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The two most common things in the Universe... Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Thu, 2 Oct 2008 06:54:16
In Reply to: Dang C list..., RayF, Wed, 1 Oct 2008 11:01:25 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
are Hydrogen and Stupidity. And not necessarily in that order.
The free part of Craig's list does tend to draw in the less-than-committed. (Or should be committed....) But I wouldn't blame C-list.
When I was last looking for a car, the rampant idiocy surprised even me, and I’m about as cynical as they get. Cars that in no way resemble the ad – Where did the sunroof go? How did the CSE become a CS? Let’s discuss the difference between ‘leather’ and ‘fabric.’ Subaru – Saab makes, them, right?
Cars where ‘mint’ was the smell of the six air fresheners to overcome what I can only hope was a dead animal in the ductwork – Where did the coolant go? Why put oil in – I didn’t take any out? It’s hard to find duct tape that matches Saab’s Arctic Silver. It’s OK to run different size tires on either side of the car – they do that in NASCAR!
Then there are the folks that are harder to find than Osama bin Laden, who take phone tag to the level of an Olympic sport.
I go into every deal assuming the seller is not clueless, but intentionally evil, and that every car is a tin-worm infested bag of randomly chosen parts. Both the seller and car have to prove themselves from there. About 90% of the time they fail to rise to the level of malevolent cretin and unfit for the smelter. (Owner and car, respectively, but still interesting switched.)
If you’re on this board, you probably have a clue about Saabs, and some love for them. It’s painful to see one treated worse than Michael Vick’s dogs. You also expect a certain level of knowledge from the seller about what they’re selling.
Look at it this way – you’re better off not seeing the cars. If the Waste of Space (aka ‘Seller’) doesn’t know anything about the car, you’re better off NOT buying it. We all like the idea of stealing a deal from someone that doesn’t know what he/she/it has. The reality is that if they don’t know what they’ve got, their idea of maintenance is to, well, they have no idea of maintenance. The only reason they don’t use the engine compartment for luggage space is they can’t find the hood release.
And any car with a major problem usually has a host of minor problems. Many folks will drive the car until they can’t drive the car. That means they’ll drive it with things leaking, belching, grinding and sounding a lot like a tin can of cutlery rolling down stairs. When things get quiet, they figure it fixed itself. And they’re half right. It fell off and fixed itself in the grill of the car behind them.
Solution – grit your teeth and keep looking. Keep digging through the cat pan, because there is a diamond in there somewhere. I heartily recommend the Classifieds on this BB (Shameless Plug) – the prices may be high, but at least the seller has a clue about Saabs. And just keep looking. My last car search took a solid 8 weeks, and I live in Connecticut, where if you can’t see a Saab, open your eyes because you’re going to hit something.
Rant off. I feel better now. And you?
posted by 192.249....
, Thu, 2 Oct 2008 06:54:16 <-- Viewing This Message, Fri, 3 Oct 2008 05:20:36
, Thu, 2 Oct 2008 09:24:58
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