186 Comments
User's avatar
Chris deZ.'s avatar

He should take the buyer that offered $3k to the nearest strip club and spend $500 in $2 and $20 bills convincing said buyer to follow through with the deal. Panic braking in front of random 18-wheelers is also an option

Joe's avatar

Most of the 18 wheelers have dash cams now…

Ice Age's avatar

Whatever happend to "snitches get stiches?"

Andrew White's avatar

An insufficient number actually got stitches, so everyone realized it was a catchphrase for gormless posturing yoots.

Henry C.'s avatar

Drive it to Minneapolis and leave the keys in it.

Ataraxis's avatar

With a gas can on the hood.

Henry C.'s avatar

Nice touch.

/chef's kiss

Ataraxis's avatar

Decades ago when a close friend was going through a bitter divorce with his crazy wife, a neighbor knocks on his door one night to say “I think your car is on fire.” He grabs a 5 iron and runs outside, and sure enough there’s a flaming gas can under a rear tire. He unwisely uses the 5 iron to move the gas can, but luckily it doesn’t explode.

The Chicago Police Bomb Squad comes out the next day. He tells them he’s going through a bitter divorce. They just nod.

JT's avatar

A guy I know told me he has a resentment toward the local FD because they laughed when his ex put all of his stuff on the curb and set it on fire.

I’m not saying his ex wasn’t crazy but knowing him I can also see where maybe he brought it on himself.

Ataraxis's avatar

It almost always takes two to tango, even if one is crazy and the other isn’t.

JT's avatar

I don’t think it was their first break up, so my money is on both of them being crazy.

Mozzie's avatar

Is a charity auction an option? No dealing with buyers, gone quickly, no more expletive-laden effort. Unless cash is needed, of course.

Ataraxis's avatar

The lower the credit score of the likely buyer, the higher the need to donate a car to a charity.

Scout_Number_4's avatar

Even if I was capable of doing all the work described, I would not put the effort into this vehicle. Find a way to unload and don’t look back.

Matthew Horgan's avatar

Take 3!

No tolerance for entropic despair: He told us he doesn’t have the stomach to deal with the car when it’s broken, and older cars are always broken-there is always something that needs attention and

Outta Tyme:

No time to wrench.

You need both time and the mental fortitude to abide a driveway paperweight if you want to dance the Cuban Tango.

Ice Age's avatar

Do you need a rose in your teeth?

-Nate's avatar

No ;

Just greasy hands and a soon to be empty wallet .

Still doing this with several old beaters/junkers that for some foolish reason I love and don't mind dumping more $ into that they'll ever be worth =8-^ .

Had a nice day ride on the junker BMW /5 I bought last February, apart from the alternator crapping out if I have the headlight on it's running and riding sweetly .

I'll git 'er dun sooner or later, Friday I bought new red paint and hope to have it re sprayed by April .

-Nate

Ataraxis's avatar

I would donate it and take the tax write-off. Zero liability.

If you haven’t sent a box of Cat Tales to Sydney Sweeney yet, what are you waiting for? She’s not gonna give you a jacket blurb for the 2nd Edition or join the Track Club if she doesn’t know that you are a sensitive and cuddly cat loving modern man! Be sure to include your Amazon author photo.

Steve Ward's avatar

2nd para is probably the best suggestion posted in the comments in a very long time.

Jack Baruth's avatar

If I knew her address, do you think I would use that knowledge to SEND HER A BOOK?

Steve Ward's avatar

Yes. You are just an old married fart like most of us.

Ataraxis's avatar

Well it is a great cover story.

I loved AI Sydney with the cat.

Stan Galat's avatar

I think you spelled the "Snobes Conspiracy" artwork wrong.

G. K.'s avatar

The overwhelming majority of jurisdictions consider the private-party purchase of a car to be a case of *caveat emptor,* so you wouldn’t suffer any real liability outside of gross dishonesty, like selling a car that you haven’t got a clear title to.

There can be a social liability if you sell a broken car to someone you know, even if you apprise them of everything that’s wrong with it. They might swear they didn’t know or that something else happened and that you sold them a lemon. Which is why I simply *gave* my friends my distressed 2000 528i 5MT when they wanted to use it to learn how to drive a manual, just as I did.

In either event, there’s a case to be made for donating it.

