Releasing the beast

Here kitty kitty kitty

Ok, seeing as blogs are fairly narcissistic and self congratulatory by their nature, I thought I would do a money saving post about my car. 

You probably remember my post Life of a Nomad where I showed a picture of my Dodge Ram 2500 that pulls my trailer. Well that was my only car for quite some time. To say that it was not very gas friendly would be a GIGANTIC understatement. While it got better gas mileage than my last truck it still cost around $150 to fill it up.  With being in Real Estate full time I was filling up the tank every week or so. Gag. 

So my wife and I had talked about getting something more economical as a daily driver for me. We really don't want a car payment so paying cash was the only way to go. Needless to say I had to wait for just the right deal to make this work. 

Now a quick flashback... My friend (let's call him The Woodworker) had this car under a cover in his garage for years and years. We had been friends for a few years and every time I would go to his house I would say, "man you really need to do something with this car, it is just sitting her doing nothing." He would laugh and say, "maybe someday." 

About a year or so ago he moved into a new house and there wasn't a nice 3 car garage to store this neglected car. It was relegated to sitting under a tree in the back yard, allowing the dogs to use it to get closer to the squirrels that would taunt them. 

Now granted the car had some issues... 

And it needed some TLC, but to him it just wasn't worth fixing anymore. He also didn't want to see it just waste away so he called me. 

I remember it like it was yesterday. The wife and I were folding laundry and doing a bit of spring cleaning. The phone rang and I saw it was The Woodworker so I answered. The conversation went like this. 

Me: "Hey man what's up?"

TW: "Hey you know that car I have?"

Me: "Yeah."

TW: "Well I think it is time to get rid of the old girl."

Me: "Wow man, sorry to hear you are letting her go."

TW: "You want to buy it from me?"

Me: "Ha ha, right. You want me to buy your Jaguar."

TW: "No seriously, I'll sell it to you."

Me: "How much?" (completely thinking some crazy number)

TW: "$500."

It was just then my mouth dropped to the floor. I just said yes. Didn't think about what my wife would say while she was standing there. Didn't think about what was wrong with it. Didn't really even consider how we would get it home. Just said yes. I said I would be up that next weekend to pick it up. 

I did have to ask if I needed a trailer or something to get it back and he said that short of some gremlins...

It did drive and would probably make the 3 hour trip home. 

After getting it home we did a good once over, fixed the issues and did all the maintenance, and the only thing that I have had to do is replace the AC compressor (Did that myself thank you very much). 

Needless to say it is the nicest and cheapest car I have ever owned. 

 

I suppose besides just generally being self congratulatory about the whole thing, we did make our lives simpler and saved a lot of money in the process. 

What amazing deals have you lucked your way across that saved you money? I would love to hear about your finds. Heck this may spark you to go out and search Craigslist, ask friends and family, or just keep your eyes open for that next sweet ride.