That was a Thursday. I came home and scoured over craigslist for something. A mechanic here told me what make to look for, so I was focusing my efforts on those. I had been searching for a SUV for around $4000, but people kept telling me it wasn't going to be possible to find that. So, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be buying a car.
I was trying to work around the family's schedule so Friday was the day we were able to go out and actually look and test drive cars. I called a guy about a car and left a voice mail. When he called me back he had just sold it. He asked me what I was looking for, so I told him and he said that he had another car for me so we arranged for us to go to his car lot later that afternoon.
When we pulled into the lot my heart kind of sank as I knew which car this guy had in mind. However, I told myself that I needed a car and it was in my price range, so just go with it. The guy went to get the key to unlock it so I could take it for a spin. He spent a good 3 minutes trying to unlock the car with the key, but had no luck. I went to look at the other vehicles he had and came back when I noticed he had walked away. He went inside to get a lock out kit. You see, the door wouldn't open even with the key and the passenger side door didn't have a keyhole anymore - just a hole.
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| He asked me to help him by holding my hands in such a way that I would cut the glare. |
At this point I didn't want to suggest trying to go through the trunk....mainly because this car obviously needed a little more work done! At this point I asked him if he had other vehicles at a certain price range and he did. I didn't want leather and this next vehicle he showed me had it. At this point I was done with him. We all got back in the car (because the kiddos came along for the ride) and started driving with no real plan. My friend and I realized we had seen at least one car lot on the way so we took off in search of it.
We were going to make a night of car searching and go out for supper in the midst. We stopped at the car lot we had first seen and pulled in...only to not be able to move. The small lot was packed with cars. I got out and approached a guy asking if he worked there. Immediately he gave off a vibe that said "Oh, you're a woman, you don't know anything." I told him what I had and was not willing to budge one bit and he made a few comments about that. I allowed him to show me one car, said no, thanked him for his time, then got out of there. We drove past another one, but nothing jumped out at me. At this point I was a little frustrated, but I needed to get a car - how would I get to church on Sunday or to my interview on Monday morning?
We drove by another car lot and noticed that the Open sign was on, so we stopped. I saw a few cars that were what the mechanic had told me to look at and was relieved that they were in my price range. Just because, I walked down to where the SUVs were located at and saw a Toyota 4Runner sitting there. It was priced somewhere between $4500 and $5000. I went in search of the guy who worked there and found him in the little shack with a customer. When the customer walked out, I told him that I had $4000 cash on me and needed to buy a vehicle today. I then asked if he would consider taking $4000 for the 4Runner - expecting him to say no. He sat there and hemmed and hawwed for a little bit, then said yes. WHAT?!
He gave me the keys and I took it out - to get gas. The gas light was on and I prayed the entire way to the gas station. On my way there, I knew this was my car. I got back, told him I wanted it, and we shook on it. I left it there overnight because he said he was going to pay for the inspection - wow! The family took me back the next day to pick it up. One thing I was planning on for Monday was getting it registered. When I picked it up for good, the guy made a comment and I said, what? I didn't realize that the registration was part of the $4000 package....EVERYTHING was included!
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| She's all mine! |