Ataraxis's avatar

Oh, I agree totally. But there are people who are litigious and will still sue even if they don’t have a case. Call it legal harassment in hopes of getting some money out of you. I just prefer to donate old cars of little worth, or in a few cases when I was younger, I just gave cars to people who were struggling or just starting out.

G. K.'s avatar

People can sue for all kinds of dumb shit. Let them; it doesn’t mean they’ll win. Chances are, they’ll get laughed out of a lawyer’s office and then be too stupid to figure out how to file *pro se* in small-claims court.

But I do like the idea of donating a car if it could give someone good service and if the money doesn’t mean much to you, just on the grounds of helping someone else out, and I’ve done that a few times.

Drksd4848's avatar

I've recently started to think about that. Is ACF a registered charity?

Otherwise it's 1-877-KARS-FOR-KIDS

soberD's avatar

K-A-R-S KARS 4 Kids

Take the tax break

Acd's avatar

I’m convinced that commercial runs on a continuous loop in hell.

-Nate's avatar

Beware, they talked a good deal when I gave them my old GMC truck with no repairs needed and current tags, then they sent me a $500 tax voucher, I could have easily sold the damn thing to any working class schlub for $2,500 but thought I'd 'do the right thing' .

I buy junkers from those charity auctioned once in a while so they're not all bad but certainly crooked .

-Nate

AK47isthetool's avatar

The way I recall it, and perhaps some tax historian can correct me on this, was back in 1990s you could donate and engine-less burnt out shell and claim blue book retail for your deduction as long as it had a VIN. The charities did not care as even the scrap is worth something. This still mainly benefited a certain kind of taxpayer, i.e. high taxable income vs. people who are compensated in other ways.

-Nate's avatar

Something like that .

It may be that different states have differing rules regarding this .

-Nate

Ice Age's avatar

They had to hide the identities of the people who commissioned and wrote that song.

That's an accomplishment, when you actually drive you target demographic right past "WANTING to kill you" into "actually taking a run at it."

SBO-very online guy's avatar

Do not donate to that charity, find a different one if you want to go that route.

Ice Age's avatar

Or ANY charity.

I like being generous, but I don't trust people who run professional charities. Except for churches.

KoR's avatar

And even churches you have to be mighty, mighty careful of…

Ice Age's avatar

The big ones, absolutely.

I don't trust megachurches. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop there.

JT's avatar

Our church has a program where you can donate a car and volunteer mechanics fix it. They then give it to single moms and others in need of reliable transportation.

-Nate's avatar

That's nice, I applaud any legitimate outreach programs .

-Nate

MD Streeter's avatar

If you know a mechanic with a strong stomach and a loyal kid about to start driving, you should unload it on them. It will upset said mechanic'a wife but it will work out in the end. Might work best if you're in a small town where everyone knows everyone else.

Stan Galat's avatar

As a man bred and buttered in a small town, who raised his kids in the SAME small town, who moved to the next small town over a few years back

... I'd recommend against selling it to anybody you know. This is a car best transferred to an anonymous stranger.

Drksd4848's avatar

Who will most likely part it out.

-Nate's avatar

! WIN FOR EVERYONE ! .

-Nate

Wyatt LCB's avatar

Solid advice. I prefer to sell to and buy from strangers.

Ice Age's avatar

(Harold): "Dear Experts: What do you do with a car that's too wrecked to fix?"

(Dalton): "Obviously you gotta sell the pig."

(Harold): "That's kinda unethical."

(Red): "Well, you wouldn't sell it to anyone you know, would you Dalton?"

(Dalton): "Yeah, I would."

Stan Galat's avatar

I’ve donated no less than 3 vehicles to charity over the years because I can’t pass something I know is problematic off to anybody, whether I know them or not.

Something like this, though? This is special(ish), or at least “special(ish) adjacent” to… somebody.

I’d sell “as is” with a full disclosure of every issue to someone equally captivated with the IDEA of what the car should/could/will (never) be, for whatever that guy is willing to give.

I’d make sure there was no chance I’d ever see or hear about it again. The buyer has to be from somewhere else.

Ice Age's avatar

"Why'd you let him go?! He tried to kill me!"

"Well, we could afford to lose the town murderer, or the man who met Andy Griffith. But not when they're the same guy."

Tom Klockau's avatar

Been on a Married With Children marathon recently, love it.

Ice Age's avatar

"A fat woman Godzilla'd her way into the shoe store and said she wanted something she'd feel comfortable in. I said, 'Try Wyoming!'"

