So I sold my truck. But counting my chickens has always led to a few broken eggs. It didn't go as swimmingly as I had expected. Let me recount the ordeal as briefly as possible.
-The woman called two days after I posted my ad. She said she lived in Ukiah and that she was really interested in buying my truck but needed time to get the money together and a flight down to LA.
-I (in the interest of selling my truck and not making a bad promise) told her I had already received other calls on it and would not hold it.
-She called back and said she booked a flight for the following morning.
-I offered to send her more pictures of the truck (my offer)
-I insisted that her grandfather(who lives in La Habra) come look at the truck that evening to make sure I had it and that it was legit (which she turned down on the phone because "she didn't want to bother him")
-twenty minutes later her aunt calls and says they are on their way to see it (No call from the buyer telling me that she had asked them to come look at it)
-Three uncles, two aunts and a grandfather show up 20 minutes after I race back home. They test drive it, rev the engine, I showed them that the 4wd drive works fine, and explained to them that the engine check light has been on for two years but every mechanic hasn't found anything wrong with it. It has passed smog as recently as April. The family approves of the truck and says they cant see anything wrong with it.
-After she emails me her flight confirmation and I take the price 750 dollars down to an even 7,000 (to help with her ticket and gas back up north), I agree to hold it until the following afternoon.
-The morning she arrived, I spent a good ten minutes showing her what I'd found to be wrong with the truck (torn driver seat, broken locking mechanism on camper, the in dash cd player needed to be replaced) all to her. She didn't seem interested and insisted that it was fine. I made one last offer for her to take a test drive around the block before she bought it. She declined and we proceeded with signing the bill of sale and me counting my 7,000 dollars cash. I gave her the keys and she left.
Within the following week she called to tell me that it didn't pass smog because of the engine light. Her mechanic said that it was in perfect operating order but that it would need new O2 sensors or a replacement of the wires. She left a message saying she would email the invoice for the total and that I could send her a check. I spoke with a lady at the DMV, I asked my friends and the general consensus is that even though the seller is responsible, the smog check needs to be negotiated before the transaction... leaving me clueless as to who is really on hook for coughing up the money. Before I found an answer she called back and I told her that I took 750 dollars off of my asking price and that as a college student working on minimum wage, the only money I really had was the money I had made off of the truck. She offered to split the cost and that I would only have to pay 100 dollars out of the 300 in repairs and smog the truck needed. I told her I would call her back.
I didn't end up calling her back because I had to go to work. Boy did she leave a nasty voicemail about taking civil action against me and that "it would be prudent and in your best interest not to try and punk me" or some bullshit. I fumed over it for a good hour or two and when I got home I checked online and found out that it IS my responsibility after sale to have it smogged, despite it being sold "as is". The next day I called her and apologized for not calling back and that I would have a check in the mail that day for a hundred dollars and then said goodbye. She seemed satiated by it. She hasn't cashed it yet so I'll be interested to see if she asks for another. You can bet your ass I'll be thoroughly checking my accounts from now until then.
From what she mentioned on the phone and within her emails, it's obvious she's regretting buying it. I took good care of the truck, I was the second owner, there were no accidents, and I had it painted and thoroughly cleaned before selling it. I feel no remorse for selling it for what I sold it for and I have no sympathy for another adult who ten years older than me and completely capable of scanning the used car market thoroughly before making a big ticket purchase. I have no compassion for someone who hastily purchases a car and complains about "a rip in the seat and broken rear window" three days after I made the damages explicitly clear. And lastly, I completely disapprove of someone who tips their cards in negotiating by saying they have "10,000 saved for a truck like yours", has "a full-time job", is running for "ELECTED OFFICE" (she gave me her campaign pamphlet) and feels the need to try and bully a 22 year old community college student, working minimum wage in a kitchen trying to make ends meet, by means of a lawsuit. It's chickenshit and it's definitely not keeping your reputation in mind for your upcoming election. I'm not a perfect person but I do know that I keep a strong sense of guilt over things I've done wrong. I've bent over backwards for this woman. I didn't know smog legislation so I paid the agreed price to have it fixed, whether she is satisfied on the price she signed on for the truck is past me. AS IS means IS YOURS. Stay the hell out of my inbox.
I could kick someone's head in over how ignorant people are over stuff like this. I've never called anyone back saying "Hey, give me more money for the car you just bought off of me." But then again, I guess we just do things differently in Los Angeles.
Ok. End rant>
It's shaken me up a little as to buying a new car, I'm holding onto the funds until it all blows over. But I've made up my mind on what I want. 2006 xb, white, automatic, cooooold AC booya! it will be an lengthy adventure finding it. But one thing I've learned is you have to be patient while searching for a car. While I'm being patient, I'm going to compile a couple of new mixed cds with new tunes to listen to on my first drive to the beach :)
six servers are leaving applebees this month and next. I've never seen this many employees leave at once. It's a bummer because all of them were really good friends of mine but on the bright side I'm pretty confident it means I'll be a server before september. I'm next in line for promotion. $$$$$$$$$$$$
Here's a couple things I'm enjoying:
Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. B+
I read this book the year it came out, my freshman year at Mt. Sac. Coupland's later novels delve into the supernatural here and there, but they mostly adhere to the normalcy of western suburban living. It's not the most memorable of his works but it hit close to home at the time I read it. Definitely worth a read.
music:
me first and the gimme gimmies- havin a ball
no use for a name- the feel good record of the year
bad religion- new maps of hell delux edition
