and FINALLY move from this place so I stop getting assaulted and risk getting my dog harmed. Rule #1. Nice Guys Finish 1st!

--Humor_Me

 

Comments

[yawn]

tl;dr

[CSRanter]

I don't know, you sound like a right bitch for telling Whiny Guy he was "first in line" when you had no intention of selling it to him.

[ScanGunMonkey]

Ignore the twatwaffle above me...AWESOME that you got full price on the truck!!

[Aunty]

Yay! I'm glad it worked out for you; maybe Nice will have to swing by sometime. ;33

Selling stuff on Craigslist is a special kind of hell. At least on eBay it was straightforward - you win, you pay, I ship. CL is great, but the back and forth some people want to do is insane.

[Megsong23]

I read it that he demanded that she hold it, await his whims to show up and see about getting it-she never agreed to it.

[Humor_Me]

I probably would have given him first chance if he hadn't called me eight times wanting to come early, waking me up (I'm a day sleeper), and generally being a pain in the ass. You missed the very important part. I probably should have highlighted that too: "at that point [he] was first in line" I NEVER PROMISED HIM he could have it. His whiny, snotty, pushy attitude made me think that he had never been denied anything in his life. Veruca Salt had nothing on him. He'll find another truck eventually, but I wasn't taking the chance that he was going to come back all pissed that it was sold AS IS! I have enough stress in my life right now.

[Release_The_Hounds]

I think you did great and it turned out great! With all the ridiculous demands MWP was making, and the horrible attitude he had (even AFTER the friggin truck was sold!!), most anybody I've dealt with would've told him to fuck off. If nothing else, maybe you taught him that he can't always get what he wants. No matter how much of a tantrum he throws. (Now he's starting to remind me of those kids in the store rolling around on the floor screaming because mommy wouldn't buy them the toy.)

[The Last Archimedean]

Great that Mr. Nice Guy got the truck.

Humor_Me, if you lived closer to me I'd do whatever I could to help you out. From here all I can do is ofer as much moral support as I can and send positive thoughts your way... I hope some good things come your way soon.

[The Worst]

I totally understand wanting to sell your beloved vehicle to someone you like. When I was selling my Sylvia (a BMW convertible) I got a lot of whiny, entitled rich kids coming after her. After everything we'd been through, though, I had to sell her to someone who would appreciate what a special car she is. That person ended up being a young veterinarian/surfer who was going to take her home to Ireland after her residency at a local animal hospital. I love that Sylvia gets to travel the world now. You definitely did the right thing selling Khemosabe to Mr. Nice Guy!

[Minidoc]

Good thing you didn't sell the truck to Whiny Pants. You would have gotten called with every problem the truck developed for as long as he had it (at least until you got a different phone number).

[cashykat]

Yeah I agree minidoc. I'm glad it got sold to mr nice guy too!

[NC Tony]

Glad to hear everything went ok with you selling the truck HM. I'm glad Mr. Nice Guy came along and saved you from having to deal with Mr. Whiny Pants in person. When my wife and I were newlyweds we had what we affectionately called The Lawn Ornament, the car my wife had for years that eventually died and we had no money to repair. We eventually sold the car to our landlord's son-in-law who owned a towing company. He actually came by in his tow truck and towed the car off, he knew the car was dead and said he'd probably end up scrapping it for parts. We were just glad to get rid of it.