Tom Klockau's avatar

A fat woman came into the shoe store today. She was so fat she had three smaller fat women orbiting around her...

-Nate's avatar

Oh, boy ! .

Playing the dozens again, I'll go make popcorn .

-Nate

Drksd4848's avatar

That sounds like Jack

MD Streeter's avatar

His kid seems like he's already set up for his car, though.

Jack Baruth's avatar

Yeah, I expect the Accord to carry him to the point where he buys the car he really wants with his pilot money.

The cars he really wants, based on our most recent conversation:

A) Van Diemen Formula Continental;

B) 2026 Camry XSE.

Stan Galat's avatar

16?

That tracks.

sgeffe's avatar

Is John one of those people who gets all of his “teenage-ness” out during track time, and isn’t public enemy number one on the streets? His preference for a new Camry certainly would indicate same! (I assume the other one is a track-only vehicle.)

Jack Baruth's avatar

He is NOT a fast road driver. On track he can be a little edgy, he's run off the outside of Turn 1 at Nelson Ledges which has been fatal in the past.

Joe's avatar

Always liked the Avenger, fortunately I have no use for it….

Stan Galat's avatar

I came for the comments. They have not disappointed.

Stan Galat's avatar

Also, let the record state that:

"In my world, it’s perfectly legitimate to enrage one’s wife for a vehicle that really turns your proverbial crank, like a Suzuki SV1000 or Lexus LS430, just to name two completely random examples. It’s less advisable to enrage one’s wife for an old Honda GL1200 or Lexus ES3002, just to provide two more chosen-from-the-air vehicles."

is some painfully honest writing. Just a LITTLE too close to home.

Ice Age's avatar

It's out in the garage. That close enough for you?

-Nate's avatar

Well ;

My ex wife didn't like the endless parade of junkers and actually told me 'and you can _KEEP_ this ghetto house and all your junky cars, trucks and Motocycles ! ' .

This is why I still like her : she cut me loose to begin anew and my life since then has only gone upwards even in spite of the Motocycle crashes =8-) .

I've forgotten why this car needs to go, just get rid of it .

Decades ago folks would give me problem cars, I only ever scrapped one .

SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE wants this lump .

-Nate

Speed's avatar

"It might be a wonky Totally Integrated Power Control Module"

"There is a parasitic drain on the battery."

possible for these to be related?

"Or maybe just put them in the rear, leave the factory struts up front, and deal with the resulting understeer tendencies on track"

is it not possible to swap a swaybar or two to make it rotate properly?

"Or, what should I do?"

post it everywhere including avenger specific forums (surely those exist) and prepare yourself to not get every cent you wanted for it which is a shame for such a clean car

Wyatt LCB's avatar

I think the electrical problems are related, it just makes sense

Tim's avatar

I wouldn't bet against it.

-Nate's avatar

That too but always suspect open diodes in the alternator or the electric clock first, both are dead easy to diagnose .

-Nate

Tim's avatar

I had a 2007 Charger. Loved that car.

I didn't love that the dealer forgot to put oil back in it after a simple service and the car's systems are so damn retarded that they didn't throw an oil light. Believe it or not that thing ran just fine with only the lifters ticking as I was heading up a mountain with some enthusiasm to make me realize something wasn't wrong. Clearly they did not fully drain it but it was still so low that after adding two quarts there was still no oil visible on the dipstick. I don't know how the thing was running.

I also didn't love that going down the highway I looked down at my speed on Interstate 81 and saw that I was doing 140 mph...which seemed odd to me as I was closing on a semi ahead, but nowhere near fast enough to be 140. I looked up and looked back down and I was doing 40. Which also seemed inaccurate as I was still closing on the semi at the same rate.

Then the radio turned off and every gauge on the dash began flipping their indicator needles left and right as fast as possible. The car ran normally, but everything inside the cabin acted as if possessed by some lost soul who wanted me to solve their long cold murder or something.

I had just clicked over 60,000 miles. I took these as signs from the merciful Lord that I should procure a different car with all speed. That turned into a 2013 Accord Sport with a manual.

My experience with Chrysler products...and there's been a bunch of them, unfortunately...has been that there's never *a* problem to deal with. They travel in packs and when you think you're getting through the ones you can see the other ones you can't attack you.

Ice Age's avatar

"When you take your car in for an oil change, you don't know if they've done a bad job. Whereas if you do it yourself, you're sure."

