Let's talk about buying cars on craigslist. Have you ever done it? Well, we have. When Luke and I got married he bought a truck off of craigslist. And then when I found out I was pregnant with Jack we bought a Saturn Vue off of craigslist. Both were great cars with no problems. So when we decided we were staying in Colorado we had to buy two cars. We went straight to Craigslist. Pretty quickly I decided that I wanted a Toyota 4runner, so I spent every day searching for 4runners. Luke, on the other had, was really struggling with buying a "practical" car or a "fun" car. One car that seemed to meet both the requirements was a VW, so we drove over to take a look at it and it looked great. It was Friday evening so Luke said he wanted to take it to a mechanic on Monday morning and if everything looked good then he would buy it. Well... it sold on Sunday. Luke was back to looking for cars. The next car he found was more of a "fun" car but it was practical too since it was an all wheel drive subaru. Luke didn't want to miss out on this car so he called right away. It turned out that it was a guy in Denver who was selling this car for his friend who had moved to Dubai. Luke negotiated the price down and then told him we would pay cash the same day. So we loaded the kids in the car and drove to Denver.
We drove to this guys house right next to the college and the car was parked right outside. The kids and I waited in the car while Luke took it for a test drive. When he came back Luke gave the guy the money and then he drove the car home. Once we got back to our house Luke said he wanted to take it straight to the dealer to have it tuned up and a few things fixed.
The next day we got a call from the dealer saying that the car was "a rust bucket." To fix the car would cost over $4,000. Right away we knew we had been taken. But now what? That's what happens when you buy a car off craigslist, right? Well we weren't going to give up without a fight. We kept Jack home from school again and we drove back down to the guys house in Denver without warning him. Once we got there Luke walked right up to his front door and pounded on it ready to confront him. You can only imagine our surprise when a 300 pound 8 foot guy opened the door. I was in the car with the kids so I couldn't hear what they were saying, but all I knew was that this guy was bigger and wider than the entire door frame. And he wasn't happy. He was shaking his head at Luke and I could see Luke was trying to prove a point but the guy wasn't having it. I watched the drama for a while and then another car pulled in the driveway and I had to move my car for another tall guy to step out and join the confrontation. Luke and these two huge scary muslim guys argued for a long time. At one point, one of the guys came over to my car and looked in the window and looked back at Jack and Lily and then left. I decided that I better reposition my car to have a quick exit, so I pulled out and backed in so and left the car running so I could get out of there in a moments notice.
After an hour or so, Luke finally came back to the car with an update. Apparently the guy who sold him the car didn't live there. At first, the original big muslim dude had no idea who Luke was talking about when he said a guy named Mohammed sold him a car. But eventually he figured out that Mohammed must be his friend Moe who lives in Colorado Springs. Luke told the scary guys that Moe sold him a lemon and that he wanted his money back. The scary guys told Luke to get lost, there was nothing they could do. Luke told the scary guys he wasn't leaving until he had his money. The scary guys said no way. Luke came back to the car and we decided that we weren't leaving. I parked my car right in front of their garage so they couldn't leave and we turned off the engine and rolled down the windows so everyone could hear Lily crying (she had been in her seat for almost 2 hours now). Finally one scary guy came back outside and said he would call Moe.
Meanwhile a car pulls up behind us filled with several other scary guys and parks right behind us and no one gets out. At this point Luke and I both were getting nervous so we left and parked down the street. Finally Moe calls Luke and they work out an agreement to meet the next day and Luke would sell Moe the car back for $1,000 less than he had bought it for. Moe reluctantly agrees. Moe tries to tell Luke to leave the car at his friends house, but instead Luke drives it to a Subaru shop 15 minutes away.
