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Hi Ya'll,
So I was out in the Portland area for a couple weeks looking around and avoiding sub-zero temps. While there I stumbled across a green 92L for sale. It had a burned clutch to the point that it barely moved on its own. An easy fix if in my driveway. Since it's Oregon, it had no rust, I got excited and bought it for $600 bucks. The seller was a Ukrainian fella who couldn't speak one word of English, but his daughter (or grand daughter) translated for us (Goodness, Ukrainian women are pretty) that probably didn't help the fatal mistake I made. I asked if I could leave it for a week or two while I figure out how to tow it. I also buy Subarus and transplant them into the rust belt for a premium. The first clue that this wasn't going to end well was the guy talking fast in Ukrainian to his daughter, then she saying "how long?" and "ok, but will it be before THIS date" with the guy pointing at a calendar he fetched from the house! While this was going on, his wife (with Eastern European head covering) is peaking out of the screen door. I said, "well, I'm going to get it out of here as fast as I can, but I have to take care of a couple things first, so maybe a week or possibly two." I don't think they fully understood what I was saying, but I looked around and there was plenty of room for a festiva to sit. They had a rather large driveway and we pushed it into the corner. If rolls were reversed, I would have been fine with all of this, because they paid me in full. I go on my merry subaru hunting way, found two, drove one home, then turned and burned back to fetch the second. The problem was, the second subaru didn't have a hitch. I searched hight and low for one on CL, finally found a NEW one at haul for an insulting price, to find out I couldn't install it without a drill. Running out of time, I texted the daughter, "Hi, Can you please give me a few more days, I'm working on towing it, but need a bit more time." I get a reply right away, "no, it needs to be gone by Sunday." It's already Friday night. I scramble, with no success. My buddy's dad tries to find a friends with a truck, just to get it somewhere else to sit, anywhere but this guy's driveway. Sunday comes, my phone is blowing up "are you getting the car today?!"
So….I had no choice. I drove down to Salem (about 30 miles) with a buddy, I burned the last of the clutch a few miles away to a quiet street with open parking, saying a big hardy "Thanks!" to the Eastern Europeans. The guy was literally ushering me out of there with waving arms, like the car was burning a hole in his driveway. Having to get back to Mn. asap, I stripped the car dow as much as I could in 4 hours, hoping to God no one was looking out there window and calling the cops. I got MAYBE $300 bucks worth of good parts from it, I even took the tires and rims. I left the plates on it, and also hope to God they get a big fat tow bill in their mailbox….welcome to America!!
Serious bummer, but I learned a lesson. Learn from me here: I tend to fly by the seat of my pants a lot, and it usually works out fine, but run EVERY scenario through your mind before handing over money.
Another rust free festy bits the dust
FX
So I was out in the Portland area for a couple weeks looking around and avoiding sub-zero temps. While there I stumbled across a green 92L for sale. It had a burned clutch to the point that it barely moved on its own. An easy fix if in my driveway. Since it's Oregon, it had no rust, I got excited and bought it for $600 bucks. The seller was a Ukrainian fella who couldn't speak one word of English, but his daughter (or grand daughter) translated for us (Goodness, Ukrainian women are pretty) that probably didn't help the fatal mistake I made. I asked if I could leave it for a week or two while I figure out how to tow it. I also buy Subarus and transplant them into the rust belt for a premium. The first clue that this wasn't going to end well was the guy talking fast in Ukrainian to his daughter, then she saying "how long?" and "ok, but will it be before THIS date" with the guy pointing at a calendar he fetched from the house! While this was going on, his wife (with Eastern European head covering) is peaking out of the screen door. I said, "well, I'm going to get it out of here as fast as I can, but I have to take care of a couple things first, so maybe a week or possibly two." I don't think they fully understood what I was saying, but I looked around and there was plenty of room for a festiva to sit. They had a rather large driveway and we pushed it into the corner. If rolls were reversed, I would have been fine with all of this, because they paid me in full. I go on my merry subaru hunting way, found two, drove one home, then turned and burned back to fetch the second. The problem was, the second subaru didn't have a hitch. I searched hight and low for one on CL, finally found a NEW one at haul for an insulting price, to find out I couldn't install it without a drill. Running out of time, I texted the daughter, "Hi, Can you please give me a few more days, I'm working on towing it, but need a bit more time." I get a reply right away, "no, it needs to be gone by Sunday." It's already Friday night. I scramble, with no success. My buddy's dad tries to find a friends with a truck, just to get it somewhere else to sit, anywhere but this guy's driveway. Sunday comes, my phone is blowing up "are you getting the car today?!"
So….I had no choice. I drove down to Salem (about 30 miles) with a buddy, I burned the last of the clutch a few miles away to a quiet street with open parking, saying a big hardy "Thanks!" to the Eastern Europeans. The guy was literally ushering me out of there with waving arms, like the car was burning a hole in his driveway. Having to get back to Mn. asap, I stripped the car dow as much as I could in 4 hours, hoping to God no one was looking out there window and calling the cops. I got MAYBE $300 bucks worth of good parts from it, I even took the tires and rims. I left the plates on it, and also hope to God they get a big fat tow bill in their mailbox….welcome to America!!
Serious bummer, but I learned a lesson. Learn from me here: I tend to fly by the seat of my pants a lot, and it usually works out fine, but run EVERY scenario through your mind before handing over money.
Another rust free festy bits the dust
FX
Depending on the pics of course.
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