- Red Green

I'm currently trying to exorcise Sirius XM from my Colorado. I'm down to pulling individual wires out of specific electrical connectors at this point. I want it fucking gone.

I HATE Sirius XM. All the music I want's either undiscovered on YouTube or already in my files. I don't listen to podcasts, I don't care to hear star quarterback Nyquillus Dillwad mumble his way through a post-Super Bowl interview with Sports Reporter Babe and I sure as hell don't want to hear Word One about that Godless pervert Howard Stern, who says frank things to his audience that a person with a sense of shame would be hesitant to mention to their therapist.

sgeffe's avatar

If you’re not subscribing, it should have a Preview Channel, and nothing more!

sgeffe's avatar

Replying to myself to state that unless you’re gonna drive the truck until the wheels fall off, I would just not select the SXM band. That could be a negative if you try to sell it.

Prophet's avatar

I’m here for no reason other than to congratulate you on that superbly written comment. 🤣

Steve Ward's avatar

remove the new front struts and tires - sell them on FB Marketplace.

either donate remaining car to charity, or park it in a bad part of town, remove the plates, leave the keys in it, and claim it on insurance as stolen.

Wyatt LCB's avatar

I don't mean to be rude with this comment, but as long as the heat works, I would offer the value of that amplifier in cash, with the caveat that my intentions are to just drive it as is, and maybe fix the issues most pressing to me as time and budget allows. I do have bigger overall vehicular plans this year, but a fuel efficient comfy sedan would be a welcome addition to the fleet. Sounds like it could still run 45 miles a day if your standards are as low as mine!

depletedUranium's avatar

Long ago, I had beater Jeep Comanche manual that had no heat for the better part of a Buffalo winter. I managed. But I was young and dumb.

I once had a coworker who HATED scraping frost from his windshield in the morning. His wife parked in their frost free one-car garage, so he got the driveway spot. To solve his Scraping Hate affliction, he would turn off the heater and open windows 10 minutes before arriving home. It annoyed him that he couldn't do this when driving his wife and/or kids.

Why he shared, somewhat enthusiastically, his No Heat / Open Windows process with coworkers was odd. I mean, it does work. I've done testing. But admit to it?

G. K.'s avatar

My friend’s uncle bought a 1996 XJ Cherokee back in late 2019. He and my friend’s mother (uncle’s sister) tripped all over themselves to drive an hour to Shawnee, Oklahoma to go get it from a Ford dealer there, paying $2,500. They represented it to us as well-cared for creampuff. It was anything but. It was of dubious provenance, was rusty throughout (a real rarity in Oklahoma), and plenty of stuff was inoperable. The funniest part was that the heat did not work, so someone had wired a glow plug into the passenger footwell, kind of like the emergency heater that many sleeper semis have.

To give you a sense of how smart this uncle is: he got angry and called me the N-word while his nephew and I were helping *him* install a junkyard seat in said Cherokee (from a ZJ Grand Cherokee), since the one that came in it was broken.

Drksd4848's avatar

The amp is tempting, and it *could* replace my lacquer tweed Hotrod Delux. But I haven't played in over three years and my chops have suffered greatly as a result. But maybe when I am 70-years-old, my kids have moved out, and I actually do have time to play again, the Heritage may come in handy. Actually check that: by that time I'll be riddled with arthritis and my hands will be as dexterous as the grab claw of one of those win-a-stuffed animal games.

Gene White's avatar

At least in my neck of NY (maybe a half hour west of Bennington VT) that's a $2000-$2500 car as-is.

Especially if you're in a state like VT (but not NY) that'll fail you on inspection if you've got much visible rust, this is worth fixing to someone.

silentsod's avatar

Readers need to know if that old wing was able to run with the seafoam treatment or needed surgery?

Jack Baruth's avatar

I gave it to a dipshit kid, our newest crew member, in exchange for labor on the Radical. Which he did exceptionally poorly, and ruined the engine to the point that it needs a full $8000 trip to KWS. I don't know if it's currently running. I DO know that the title is somewhere in the barn and I am expending zero energy looking for it.

silentsod's avatar

A tale of woe, an ignominious ending

Jack Baruth's avatar

Yeah. And much more frustrating now.

Ice Age's avatar

Kind of a murder-suicide, huh?

Wyatt LCB's avatar

Oh... Oh fuck

-Nate's avatar

Kids ~ whatcha gonna do ? .

-Nate