Saturday, July 26, 2008

sold?

Here are nine reasons why I'll miss my Toyota pickup after I sell it (taken from wikipedia)

The Toyota Hilux has gained a reputation for exceptional sturdiness and reliability, even during sustained heavy use, and is often referred to as "The Indestructible Car". This was further reinforced when on the BBC motoring show Top Gear, a 1985 Toyota Hilux with 190,000 miles on the clock was subjected to extraordinary abuse.
This consisted of:
1. driving it down the steps behind Bristol Cathedral
2. scraping buildings in Bristol
3. crashing it into a tree
4. tying it up to a jetty to be washed out to sea by the incoming tide
5. driving it through a garden shed
6. dropping a caravan onto it
7. hitting it with a wreck
ing ball
8. setting the cabin & bed area on fire
9. and placing it on top of a 240-foot block of flats that was subsequently destroyed by a controlled demolition


Although it was now suffering from severe structural damage, the truck was still running after being repaired without spare parts and only with typical tools and equipment that would be found in a car's toolbox, such as spanners, motor oil, and a monkey wrench.















The ad came out in autotrader on thursday online and in the book, i also posted a listing on craigslist. I had it highballed at 7,750. After a bunch of calls from people with bad accents and skeptic attitudes about it, I got a call from a nice woman named Estelle who lives up above San Francisco. She insisted on buying it flat out sight unseen, and we settled on an even 7,000. I insisted on sending her more pictures of it and that her releatives who she mentioned live in La Habra could stop by and take a look at it. Two aunts, three uncles, her grandfather and her brother came over today (all really nice people) and I feel a lot better that they came to look at it. She sent me her flight confirmation for the morning and that was enough for me to promise I'd hold it for her until tomorrow afternoon. So I'm happy. The person I'm selling it to is polite, the price is where both of us want it and I think there's a good sense of confidence between both parties, the way buying and selling a car should be. I'll definitely let you guys know tomorrow if the deal has gone through.


I had it repainted, I degreased the engine and tightened a squeaky fan belt. It was kind of sad cleaning it out all week but it's always interesting cleaning a car as cluttered as mine and getting to discover old treasures. I found mapquest directions to old shows i've played stuffed under the seats, old movie ticket stubs, and when the sun hit it at an angle while I was cleaning it, I even found little hearts drawn on the passenger side window by a certain ex-girlfriend's finger from a long time ago.

Sigh...

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats on selling it so fast! That's awesome! I hope it serves Estelle well. Can't wait to hear about the car shopping experience!

Daniel said...

Yeah, I'm glad to hear the deal is going so well so far for you! It's amazing how many memories we have tied up in our vehicles. I'm definitely not a stranger to that nostalgic feeling you're talking about while cleaning it for the last time...ahh.

Chad said...

thanks you guys. ill be sure and let you know.


and if you're interested, search for "top gear killing a toyota" on youtube. it's two parts and about 15 minutes long altogether. i finally watched it right now and it was really, really good. i almost felt like cheering for the little truck at the end.