Red truck, brown truck. (To steal shamelessly from Dr. Seuss).
Actually, it’s more like goldy-beige truck.
Youngest Son finally bought a new (used) truck! This means I can stop trucking him all over tarnation. I have my car to myself again! Yipsee-doodle-mongers.
He sold the old truck, an ’83 Toyota, several weeks ago. It was a standard four-cylinder 4×4 with something like 280,000 kilometers (don’t ask me to translate into miles; I’ve lost the ability). Cost him, ahem, more in repairs than it cost My Liege and I to buy it for him two years ago.
Old Truck:
This week, after several weeks of searching, enduring a very frustrating situation that nearly resulted in him buying a different vehicle under false pretenses (not his false pretenses, the seller’s), he’s now the proud owner of a ’98 Mazda automatic extended cab V6 4×4 with less than 135,000 kilometers. Purchased with all his own money, I might add. Good money (as opposed to bad money, which you are required to spank).
New Truck:
I do have a photo of Youngest Son with the new truck, but I haven’t asked his permission to post it, so I will refrain from doing so. Good mom.
Lessons Learned Buying New Truck:
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Always check the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). Always, always always! Running the VIN through your provincial insurance agency (or private insurer, whatever works in your area) can tell you if the vehicle’s ever been in an accident (the VIN is a long series of numbers located on the lower left front side of the windshield or imprinted inside the driver’s door). Check the VIN before you settle on a purchase price.
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Just because the seller of the Truck you Nearly Bought (TNB) had a former career in law enforcement and lives in your neighborhood doesn’t mean he’s incapable of forgetting that his vehicle suffered over $6000 damage in an accident five years ago. He’s even capable of not recalling the event when you straight out ask him about accidents. Twice.
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Check the VIN before insuring the vehicle for a day to drive it to a mechanic to get it checked out. Thank God the mechanic we took Truck Nearly Bought to pointed out the overspray indicating TNB had been painted, and we needed to find out why. That’s when we, dolts that we are, finally ran the VIN and discovered the forgotten accident.
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Don’t expect that once you’ve discovered said accident, the seller will drop his price to compensate for the cash your son laid out to insure the TNB for a day and get a mechanic to it check out.
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Turn your back on the bad deal. It doesn’t matter how rare the little V6s are to come by in your neck of the woods. Turn. Your. Back. On. The. Bad Deal.
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You will find another, better deal! Yippee. You will find another truck of the same year that hasn’t been in an accident and has way, way, wayyyyy fewer kilometers—for the same price. Yes, patience pays off.
Anyone have any Buying Used Vehicle Horror Stories they want to share?