I’m sure I’m not unique in this, certainly not in THIS crowd, but one of my favorite procrastination-at-work activities is perusing the used car listings on Craigslist or Autotrader or Cars.com. I’ve got it in my head that the perfect used-car steal is just lurking out there waiting for me – the savvy car guy – to stumble across it.
Some great deal that some clueless sap has listed for thousands under market value, waiting in plain sight while the clueless plebes flip through the pages looking for a used Camry for the family. Somewhere, there’s a GNX on Craigslist for $5,000 and someday, I’m gonna be the guy who finds it. That’s how it works in my head, anyways.
Truth be told, as we know, Craigslist ads are mostly a bunch of overpriced beaters mixed with too-good-to-be-true scam ads. Most people selling interesting cars KNOW how interesting their cars are, and they’re priced accordingly (that is to say, out of my budget). Yes, dear reader, I know there are exceptions out there. Save your outrage. I’m generalizing. Making a point, as it were. Stick with me here.
This brings me to eBay. eBay is frustrating. eBay often has scores of super-awesome or super-weird cars for sale. which we can all agree is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, nothing is ever that easy. The good cars are never anywhere nearby (unless you live in California, in which case, bully for you old chap). But the biggest problem with eBay, at least for an impatient child like me, is the heart-racing excitement you get when you see, say, a pristine Renault 5 Turbo listed for the jaw-droppingly low price of $2,500….followed by the heart-rending pain when you see that 1) the auction still has a week to go and 2) the reserve is likely NOWHERE NEAR being met. You can be sure that evil auto auction hounds are lurking, waiting for the perfect time to swoop in and price your cheap ass out of the running.
Sure, a more mature individual of greater means and even greater patience might be able to take a longer view of things and simply WAIT OUT THE AUCTION, but for those of us with the maturity of an 8-year-old and the attention span of a gnat, that’s simply out of the question. I’m getting to my point.
All of which is to say, this 1973 BMW 2002, located less than four hours from my desk as I write this, is a beautiful candidate for an awesome daily driver, but there’s no way in hell its auction is going to end anywhere near its current (as of the morning of July 30) price of $2,650. I saw the auction, the car and I glanced longingly at each other through the glare of a computer screen, and we will continue on our separate ways, both slightly sadder for the experience. C’est la vie.
[HT for the link, Claire – via Facebook]
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