Yeah, sorry it is also a long post. I need to Brag and Vent.

It all started a few weeks ago when I decided to sell my 2000 V6 Mustang. I just needed a front wheel drive car so I can drive it instead of the 11 MPG truck during the winter, an honest 5 months worth of icy roads. That adds up to about $2000 in gas. I also have a 2011 Camaro, so two rear wheel drive cars in the family during winter was not a good thing.
I placed the ad on Craigslist intentionally high, so people could get me to drop the price. It’s a typical sales ploy. A few days go by and I get an email low balling me. No way, way too low. I reply with a counter offer of $550 less then I was asking. No response. I get a call the next day, it was an older gentleman, he was calling for is Granddaughter. Since he didn’t see the ad he asked how much. I told him the ad price and I wasn’t going to budge much since I just listed it a week ago. We chat for a bit and he decades it will be a good car for her. Long story short, they ended up paying the asking price with no hassles. It was a good deal, I had put in about $3000 in performance parts and upgrades over the years. I was willing to sell it for less but they are very happy with the car.

Now for a new car. I found the one I wanted, the correct style, color and price. It was $1250 less then what I sold the Mustang for. I figured that after taxes and license I would have enough money left over to buy my wife a nice birthday present. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Sometimes those words are a bit flattering when they shouldn’t be. The car looked great in the pictures, description was good. I drove 140 miles to look at an absolute POS. It looked like they let their 5 year old take a hammer to it. I should have known better when I asked what repairs where done and she said she put on some new wiper blades a month ago. I find another, “Sorry Sold it about an hour ago”......Damn. I am about to give up when my wife said we should look at something a little more expensive, maybe we will find one that is not trashed. She finds an ad for a nice red car with moderate miles. Come to find out it belongs to a college kid that needs the money. His parents owned the car before he did. He tells me all about the maintenance that has been done. He put in a new timing belt, water pump, idler pulleys, plugs and wires. It also has newer tires with new sway bar bushings and an alignment. It also has a new Kenwood stereo and a Clifford 2 way alarm. The car drove and looked great for a 9 year old car so I laid down the cash and drove away with it. I was very pleased with the purchase. Very close to an even trade as far as price goes.

After a few days with the car I finally got around to check out the stereo he had installed. I looked in the glove box for a manual. Hmmm, no manual. I will just look on line. I did find a few receipts, one for the stereo and a few for miscellaneous stuff. Ok this college student must have been some spoiled kid that finally ran out of money and had to sell his car........because apparently that is where all his money went.
The receipts added up to $3,100 just for the stereo and alarm! Who would spend that much money on a stereo? Needless to say it sounds Awesome!! All components are Alpine. The fronts have 6.5” Type R components. 6x9 Type R for the rear speakers. 10” Type R sub in custom fiberglass box. 5 channel Alpine amp. Just the wiring kit to the amp (Power, RCA Cables) was $350! Crazy! More receipts included window tint. 2 ½” cat back exhaust, K&N Air filter and Power slot rotors, which work great!
The car sure is fun to drive which is a bonus for just wanting an all season car. It is like a front wheel drive Mustang. Actually it has more HP then the mustang did stock. I am fairly certain the car was well taken care of even with all the “Fast and Furious” ad ons. I wanted a Subaru all wheel drive but I could not find a decent one in my price range that didn’t have over 175,000 miles on it. I have owned 3 Subaru’s in the past they are great cars for the weather around here.

Now for the Vent. I found one other receipt that wasn’t car related. It was for one item. Which got me thinking. This Kid is going to college and is trying to be responsible for not over populating the world or spreading an STD. Good Job. That brings me to my nephew, my wife’s brother’s son. He didn’t get along with his Dad so we took him in during his Junior and senior years. We got him straighten out, and he actually graduated. That is where it ends. He moved back in with his dad where he fell back into the laziness. Got his 17 year old Girlfriend pregnant, refuses to get a job.......”the world owes him”. He is now 21 and has two children and still no job living off the tax payers. Fine you need help with food and shelter, but he could at least try. I finally had to tell my wife to stop helping him with his bills he will never learn. Oddly he never comes over to visit us anymore. I am not on speaking terms with his father either....in addition to being a **** poor parent that is another story in itself. Relatives, there just wouldn’t be good hillbilly entertainment without them.