Travelogue/Mustang: Creative desperation
Three weeks of being listed on Craigslist was not doing enough (two very excited potential buyers came and looked, but both turned into nothing), my poor friend Z. has been taking so many idiot calls and gotten so few people to come and look, so this morning I created an excellent flyer on the Mustang to hang up on the bulletin board at Dallas Mustang parts. Over the last 10 days I have also been researching how and where to move the car, since it can't stay at the shop. I'm out of time and I should have left town a week ago, no, a month ago.
Color printing can be expensive, but I printed up 30 copies of the flyer. I didn't know why at the time, but I felt a need to take some kind of action. The auto shop where I have the Mustang, where they've graciously let me keep it so long even though there is no work ticket open on it, it wasn't that far from Dallas Mustang. I was scoping out the area, trying to find a storage facility where I could safely store the Mustang until my friend could help me sell it (since I have to leave town NOW) or just keep it until I got back to Dallas in October. The price tag for storage like that -- $162 a month with small consolation that the first month's rent was $1, I was a bit comforted that maybe by October I could come up with a plan to keep the car. (I know, I know, I'm wishing, but it makes the storage rental less painful to bear.)
At the first storage place I stopped at, there were a couple of auto shops next to it. Open bays, sounds of people working on cars. And I knew what the flyers I printed were for:
Auto shops.
Filled with people who have the knowledge and tools and abilities to do the work for themselves. The first shop I walked into, a transmission shop, I talked to the owner, who was a downright friendly fellow, who was interested in my plight and also happened to be a Mustang fan, and it looked like a project he would love. He had just bought a new house and already had a project car going, so the timing was awful, but he thought the project was perfect for him. It was inspiring, and I spent most of the day telling my story to people "in the business" and being overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm with which people were willing to not just tell but CALL UP THEIR FRIENDS RIGHT NOW to tell them about this great project car. I know that part of it was that it's kind of sad to see a single woman on her own with money problems, but part of it was clearly that the price was so low that they didn't want a friend to miss out on a good deal. Drat. Oops. [sarcasm] Thank you, craigslist, for the lovely pessimistic callers that were looking for a scandalous deal. [/sarcasm] Apparently, the first price of $3000 (which we thought was a great quick-sale price) ~was~ pretty tasty already. I was floored by the feeding frenzy that I was able to generate today with this flyer showing it at $2500.
The first man from the tranny shop later came to look at the car, he was one of four people that looked at the car today. Three of the four are supposed to get back to me by noon tomorrow to tell me if they're buying or not (talk to the wife, scrape the money together, make space in the garage, etc.). Maybe this will be done with before I leave town tomorrow (hopefully, tomorrow, I have to...uh, hi, beth47 and algor_langeaux...be in Nebraska on the 26th).
As crazy and exciting as this day was, a part of it was really sad. What people were inspired by was my sincere desperation. I do not want to sell this car, I would keep it if I could. The price was confusing for some. One man said to me, "I've got a car in worse shape that I'm selling right now for $4000, you're crazy to let this go for $2500." Yes, if I had more time, if I was here locally, if I had a place to put it, I could sell it for more, but this has to get resolved.
I really liked all three of the enthusiastic lookers that saw the car today. The fourth guy doesn't like fords, but the price was so low he had to come and see it. All four of the people that came to look, they want to restore the car. That makes me happy. And it was nice to hear all the things that are so amazing about this car, how you can tell by looking that the engine is original, how you can tell by how the engine fires right up, by how it sounds, that it's an easy rebuild, how promising and pretty a project this car is, what a marvel it is how much of it is original, the real thing in good condition. It also felt good that people appreciated me for trying to point out all that is wrong with it and make sure they made a good, informed decision. It was great to hear so many people really appreciate it for the gem that it is, it was a nice contrast to the first folks who came out and looked at the car when it was first listed on craigslist: the dad fell in love with it and wanted to work on it with his son, and the son wanted nothing to do with it (he was pretty hard on the car both verbally and physically, trying desperately to find SOMETHING wrong enough to talk his dad out of the car, and failing). I'm proud of that dad for not forcing the car on his son. I would have worried about them had the dad bought the car.
I hate money. I hope this car goes to someone that will enjoy it, I hope I don't have to sell it to someone that is forcing it on a disinterested kid.
Hopefully I will have $2500 tomorrow, but if I must, maybe I'll have keys to an expensive storage locker and a chance to try to work this out again in October, if Z can't sell it for me while I'm gone (it isn't going to show as well in a storage locker than it has right at the garage where the mechanic, who knows the mechanical concerns better than I do, can also answer questions). Today has been exhausting but also exciting, in a lot of ways it has helped me make peace with selling the car on a different level, to go out in the world and talk to people who really know what this car is, who appreciate it affectionately and recognize its value. A lot of people are strapped for money, but it's nice to hear that there are so very many people just like me that see the potential, that see how close this car is to being beautiful again.
