Buyer Beware

My daughter needed to sell her car. Months earlier someone had left a note on it, “If you ever want to sell your car call me,” and they left their number. Monica called the number and set up an appointment for them to see the car. The lady on the phone told her that her car had been stolen.

Hmmm, I thought it was a bit strange she hadn’t found something in the months that had passed since the note was written.

We informed my husband that the girls would be handling this and he could relax. Girl power!

We sat on our front porch waiting. Two women arrived at our house, an hour late. They hollered from the car, “Lori?” My daughter had to tell them her name was Monica. This made me laugh.

One of the ladies had an odd-looking change purse around her neck; it appeared to be where she kept her money nestled securely in her large chest. They were very personable and friendly.

My daughter took one of them for a test drive while I chatted with the other. As we talked she said, “Praise God…The Lord this and that…Thankful to Jesus…” She told me that she had a 10-year-old son who left the note for her, that her car had been stolen, that it was difficult paying gas money for the people who drove her around, and that her husband had passed away. It was a long, sad story.

I asked her what church she attended. She named one I had not heard of and said they were part of TBN. I asked the pastor’s name. She said, “Pastor Ron.” I asked her what his last name was but she didn’t know. Hmmm, it is unusual to not know the last name of your pastor.

Through all this my husband sauntered in and out.

Finally, it was time to deal. The lady with the money hanging around her neck offered my daughter $1,300 under her asking price. She prefaced it with, “If you could see it in your heart to help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.” She said she only had her offering price with her in cash and that it was the amount she got from the insurance company for the car that was stolen.

With this I got a bit nervous Monica would accept the offer and asked my daughter to come inside with me a minute. As we got in the door she said, “Mom, I’m not stupid. I am not going to accept that price!” Whew! Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Go Girl Power!

We went back outside and suddenly this woman’s son appeared. He wanted to look under the hood of the car. Why would a 10-year-old do that? Because he WASN’T 10, he was 30 something.

They made another offer coming up a few hundred dollars. My daughter declined. Good girl! Then as they were walking away the lady’s friend said, “I have $100 in which I need to pay a bill with, but I will give it to my friend toward the car.” Unbelievable! My smart daughter graciously declined and kindly said goodbye.

As we returned back into the house my husband said, “They were gypsies. I wouldn’t have let you sell it to them anyway.” Oh! I think that information would have been quite useful a bit earlier, don’t you? Even though all he did was saunter in and out he was able to sum up the situation with precise precision.

And by the way, they were driving a really nice car too. So, at the end of this non-car transaction, I think “Seller Beware” is more like it!

So much for “Girl Power.” Some things are better left to your husband.