Small world after all - coincidences IRL

[MrBishop]

Just went to the bank to deposit a check..and when I come out, parked right next to my new car...is my old van (the one I'd traded in). Met the new owner a minute later and we chatted. Ended up answering some questions about the van that the dealer hadn't been able to...like why the front-right speaker doesn't work unless it's hot in the car.

What're the odds?

 

[Professur]

2 questions. 1st, how'd you know it was yours? Second, I don't suppose you caught how much he paid for it.

maybe it wasn't the head gasket after all.

 

[MrBishop]

Easy to recognize it... the scratches and small dents, the deer-whistles, the rust etc...even kept the front plate.

I exchanged it for $300 and he bought it for $700. He was going back when he had a chance because he couldn't get the door unlock/lock remote to work..nor the remote-start.

I had turned it off by request at Hyundai. Flicked it back on for him, and he was mighty happy. Gave me back some speakers that I'd left in the van accidentally...mini ones that we used to plug into the in-car DVD player.

 

[Professur]

they fixed the headgasket for $400?

 

[MrBishop]

Nope. They didn't fix a damned thing..just sold it to him. AS IS.

Officially...they'd massaged the figures to say that my trade-in value was $1500 for their books... but it was only worth $300. The extra was an additional discount to get me to close the deal. Grand total, I saved about $4500 on it, including the industry discount and the local discount. They even threw in an iPod cable so MM can play her iPod through our stereo.

 

[MrBishop]

Gave buddy my Garagist's phone number. The garagist has been dealing with my wreck for over 7 years..knows it inside and out. If anyone can make the van solid enough to give buddy another 50-100k kms.it'd be him.

 

[Professur]

That's a lot of faith in a mechanic. The guy who'd been servicing the van I've got for the guy who sold me it .... doesn't work for him anymore. Not after I fixed the thousand dollar repair he'd been putting off ... by washing it.

 

[MrBishop]

He's a damned good mechanic..works out of his home garage. Doesn't fix what doesn't need fixing, doesn't overcharge and his word is solid.
ie: An oil pump that he'd replaced for me was new but faulty...he took it out, replaced it filled up the oil he'd drained and thanked me for coming to him with the problem...no charge, no paperwork, no BS.

I'll have to send you his number. He's a few blocks from Charley's Butcher Shop.

 

[Inkara1]

The guy who bought my old Dodge Neon from the lot I traded it in at has a daughter that was on the local high school's swim team last year. I gave him some of the history on the car. Turns out they didn't fix where water and oil were disappearing (but not seeming to leak out and not seeming to mix with each other). That's why I traded in the car, because I thought big repairs were looming. But I went to the state's Web site that allows you to check the smog check results on any car and saw that the Neon passed smog about a week ago.

 

[Inkara1]

That's a lot of faith in a mechanic. The guy who'd been servicing the van I've got for the guy who sold me it .... doesn't work for him anymore. Not after I fixed the thousand dollar repair he'd been putting off ... by washing it.

What repair was that?

 

[2minkey]

did you kiss him?

 

[Professur]

What repair was that?

A front seal leaks a little oil, it runs out the pulley and that flings it everywhere. That got onto a belt and made it squeal. Said mechanic claimed it was the water pump going. Convinced him that it wasn't worth fixing. Washed off the belt .. no more squeal.

 

[Inkara1]

Did you tell the van to squeal more? Did you tell it that it has a pretty mouth?

Also, I'm pretty sure when a water pump is going out, it doesn't squeal like a loose belt, and if the water pump bearing does seize up (which would cause a lot of squealing and also cost you a lot of horsepower), the engine would overheat pretty quickly.

 

[Professur]

You know that. I know that. Quite likely his mechanic knew that, and just didn't want to deal with that dirty greasy engine. But he didn't know that.

I should mention that so far that van's cost me one $60 alternator, $100 in replacement brake parts, an air filter, and a new set of plugs and wires that I'm still waiting to install. Pretty much standard maintenance that I'd do regardless on any used vehicle i bought. He, on the other hand, was gifted his father-in-law's '97 Transport (sound familiar) ... and within months had to cough up $2000 to replace the engine. Yeah, he was pissed.

 

[Inkara1]

Did his Trans Sport blow the intake gasket or throw a rod?

 

[Professur]

I ended the conversation quick, not wanting to rub salt in his wounds. I think it might have hydraulicked.