2000-02-24
I sold my car today! My old one, the 1989 Civic that's been
cluttering up the front of our house since I bought the Volvo last August.
I was hanging onto it until November, waiting to see whether our old Subaru
would pass inspection without a working dash (it did). And since then, I've
just had a hell of a time trying to sell it. I'd advertised it in the paper
but to no avail, first because of the holidays, and then because of that
huge immobilizing snow. So I decided to advertise it in the Auto Trader,
where for $35 they run the ad until the car sells.
This guy sounded interested on the phone and asked me to bring
the title with me to work, where he'd be meeting me to look at the car. He
came by today at 11:30, totally prepared. He had cash, a license plate, and
a wrench. It turns out one of the women at work is a notary, so I
signed the title over right there. He took the car; B had to pick me up.
It's very cool, because I was getting to
the point where I thought I'd never get rid of this thing. And big wads of
cash are always cheering.
This brings the total number of cars at our house down from seven
to six. But tomorrow it should come down to five. First, there are B's MG
Midgets, the 1969 one he's restoring and the two parts cars that live in our
backyard. (B seems to believe I'm one of few girlfriend/wife types who are
supportive of their boyfriends/husbands having this particular hobby. Maybe
he's right, I don't know; it's his money.)
Then there's the Subaru, a 1984 wagon bought primarily for
hauling things around. We thought it would primarily haul dogs and home
improvement supplies, but last spring we bought a canoe, and it's turned out
to be the perfect canoe-hauling car. In fact, Subaru is the official car of
the American Canoeing Association (or some such), and we learned that many
people have Canoe-barus. It's a real workhorse of a car that we picked up
for $600. The only problem is that it has this digital dashboard -- orange
and blue lights that are totally groovy at night -- which hasn't worked in
a year or two. We went through an insane ordeal trying to fix this,
acquiring not one but two replacement dashes from junkyards only to burn
them out as well. So now its guages work only intermittently, but to pass
inspection all it needs is the light that indicates your brights are on;
that happens to work. Apart from its hauling duties, this is also the car B
drives when the Midget is for one reason or another not drivable. Or when
its raining.
So, our registered cars are now three: the MG, the Subaru, and my
Volvo. There are two MGs in the backyard. But wait, that's only five.
Shortly before Xmas, I was walking the dogs when I noticed that
the 1969 Rambler that had been in front of our neighbor's house for ages had
a fluorescent orange "this car appears to be abandoned and will soon be
towed" sticker. We called our neighbor; his kooky old roommate left the
thing behind when he left town and it was ours if we wanted it. B checked it
out that evening and thought he saw another restoration project. The
following morning five of us towed the thing into our backyard (the departed
roommate having the keys). Once we got it into the yard, however, B realized
it was
in far worse shape than he'd initially realized. And the thought of pouring
money into it suddenly seemed like a really bad idea.
At great and annoying length, B found someone (via the Internet,
naturally) who wanted to restore it and got the kooky departed roommate to
agree to sign the title over to this other guy. This guy is allegedly coming
tomorrow to tow the thing away, and its none too soon as B has been getting
dirty looks from one of our neighbors and suspects the cars are to
blame.
As for me, I now get to arrange for refunds. I paid for a year's
worth of insurance on the Honda last summer and will get half that back. And
I just paid the annual property tax our state collects for all vehicles;
I'll get a prorated portion of that back, too. And you know how much I love
a refund.
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