Color printing can be expensive, but I printed up 30 copies of the flyer. I didn't know why at the time, but I felt a need to take some kind of action. The auto shop where I have the Mustang, where they've graciously let me keep it so long even though there is no work ticket open on it, it wasn't that far from Dallas Mustang. I was scoping out the area, trying to find a storage facility where I could safely store the Mustang until my friend could help me sell it (since I have to leave town NOW) or just keep it until I got back to Dallas in October. The price tag for storage like that -- $162 a month with small consolation that the first month's rent was $1, I was a bit comforted that maybe by October I could come up with a plan to keep the car. (I know, I know, I'm wishing, but it makes the storage rental less painful to bear.)
At the first storage place I stopped at, there were a couple of auto shops next to it. Open bays, sounds of people working on cars. And I knew what the flyers I printed were for:
Auto shops.
Filled with people who have the knowledge and tools and abilities to do the work for themselves. The first shop I walked into, a transmission shop, I talked to the owner, who was a downright friendly fellow, who was interested in my plight and also happened to be a Mustang fan, and it looked like a project he would love. He had just bought a new house and already had a project car going, so the timing was awful, but he thought the project was perfect for him. It was inspiring, and I spent most of the day telling my story to people "in the business" and being overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm with which people were willing to not just tell but CALL UP THEIR FRIENDS RIGHT NOW to tell them about this great project car. I know that part of it was that it's kind of sad to see a single woman on her own with money problems, but part of it was clearly that the price was so low that they didn't want a friend to miss out on a good deal. Drat. Oops. [sarcasm] Thank you, craigslist, for the lovely pessimistic callers that were looking for a scandalous deal. [/sarcasm] Apparently, the first price of $3000 (which we thought was a great quick-sale price) ~was~ pretty tasty already. I was floored by the feeding frenzy that I was able to generate today with this flyer showing it at $2500.
The first man from the tranny shop later came to look at the car, he was one of four people that looked at the car today. Three of the four are supposed to get back to me by noon tomorrow to tell me if they're buying or not (talk to the wife, scrape the money together, make space in the garage, etc.). Maybe this will be done with before I leave town tomorrow (hopefully, tomorrow, I have to...uh, hi, beth47 and algor_langeaux...be in Nebraska on the 26th).
As crazy and exciting as this day was, a part of it was really sad. What people were inspired by was my sincere desperation. I do not want to sell this car, I would keep it if I could. The price was confusing for some. One man said to me, "I've got a car in worse shape that I'm selling right now for $4000, you're crazy to let this go for $2500." Yes, if I had more time, if I was here locally, if I had a place to put it, I could sell it for more, but this has to get resolved.
I really liked all three of the enthusiastic lookers that saw the car today. The fourth guy doesn't like fords, but the price was so low he had to come and see it. All four of the people that came to look, they want to restore the car. That makes me happy. And it was nice to hear all the things that are so amazing about this car, how you can tell by looking that the engine is original, how you can tell by how the engine fires right up, by how it sounds, that it's an easy rebuild, how promising and pretty a project this car is, what a marvel it is how much of it is original, the real thing in good condition. It also felt good that people appreciated me for trying to point out all that is wrong with it and make sure they made a good, informed decision. It was great to hear so many people really appreciate it for the gem that it is, it was a nice contrast to the first folks who came out and looked at the car when it was first listed on craigslist: the dad fell in love with it and wanted to work on it with his son, and the son wanted nothing to do with it (he was pretty hard on the car both verbally and physically, trying desperately to find SOMETHING wrong enough to talk his dad out of the car, and failing). I'm proud of that dad for not forcing the car on his son. I would have worried about them had the dad bought the car.
I hate money. I hope this car goes to someone that will enjoy it, I hope I don't have to sell it to someone that is forcing it on a disinterested kid.
Hopefully I will have $2500 tomorrow, but if I must, maybe I'll have keys to an expensive storage locker and a chance to try to work this out again in October, if Z can't sell it for me while I'm gone (it isn't going to show as well in a storage locker than it has right at the garage where the mechanic, who knows the mechanical concerns better than I do, can also answer questions). Today has been exhausting but also exciting, in a lot of ways it has helped me make peace with selling the car on a different level, to go out in the world and talk to people who really know what this car is, who appreciate it affectionately and recognize its value. A lot of people are strapped for money, but it's nice to hear that there are so very many people just like me that see the potential, that see how close this car is to being beautiful again.