The $3,800 SUV

By LEON YOUNGBLOOD

A few months ago, a 78-year-old gentleman made a left-turn in front of me that resulted in a traffic accident.  In short, he had minor injuries, I had no injuries, my 2002 Dodge Dakota was totaled, he was 100% at fault, and his insurance company offered me $5300 for my truck’s carcass.  Personally. I felt the truck could be fixed; on their side, they did not think it was worth fixing.  They probably would have thought this if they had seen the truck before the wreck, too.

BRIAR CIRCLE

I admit, the offer was fair, even generous, but could I replace the truck for $5300?  I told them I needed time to consider my options.  They were fine with that, so over the next couple weeks, wife Sandy and I checked vehicles at dealerships, online, and through friends’ friends who had cars for sale.  This is where it became more complicated.  My truck had been an essential tool, used to haul round bales of hay, 50-pound bags of horse feed, dog feed, firewood, kayaks and camping gear, and anything else that would fit without oozing over the sides.  Nothing quite worked.  We found acceptable vehicles, but they were higher priced, and we kind of wanted to stay within the $5300 boundary.  But we realized we would probably have to spend more, and kept looking.  Then, one morning a salesman phoned from a dealer I had visited and invited me to look at a 2003 Ford explorer priced at $9,000.  We went, we test drove it, it would do, and we told the   salesman we would take it, but had to get the money from the insurance company.  That suited him. 

But wouldn’t you know, Sandy found an Explorer on Facebook for $3800?!  It was a 2005 with 112,000 miles on it, offered by a fellow who did not need the money but needed the space the SUV took up, so don’t bother him with spurious offers, and the deal was cash only!  We could handle that!  We met him, test-drove the thing, accepted the offer, shook hands on the deal, canceled the previous deal with the dealership, and picked it up the next weekend.

The man was honest, and went over the Explorers’ faults with us.  The radiator needed to be repaired or replaced, but he would take care of that.  The transmission slipped a bit on starting, but was fine after warming up.  The fellow had been a pilot, first in the military, then commercially, and you know pilots are just shy of fanatical when it comes to maintaining things.  Everybody was happy, and even the salesman at the spurned dealership was not upset.  He wished us the best, and only regretted he did not know about the $3800 Explorer first.

Just the same, buying a used car has an element in common with buying a lottery ticket or a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get.  The radiator was replaced, and that took care of the overheating problem, but there was that little issue with the hesitant transmission.  I took it to a mechanic with whom we’d worked with 20 or so years ago for a diagnosis.  Well—need I say more?  Instead of a $3800 dollar vehicle, we soon had one worth double that price!  It’s still a good SUV, but we could not brag about it being a bargain, anymore.

I guess this is the hardest thing about it.  At first, we thought we had beat an insurance company, but now, we could not even say we broke even.  As for the fellow that misjudged his turn, he drove a 1997 Mercedes.  I think it was some kind of classic Mercedes.  If his car was totaled, he will have a tougher time replacing it.

Thankfully, we both were out of our cars and walking within a few moments of our collision.  The emergency responders were there within a few minutes, and I don’t think you could find a better bunch of people than they were, no matter how bad the accident you’re in.  A deputy from the Sheriff’s department even gave me a lift home, even though I was with easy walking distance.

I wish I had a profound thought or moral to close with, but I don’t.  All it is, is the story of my $3800 SUV.  Just take it for what it’s worth.  

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