look forward to that one Frankie
So here's the story............. I saw this on craigslist over a week ago for 1700. I called the guy and he said he's moving to Denver soon and he had to sell the car. The pictures showed that the seats were in bad condition, and the top doesn't go down but is in good shape. It has 150 k on it and not the 168 k that was listed. Its missing the right side kidney grill. He has it, but the clip that holds it on is broken. Tires were so-so. He said he'd take 1500 for it. I called him for a week and didn't get an answer, so I thought he sold it. He called me yesterday and said he wasn't home for a week and is just getting back to returning phone calls. I told him I'd come up there (he's off the parkway at exit 102, I'm at 37) to see it and probably buy it. Anything like it on e-bay or craigslist was going for between 2500 and 5000. When I got up there, I looked at the car and offered him 1200. He said ok. His wife is already in Denver and he has to leave very soon, so I know he was a motivated seller. He went to start it but the battery was dead. His wife hadn't used the car since she left for Denver several weeks before. I told him that I'd buy a battery for it but he'd have to come down $100 off the price. If the car didn't start, then I'd keep the battery and go home. I bought a battery for my honda because its getting old and I'll need one soon anyway. We go to WallMart and get one. When we get back to put it in the car's boot we can't find the keys. We look all over but no go. We figure they're locked in the trunk because we were in there using the jumper cables trying to start the car. When the battery is really dead, even jumping it won't work. There is a button in the car for the trunk release but can't use it cause the battery is dead. I try jacking up the car to put a positive jumper lead on the starter terminal and a negative one to ground to make the car 'hot', which I did on a mercedes and it worked. but I couldn't find the starter from under the car after I took off the cover plate. I know that he was really frustrated because he needed to sell the car and didn't want to go through calling a locksmith and advertising the car all over again. To made matters worse, the windows were down and couldn't be closed without the key. When I asked him, he assured me that the car ran well and drove well so I offered him 1000 as it was without driving it and told him I'd have it towed home.
When I got home, I noticed under the hood, bonnet that there is a positive terminal where the battery compartment used to be. Apparently, the battery is in the boot but the positive lead is run foward to the old compartment. It is protected with a cover. I lifted the cover and used a battery charger's positive lead on it and grounded the negative lead to the block. The lights inside the car went on as the doors were open. I pressed the button for the boot and it opened. The keys weren't there. I called him and he said he'd look all over for them. He called me ten minutes later and said he'd found them with a flashlight torch on the grass. This morning he federal expressed them overnight to me. Sooooo, I'll get them tomorrow and see if the car really starts and drives. Maybe I'm in for a surprise, but he seemed really honest and it should be ok. Frankie
