Relief and Amazement!!

Relief and Amazement!

Current mood:relieved

Long story short, I had a vehicle I needed to sell. I cosigned a loan for a family member 2 years ago, and this person became unable to pay their payments, so I had to take possession of a vehicle I could not use. Fortunately, the vehicle has retained some value, and I got it pretty cheap two years ago.

I listed the vehicle for sale at a high, but fair price. Cars have 4 values...1)retail: that is what you expect to pay at a lot, 2) private party: what you pay on the roadside or from a classified ad, 3) wholesale: what you can get from a dealer as a buyout or trade in, and 4) whatever someone is willing to pay for it, LOL!

I took out a loan to payoff the vehicle to get the title...kind of difficult to sell a vehicle without a title. Once the title came, I lowered the price of the vehicle to assure a quick sale...I was not looking to make money, just wanted the payoff to break even.

It was amazing how many people looked at the low price and still tried to offer me less. Mind you, I wheel and deal as well so I was not insulted, but I know the cars value, and anyone shopping for a vehicle like I had in the condition it was in would have been crazy not to jump on it.

The other problem was people expecting me to hold the note or take payments...who in their right mind would do that for a stranger unless they were in that business? Not to mention, the vehicle was COMPLETELY financeable because of the low price.

I had to sell the vehicle before Oct 1 because the insurance policy was coming due, and I would have been forced to title the vehicle in my name and insure it on my policy, which would have resulted in lots of cost to me, and tied up the title for another month!

I was getting frustrated at all of the lame offers coming my way and was looking at the reality of selling it at a loss to a wholesaler. This was getting to be the first thing on my mind when I woke up in the morning. Then, I met the coolest customer ever.

My phone rang and the fellow on the other end said he was at the vehicle, so I met him there... He opened the door, looked at the dash, looked at the seats, and said he would call back in 10 minutes. He then left with his daughter. A half hour later, his bank called and asked who to make the check out to. His daughter called 5 minutes later and asked to meet back at the car.

The amazing part....I assumed that now would be the test drive and scrutiny, but instead, he pulled up and handed me a certified bank cashiers check for the full asking price. The first time he even started the car was when he drove it away.

He knew what he was looking at, and understood the good value, and apparantly he put some faith in my honesty. He also earned my respect and appreciation. I hope that vehicle serves his daughter for many years.