The next day we drive down to Denver for the third time and we go to the Subaru shop where Luke had left the car. We were supposed to meet Moe between 1 and 2 pm, so we were there right at 1. By 1:30 the kids were getting antsy so Luke decided to wait in the Subaru shop while I took the kids to Subway. I wasn't there when Moe showed up, but apparently a little after 2 pm a black Lexus SUV with tinted windows all around pulled up. They texted Luke "come. outside. now." Luke walks outside to the tined Lexus to find all three scary guys inside. It's about this time that I finally returned from Subway to see Luke making the exchange with the scary guys. About five minutes later, the scary guys left and Luke came back with money in hand. Apparently, the scary guy who had looked into my car and saw the kids the day before had a heart. He told Luke "Dude, you have kids...." and I guess he talked Moe into giving us our money back. Moe was not a happy camper. But he did the right thing. He gave Luke our money (minus $1,000) and took the crappy car back. Luke went right in to the Subaru shop and bought a very reliable, practical car for himself.
We drove to this guys house right next to the college and the car was parked right outside. The kids and I waited in the car while Luke took it for a test drive. When he came back Luke gave the guy the money and then he drove the car home. Once we got back to our house Luke said he wanted to take it straight to the dealer to have it tuned up and a few things fixed.
The next day we got a call from the dealer saying that the car was "a rust bucket." To fix the car would cost over $4,000. Right away we knew we had been taken. But now what? That's what happens when you buy a car off craigslist, right? Well we weren't going to give up without a fight. We kept Jack home from school again and we drove back down to the guys house in Denver without warning him. Once we got there Luke walked right up to his front door and pounded on it ready to confront him. You can only imagine our surprise when a 300 pound 8 foot guy opened the door. I was in the car with the kids so I couldn't hear what they were saying, but all I knew was that this guy was bigger and wider than the entire door frame. And he wasn't happy. He was shaking his head at Luke and I could see Luke was trying to prove a point but the guy wasn't having it. I watched the drama for a while and then another car pulled in the driveway and I had to move my car for another tall guy to step out and join the confrontation. Luke and these two huge scary muslim guys argued for a long time. At one point, one of the guys came over to my car and looked in the window and looked back at Jack and Lily and then left. I decided that I better reposition my car to have a quick exit, so I pulled out and backed in so and left the car running so I could get out of there in a moments notice.
After an hour or so, Luke finally came back to the car with an update. Apparently the guy who sold him the car didn't live there. At first, the original big muslim dude had no idea who Luke was talking about when he said a guy named Mohammed sold him a car. But eventually he figured out that Mohammed must be his friend Moe who lives in Colorado Springs. Luke told the scary guys that Moe sold him a lemon and that he wanted his money back. The scary guys told Luke to get lost, there was nothing they could do. Luke told the scary guys he wasn't leaving until he had his money. The scary guys said no way. Luke came back to the car and we decided that we weren't leaving. I parked my car right in front of their garage so they couldn't leave and we turned off the engine and rolled down the windows so everyone could hear Lily crying (she had been in her seat for almost 2 hours now). Finally one scary guy came back outside and said he would call Moe.
Meanwhile a car pulls up behind us filled with several other scary guys and parks right behind us and no one gets out. At this point Luke and I both were getting nervous so we left and parked down the street. Finally Moe calls Luke and they work out an agreement to meet the next day and Luke would sell Moe the car back for $1,000 less than he had bought it for. Moe reluctantly agrees. Moe tries to tell Luke to leave the car at his friends house, but instead Luke drives it to a Subaru shop 15 minutes away.
The next day we drive down to Denver for the third time and we go to the Subaru shop where Luke had left the car. We were supposed to meet Moe between 1 and 2 pm, so we were there right at 1. By 1:30 the kids were getting antsy so Luke decided to wait in the Subaru shop while I took the kids to Subway. I wasn't there when Moe showed up, but apparently a little after 2 pm a black Lexus SUV with tinted windows all around pulled up. They texted Luke "come. outside. now." Luke walks outside to the tined Lexus to find all three scary guys inside. It's about this time that I finally returned from Subway to see Luke making the exchange with the scary guys. About five minutes later, the scary guys left and Luke came back with money in hand. Apparently, the scary guy who had looked into my car and saw the kids the day before had a heart. He told Luke "Dude, you have kids...." and I guess he talked Moe into giving us our money back. Moe was not a happy camper. But he did the right thing. He gave Luke our money (minus $1,000) and took the crappy car back. Luke went right in to the Subaru shop and bought a very reliable, practical car for himself.
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