Disgusted--with myself,I think

[urrlord]

Last year at a local junkyard I ran across a mid size 1986 Ford LTD,with low miles .I think it had around 70k.The yard owner had let a customer park it there to sell it.The car had the 3.8 v6 and auto o/d,copper paint that was not too bad,plastic slip covers on the seat,no dents or rust.The original owner was an older lady who bought it new and drove it til her death(the ashtray was full of her dried out cigarette butts).Then it sat under a carport for a few years, a friend of the family bought it cheap freshened it up and put it for sale at the sum of 900 dollars.

I test drove it,it was just fine.A/C needed work.It took me a week or two to get the money scrounged up.I called the yard,the owners daughter answered the phone .I told her I would be there after lunch to get the car.When I showed up and talked to the yard owner he looked surprised and told me that his daughter had not told him I had called and the car had sold about an hour earlier.He said the owner of the car had to go home and get some paperwork and had the buyer(a young kid) with him and they were due back at the yard to complete the transaction.He offered to call the car owner and tell him that he had promised the car to me and to not complete the transaction.I shook my head and told him "No thanks because I would not want that to happen to me,getting snaked like that."

Well I live in a small city and months went by and I did not see the car.I wondered about it a few times.Then I saw it one day -a pair of wannabe thugs were in it headed into a housing project.I shook my head and figured next time I saw it it would be jacked and blinged.I wish.Yesterday I saw the car beside me at a traffic light.No wannabes in it ,apparently the wannabes 300 lb mom and 200 lb sis had wrestled the keys away from them.The driverside windshield looked like it had been bricked,the passenger side rear quarter had a large dent,the antenna was broken off and they were hauling a load of scrap metal in the bouncing up and down trunk.

I was sickened and disgusted.Now I wish I had snaked the car.Sure it was not a particularly valuable car.But it was an uncommon one that was in really good shape.And it deserved better treatment than it has received.

Any one else have a story like this?

p.s.
mods
i'm not sure if this goes under vehicles or general discusion.feel free to move it if needed.

 

[Mr Nice]

Don't feel bad, in about two months you will see the same car with 24 inch chrome rims with a florescent lime green paint job.

 

[PandaBear]

Think of it this way: if you snaked the truck, they would have bought something else and that vehicle would be trashed too. You did the right thing by being a good person, that's what matters.

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: urrlord
hauling a load of scrap metal in the bouncing up and down trunk.


More 'real' use than 90% of trucks and SUVs out there.

 

[SuperDave456]

It cracks me up the number of cars that are probably worth less than $1000 around here, yet have at least $1000 in 24" and up rims and the $1500 in tires that go on them.

I just hope they never bump a curb. They sure don't make spare tires that size, and most of those rims are custom.
Destroy one, and you have to buy a new set of 4 so that they all match.

Another reason that Finance should be taught in Public school.

 

[01rangerxl]

If shopping for a full size domestic RWD (ie good donk material) in central GA, it is really best to have cash in hand and be ready to deal on the spot. If you think you're disgusted now, wait until it has Cherry Bomb mufflers and a lift, but stock tires.

 

[NHGUY]

We had a 70 Impala back in the day,when it was sold a construction worker bought it and dented about every body panel.It was dead in a couple years.Also a 73 Nova 350 that a little old lady bought and was scared of the "power",she sold it to an area police chief who had it for years then ran head on into something solid responding to a call.It sat in his driveway folded up for quite a while after,with us occasionally passing by seeing it like that.However,it was no big loss,the car was all bondo all around the lower areas.

 

[MBS500]

Yeah, Caprizes and Lincolns on huge rims with neon paint always make me smile

but when I see something silimar done to classy car like big benz, lexus or caddilac it just makes me sad and mad to some point.
It's also funny to see people reaction when I get out of big shiny all original w140 or bimmer. I mean I don't look like thug. But I'm much much younger than most members here, and look younger than my age in addition

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Really? You're concerned about a 27 year old junker that was for sale at a junk yard? And you had to "scrounge up" the money before you could consider purchasing it?

