RE: Selling a two week old strawberry scented air freshener . . . for $1,700

[firefighterjake]

Thought some of you might get a kick out of my Craigslist ad for my old Accord.

(broken link removed to http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/4997752410.html)

 

[Shari]

 

[BrotherBart]

h.c, has just made you too detailed and honest Jake. That and the buyer will know where ya live.

BTW: While you are disclosing everything, does the screen name have anything to do with what firefighters call a "Jake"? Always wanted to ask.,

 

[firefighterjake]

h.c, has just made you too detailed and honest Jake. That and the buyer will know where ya live.

BTW: While you are disclosing everything, does the screen name have anything to do with what firefighters call a "Jake"? Always wanted to ask.,

HC?

Maine is still a bit different than some places . . . you really don't hear of any horror stories involving Craigslist other than the usual "I am Mumamba Lafatso, Treasurer of Libya and I want to give you six million dollars for your 15 year old car" types of e-mail scams. Heck, a few years ago my good friend Joe ended up paying for a $1,000 plus snowmobile with a personal check -- the buyer didn't even bat an eye lash (although I will admit I would not take a personal check.)

As for honesty . . . it's always served me pretty well when selling stuff . . . figure I would want someone to treat me the same way . . . no matter how new or how old something is . . . that way there are no surprises down the road.

Jake . . . it's actually a Boston thing. Apparently, in Boston all first year, probationary firefighters are known as Jakes . . . but that's not where I got my knickname. Started working here in Bangor and one Assistant Chief started calling me by that moniker. Figured at first that he was confused since someone introducing me as Jason Johnson might sound a bit like Jake Johnson . . . later I found out that for some reason I reminded him of his pet bassett hound Jake (I am short and fat -- although my ears are not particularly large). Ironically enough, I later found out that Jake had a girlfriend -- which just happened to also be my wife's name.

I'm actually pretty happy with the Jake knickname . . . it's much better than some knicknames folks have acquired over the years -- Erkel, Half A@#, Lurch, HonYuck, etc. . . . and better than the other knickname I had for a while -- Mittens which was dubbed when someone saw me going down the pole with gloves on so I didn't get blisters. I really, really, really didn't want to have a retirement cake when I'm ready to go that said "Congratulations Mittens!"

 

[bag of hammers]

Aside from the stitches that car looks to be in great shape from the pic. I know a guy that would be all over it if we weren't 1000 miles apart.

Good on you for the honesty. Besides, the best way to keep things from coming back to bite you (either the buyer, or karma) is full disclosure.

Being called Erkel would make me want to jump off a cliff (if it's a reference to that '80's sitcom). Lurch, OTOH, was pretty cool...

 

[Wildo]

HONYUCK Oh that poor feller! We spell it HONYOCK over here on the west side.

 

[Swedishchef]

It looks like it's in pretty good shape! I am sure someone will buy it. It'd be a great car for a college student (and lots of other people).


Andrew

 

[firefighterjake]

I think I may have sold it . . . and not to the guy who e-mailed me and offered $700 without even seeing it.

A good friend is strongly considering it for his son's first car. Needless to say, although he doesn't know it yet, the price will be quite a bit less than what I am asking if he buys it. The only negative is I always worry when selling to a friend that it may die or have an expensive part go right after a good friend buys it . . .

 

[bag of hammers]

I think I may have sold it . . . and not to the guy who e-mailed me and offered $700 without even seeing it.

A good friend is strongly considering it for his son's first car. Needless to say, although he doesn't know it yet, the price will be quite a bit less than what I am asking if he buys it. The only negative is I always worry when selling to a friend that it may die or have an expensive part go right after a good friend buys it . . .

Thats always a worry. But if it goes well its a nice feeling helping someone out. A friend sent her nephew over to check out our minivan when we sold it last year. It needed quite a bit of work - as a sanity check I actually tried to talk him out of buying it. He was a shade tree mechanic, was happy to take it (bunch of kids, they needed a bigger ride than the family car). I gave it to him for not much over scrap value and he was thrilled. The day he came to get it the battery was almost dead, and idler wheel bearing let go, when we got it started it sounded like it was gonna fly apart I felt awful, tried to let him off the hook but he still wanted it, so we charged the battery, took $50 off the price, he drove it away. Him and his dad, 1 weekend in their garage, got it all tuned up, brakes, etc. My wife talked to them this week and they're still driving it today and very happy with it. Turned out great for them which makes us feel great too.

 

[Jags]

The only negative is I always worry when selling to a friend that it may die or have an expensive part go right after a good friend buys it . . .

No worries. Give full disclosure. Give him the good friend discount and send it away as "your baby now".

 

[Lake Girl]

I'm actually pretty happy with the Jake knickname . . . it's much better than some knicknames folks have acquired over the years

Son hasn't gotten a nickname that has stuck yet - he said, if they don't get a "rise" out of you, they try out another name Hubby has been "Vader" as in Darth Vader ... he's gone to the dark side aka management as he's now Fire Chief

As to the car, the friend likely has a good idea of how you maintain your possessions. You've done your best on letting folks know the potential shortfalls ... first car is always a learning experience. The one I bought had a cracked head ... which of course we figured out after the 6 month warranty from the used car lot I bought it from

 

[begreen]

Just bought a $22,000 strawberry air freshner. It was the first thing I removed.

 

[firefighterjake]

Sorry to disappoint some of you . . . but the strawberry-scented air freshener was sold on Saturday.

My friend was pleased with the price I asked . . . said other vehicles they had looked for at $2,000-$2,500 had a lot of rust whereas this car had little to none. He plans to get a couple of used tires for the front, replace the battery which is marginal and get the airbag light checked which may or may not be under a recall (sometimes it is on, sometimes it is off).

His son on the otherhand is thinking about plasti-dipping the beat up rims and getting a bra to cover up the damaged bumper.

 

[Lake Girl]

... He plans to get a couple of used tires for the front, replace the battery which is marginal and get the airbag light checked which may or may not be under a recall (sometimes it is on, sometimes it is off).

His son on the otherhand is thinking about plasti-dipping the beat up rims and getting a bra to cover up the damaged bumper.

Sums up the dichotomy on parents/children and the first car ... substance vs. looks