Suburban Stealth

A 1980’s red Japanese pickup with a black camper shell is out of place in the neighborhoods I travel for the mortgage document work. Not drawing attention is useful in what I do. To that end, picked up another vehicle. Found it on Craigslist.

Is there a more anonymous and forgettable vehicle than a white Ford Taurus?

This one is a 1995 GL with the 3.0 V-6. Per the VIN, it was not built in Atlanta! (When I was selling Fords nearly all Lemon Law deals I had were from the Atlanta factory). 112K on the odo. Usual Taurus glitches and neglected maintenance.  Needs shocks/struts and will probably need a transmission in the future. May have a radiator problem developing. As it sits, it is usable for what I need.

The seller was seeking way too much (as usual) and talked about how many calls he was getting and how many people were “looking at it”. The sight of $1,000 cash in fist demolished all that noise. So, I bought it cheap enough that I can dump it without a great loss if it turns out to be a bad car. I’ve budgeted spending another $1,000 over the next six months on repairs and tires.

I do enjoy the haggle. What something is worth is what someone will pay, nothing more or less.

“Well, the ‘book’ (NADA, Kelley Blue Book, Consumer Reports, etc.) says it’s worth xxxxx!!!!!”

“Fine, sell it to them”.

“They don’t buy cars (you dummy, sotto voice)”.

“Right, they sell information to consumers such as yourself. That information is their opinion, only”.

And so it goes.