So, last December when my Accord died, one of my coworkers (and former roommate) screwed himself by selling me his 99 Corolla (rather than the 91 I *really* wanted) because he thought the trans was about to go. Imagine his surprise when the trans went out on the 91 3mo later (which I why I wanted it, I would have immediately rebuilt it and kept it on the road).
I only agreed to buy the 99 because I had assisted with a pan and filter replacement on the trans only 2-3 months prior (fluid was the original ATF with almost 180k on it, we determined), followed a month later by a drain and fill which was more or less wasteful as the fluid we drew out was still clean. I've since drained and filled the trans at every oil change, just to be sure any contaminants are removed, and dropped the pan and put in another new filter in November just for good measure. Cleaned the pan up while I had it off, and ended up with a bunch of pink paper towels (no discoloration of fluid or residue in the pan!!) which made me happy. Essentially a like-new trans. Ne engine noise, everything is solid. Not a bad deal for $1500 plus $100 in parts for cosmetic issues over the 13mo I've owned it. He spent $1300 getting new struts installed a month before we did the trans work, $320 on new tires at the same time, and probably $100 on the pan and filter, $40 for ATF. To turn around and sell it to me 3mo later for $260 less than he had just put into it tells me he either truly believed the trans was gonna go out (which he warned me of repeatedly) or he was already eyeing up the car I'm about to mention and was looking for some down payment funding (which I think is more likely).
At any rate, when his 91 took a dump, he bought a 2000, which I immediately began eyeing up, because I was starting to miss driving a manual. He bought it for a hair over $5k and is looking to sell it to me now for $2250, after owning it for 10mo and putting a bit of work into it. From anyone else, I'd be extremely wary, but I've been involved in every bit of maintenance on this car since he's had it, up to and including a new performance intake ($200 and CARB certified so legal in cali) and new struts and springs (another $800) that we installed about 2 weeks ago. I've driven this car a fair bit so I know there is nothing wrong with it.
So why's he selling it so cheap? He's looking to buy new; a Mazda 3 he hopes to pick up this week. The dealership's trade-in offer was the balance of his loan ($1700). Given that I happen to know he's dropped $1k on it in the last 2 weeks, I can definitely see why that's not an acceptable offer to him and he wants to recoup at least part of what he's put into it. Given that I've driven this car in the last few days and his history of selling cars at an obvious loss once he's done finding anything to fix on them, yup, I'm buying this one, too, now. Who knows, maybe I'll pick up a 2012 Mazda 3 for $3k in a year
The best part? I need to sell my 99 so I can shoot him the cash to pay off the 2000 so he can get the title to sell it to me (trust is implicit, he sold me the 99 on payments but held the title until it was paid, and he could have used an extra $1500 back then, he's better off now). I was planning to list it on Craigslist tonight, but I don't think I need to; as I was leaving my storage unit this evening, the owner of the 2001 Corolla I was parked in front of was asking me about my 99. He asked what year it was, then immediately if I wanted to sell it. I relayed the story to him bout my coworker having offered to sell me his 2000 earlier today and told him I was planning on listing it on Craigslist for 1700, then we went on for 2hr talking about my car and everything that's been done to it, then his car, then cars in general, great conversation. No haggling about the asking price, either; he wants to get a look at it in the daylight, which is understandable, so we're meeting up tomorrow for that and a test drive and if he likes how it drives, asking price is already agreed to; if not, no sale.
Worst case, it doesn't sell to him and I get it in someone else's hands ASAP so I can jump on this 2000 I'm wanting. Best case, I'm in the 2000 by Friday. Middle of the road, I sell the 99, coworker doesn't get the Mazda, and either sells me the 2000 anyway or I drive my wife's Civic for a while until I find new wheels.
Funny how things work out, eh?
If anyone else has any interesting buying or selling stories, here's a good place to tell them. Oh, and if anyone's interested, I'll keep you posted on the sale and purchase of the 99 and 2000, respectively.
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