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So I'm sitting at work today and my friend sends me a text asking if I've seen the Festivas on Craigslist to which I reply no because I've been really busy lately. I log on to CL for Charlotte NC and there's 2 new postings. One is a beautiful aqua or blue 90 with factory alloys for $700. I tell my buddy to call and of course it's gone.
The other ad is for an 88 for $350 with "engine problems". I tell my buddy to call about that one because it may be a good deal depending on what the "engine problem" is. I assume that the car is a trade in because it's listed by a used car lot. My friend calls me and says the guy is a typical used car salesman and all he would say is that he's had tons of calls but no one has come to look at it, the car needs a motor, and it's $350 firm.
We go to look at the car and this thing has been sitting since 2007 and it's REALLY dirty...but nothing soap and water won't fix. My buddy tells me the salesman said the PO ran it low on oil and locked the motor up, they tried to crank it and it wouldn't do anything. Personally, I never believe a word a used car salesman says so I have my buddy put the car in gear and we push it back and forth and get the motor to turn a full revolution with no issues. We also notice that the steering column has been messed with like they were trying to hot wire the car or something. I told my buddy that maybe they did try to crank it and maybe the starter was bad and that's why they said "it wouldn't do anything" because obviously the motor isn't locked up. We go talk to the seller and I get him down to $300. He said he was gonna send the car to be wholesaled tomorrow if we hadn't picked it up. He gives us the title and the key and we go back an hour later to pick it up with the rollback.
This is where I find more discrepancies with his story on the car because the key he gave us wouldn't fit the ignition. We called him and he says that's the key he was given when it was traded in. That's when I tell my buddy; "I don't see how they could diagnose the engine problem without they key to crank the thing". So we're thinking they just went with the story the PO gave them and didn't even mess with it. Heck, they didn't even know what transmission was in it. His CL ad said it was a 4 spd but a link from there to info about the car on his lots website said 5spd. Anyway, we got it home tonight. The next step is to get a key cut, put a battery in it, and just see what's up with the motor.
Here's a pic my friend took with his phone while we were checking the car out. More pics and updates on this car will be coming soon as we unravel the mystery of the "engine problem".
The other ad is for an 88 for $350 with "engine problems". I tell my buddy to call about that one because it may be a good deal depending on what the "engine problem" is. I assume that the car is a trade in because it's listed by a used car lot. My friend calls me and says the guy is a typical used car salesman and all he would say is that he's had tons of calls but no one has come to look at it, the car needs a motor, and it's $350 firm.
We go to look at the car and this thing has been sitting since 2007 and it's REALLY dirty...but nothing soap and water won't fix. My buddy tells me the salesman said the PO ran it low on oil and locked the motor up, they tried to crank it and it wouldn't do anything. Personally, I never believe a word a used car salesman says so I have my buddy put the car in gear and we push it back and forth and get the motor to turn a full revolution with no issues. We also notice that the steering column has been messed with like they were trying to hot wire the car or something. I told my buddy that maybe they did try to crank it and maybe the starter was bad and that's why they said "it wouldn't do anything" because obviously the motor isn't locked up. We go talk to the seller and I get him down to $300. He said he was gonna send the car to be wholesaled tomorrow if we hadn't picked it up. He gives us the title and the key and we go back an hour later to pick it up with the rollback.
This is where I find more discrepancies with his story on the car because the key he gave us wouldn't fit the ignition. We called him and he says that's the key he was given when it was traded in. That's when I tell my buddy; "I don't see how they could diagnose the engine problem without they key to crank the thing". So we're thinking they just went with the story the PO gave them and didn't even mess with it. Heck, they didn't even know what transmission was in it. His CL ad said it was a 4 spd but a link from there to info about the car on his lots website said 5spd. Anyway, we got it home tonight. The next step is to get a key cut, put a battery in it, and just see what's up with the motor.
Here's a pic my friend took with his phone while we were checking the car out. More pics and updates on this car will be coming soon as we unravel the mystery of the "engine problem".
Hopefully the weather won't be too bad this weekend so I can check it out while doing some work to Cody's (Lanemeyer14) ride.
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