Those folks did you a favor-they were stupid enough to buy it before you wasted your money. Take the $900 you saved and invest it into something that will actually earn you money. Unless the scrap value of the car was greater than the up front price, then you have every right to be disappointed, because that's all it's worth.

 

[urrlord]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Really? You're concerned about a 27 year old junker that was for sale at a junk yard? And you had to "scrounge up" the money before you could consider purchasing it?

Those folks did you a favor-they were stupid enough to buy it before you wasted your money. Take the $900 you saved and invest it into something that will actually earn you money. Unless the scrap value of the car was greater than the up front price, then you have every right to be disappointed, because that's all it's worth.


Wow.
Apparently you did not read close enough.It was not a junker,it was an older car in very good shape.Unless your definition of a junker is different from mine.Mine is -beat up ,dented ,rusty ,smoking engined vehicle in a state of disrepair.It was at a junkyard for sale as a favor to the owner.The owner lived on a country road with little traffic.The yard has a lot of traffic,so lots more potential customers.

As for scrounging up the money,We are on a tight budget.Like many others.

My point in this post was...Have you ever acted honorably in a situation, purchasing or other wise and then had regrets later?
Or
I think a another parallel would be the member here who gave a relative a nice older car,later he saw the car and the relative had sprayed graffitti on the car and painted the wheels different colors.Disgust at the abuse of a perfectly good car,that could have been prevented.Stories like that.That is what I was going for.

 

[coolbird101]

Not exactly the same but I think it relates. When I was 16 my dad bought me my first car a mint conditon 73 super beetle, we bought it from a finnish couple who had taken care of this thing like you wouldnt beleive, they had every service record receipt as well as a log which included every fill up and mpg for the previous tank full. (a extremely well maintained car) The couple lived down the street from us and since we are finnish as well, we passed their screening process and they agreed to sell it to us for I beleive 1600.00. Alot of money in 1985 but the car was clean. Well within a year 1/2 of me abusing this poor car it was barely recognizable as being the mint car they sold us, I drove it in the woods, sand and any offroading I could find, it was great offroad by the way, never got stuck. Crashed it through a fence one night, anyway as you can imagine the couple were heart broken to see their baby treated this way, I was 16 and didnt really care. Looking back, im ashamed about the entire situation including my behavior in my teen years. I now understand the human /car bond that occurs, my dad tried to teach me but a 16 year old always knows more. This is one of the reasons we have tried to delay my son from driving, I feel like 18 is a more appropriate age to start driving, at least it would been beneficial for me.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: urrlord
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Really? You're concerned about a 27 year old junker that was for sale at a junk yard? And you had to "scrounge up" the money before you could consider purchasing it?

Those folks did you a favor-they were stupid enough to buy it before you wasted your money. Take the $900 you saved and invest it into something that will actually earn you money. Unless the scrap value of the car was greater than the up front price, then you have every right to be disappointed, because that's all it's worth.


Wow.
Apparently you did not read close enough.It was not a junker,it was an older car in very good shape.


An '86 Ford LTD with the 3.8 V6 was a junker even back in 1986.

 

[HerrStig]

I like the BBC version of Top Gear but the boys trash some pretty nice old cars.

 

[dishdude]

I can appreciate what you're saying, it's a shame to see one of the few survivors trashed. That said, everytime I think of a Ford LTD I can't help but think of that Seinfeld episode where they are searching for Kramer's LTD for hours, and when they finally find it Kramer can't get it started! And of course Seinfeld's joke - "LTD - that stands for limited. There must be 4 million of these on the road, what did they limit it to? The amount they could sell?"

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Really? You're concerned about a 27 year old junker that was for sale at a junk yard? And you had to "scrounge up" the money before you could consider purchasing it?

Those folks did you a favor-they were stupid enough to buy it before you wasted your money. Take the $900 you saved and invest it into something that will actually earn you money. Unless the scrap value of the car was greater than the up front price, then you have every right to be disappointed, because that's all it's worth.


I love how the condescension just DRIPS off every word!