Saleen is Gone, Corolla is Here

I sold my Saleen. I am a Mustang enthusiast, so you might wonder why I would sell a sweet Mustang like the Saleen. Well, I am trying to take into consideration as many relevant factors as possible. One factor is in the long run the Mustang won't be helpful for a family. Another is 350 horsepower is too much power and they don't all get used enough to justify having such a powerful car. Another is gas. Another is maintenance, afterall, the car was 9 years old with 110,000 miles. All things considered, it was wise to get rid of the Mustang. It served its purpose and it was a good experience. But my desires and needs have changed.

I sold the Saleen on Tuesday, and an hour afterwards I bought a 2009 Corolla S. Do I regret the change? Not one bit. The new car meets the overwhelming majority of the factors I was considering. Sure, it falls short in power, but what it lacks in power it more than makes up for in gas mileage. Besides, it is blue, which is my favorite color; you can't go wrong with blue.

Now that you know a little bit of the purpose behind the change, let me describe to you about the events leading up to and after the change.

Several months ago, I tried to sell the Saleen because it was going to need some scheduled maintenance that I was not prepared to pay for. No one was interested. There was a lawyer who was prepared to pay cash for it, but for far less than what it was worth, and also for less than what I owed on the car. So, instead of forcing the sale and trying to figure out how to pay off the rest of the loan, I felt it necessary to keep the car.

Then I had the car checked by Ford. They tried to tell me that it needed $7000 of reconditioning, but they had no reasonable basis for their claims. For example, there was a clanking metalic noise coming from the bottom front of the engine. They tried to tell me that the noise was coming from the supercharger and it needs a $2000 rebuild. Not only were they wrong, but they didn't even take the supercharger off and inspect it! They simply "played it by ear." It turns out that the noise was my air conditioning clutch going out. I am sure 100,000 miles will do that.

So, I got upset with Ford for trying to squeeze money out of me. I decided simply to hold onto it for as long as I could. About a month ago, I realized I had kept it long enough. That metalic noise I told you about got significantly worse.

In the few months I kept the car, Saleen cars were seeing an increase in value. My car appreciated $1000. I decided to sell the car, and I asked for $2000 less than its value knowing that the buyer would need to fix the air conditioning clutch and get a new clutch for the transmission. So, I posted it on Craig's List, which is how I originally came to acquire the vehicle. Within 12 hours of posting it, I had a prospective buyer.

Keep in mind that I was going to try to trade the vehicle in at Folsom Lake Toyota or Roseville Toyota, but they would only give me $3500 for it, whereas it is worth $15000. After I got home from taking the car to the dealers to have them appraise it, I put it on Craig's List.

The prospective buyer was coming from the Bay Area. We met two days later.

I didn't have time to wash my car, so when I got off work early, I thought, "I'll go over to Dad's house and quickly wash it."

When I got there, my dad insisted that he take me to the car wash and have it done. He also decided he would go with me to show the guy the car.

We arrived at a local McDonald's to show the car to the guy. The car looked spectacular. The car wash place did a great job. The guy was very impressed with the car, especially considering all the miles it had. We noted the problem with the air conditioning clutch and the transmission clutch. Then I took him for a spin. We went about 5 miles. As I was getting off the freeway to head back to McDonald's, I began to smell something--burnt rubber. I pulled into the parking lot and began to see white smoke rising out from under the hood.

Remember that air conditioning clutch? For all intents and purposes, it broke, and the air conditioning unit froze up, meaning, it seized, which caused the serpentine belt to melt as it was being forced around
the pulley on a non-rotating assembly.

I turned the car off and opened the hood. White smoke was still rising from the belt around the pulley for the air conditioner. During the test drive, the buyer made me an offer for $12000. I paused. I finally
agreed to it. Then this happened.

The buyer looked at me as I was looking at the smoke and he said, "Dont worry, we still have a deal. I will also cover half of the repair costs."

That was very fortunate for me, right? But wait, I couldn't drive the car to get it fixed. Remember who came with? Dad called AAA. The buyer gave me a deposit and I agreed to hold onto it for him. He went home
as my dad and I waited for AAA.

The tow truck arrived 30 minutes later. We took the car straight to Ford and told them specifically to replace the air conditioning clutch and to inspect the serpentine belt and the rest of the pulleys for additional damage. I also needed them to smog the car. This drop off occurred Friday afternoon. Ford did not touch the car until mid-day on Monday.

Meanwhile, the buyer called me over the weekend. He wanted to know about the car. I told him that we got it to Ford safe and sound and that it should be ready on Monday. We made arrangements to sell the car on Tuesday. He also brought up the purchase price. My heart sank.

He said, "You know we said $12000? Well, I was expecting you to come back with $12500, and you should have, so we will agree on that price instead."

My jaw dropped. I kindly agreed to the new purchase price of $12500.

We met at the same McDonald's on Tuesday. From there, we went to Ford to pick up the car. The buyer made good on his word--he paid for half of the repairs and even half of the smog. I protested, saying the smog
was my responsibility, but he wouldn't have it. Then we got the car and inspected it for ourselves. Th serpentine belt was our foremost concern. It was very dry and badly cracked. It was plainly evident that it needed to be replaced. I asked him, "Are you sure you can make it home?"

He replied, "Yeah, but I will need to take it easy."

I asked him again, "You're sure you can make it home?"

He affirmed that he could. From there we went to the bank to finalize the purchase.

At the bank, my wife and I signed the car over to the buyer for $12500, paid off the car loan and had a little bit left over. We went out to the car and I cleaned out my belongings and the guy took off. As I was cleaning out the car and showing him the trunk, we found a spare serpentine belt in with the spare tire, which was placed there
by the original owner. He had a spare belt just in case.

Later that night, as I was about to leave Toyota with my new car, the buyer left a voicemail for me, saying, "Well, that belt went on me . . ."

Fortunately, he had a buddy with him and he was not stranded. He is also a mechanic and a car collector. He made it home. I don't know if he used the spare belt, but I do know that he got home okay.

What I want you to notice is the series of events. When I first tried to sell it, I couldn't. When I went to trade it, I couldn't. I had been praying earnestly for God to help provide away to get rid of the car without placing me into deeper debt. All the doors seemed to be shut and I felt helpless and hopeless. I felt trapped and scared. I felt like I was doomed financially and I was stuck with a car that was expensive to own, maintain, and drive, and if it broke, I would be up a creek without a paddle.

But then this buyer came along. He was quite generous, needless to say. And what about Dad? I had no plans to go see him or have him join me. It was on a whim that I went to go see him and he decided to join me on a whim too. He said later that he felt like he was being urged to go with me, like God was telling him to go. You have to understand the great measure of that statement, for both my dad and I are not very "spiritual" and we do not typically think or speak in such "spiritual" terms. Yet, the whole situation seemed to be orchestrated, and in retrospect it was an answer to prayer. What originally seemed to be failure was actually God saying, "Wait."

When I was denied the ability to trade it in, God was saying, "Let me handle this. Trust me, you'll like the results."

So, he brought a buyer along st just the right time. The economy was causing the car to gain value, so it was a better time to sell than a few months ago. It was also time to sell because I cannot handle the maintenance that the car now needs. It was perfect timing in regards to the clutch and the patience and generosity of the buyer. It was perfect for my dad to be there so that I would not only be safe but also for me to be able to get the car there. And it was the perfect time to get rid of it because I would not handle nor know how to handle the belt breaking while I am driving.

My heart had been heavy over my car for a long time. I prayed for a long time, and while I was praying the Lord was in the process of working it all out. How sweet is the loving provision of the Lord, who's timing and ways are better than what we imagine!