I get so MAD!

May 9th, 2005 at 02:23pm Posted by Bill

Last December, we donated one of our cars to charity. My ‘92 Chevy Cavalier (you can see a few photos of it in the snow and ice here) had more than 190,000 miles on it, and the engine was finally starting to go. On the highway, it still ran OK and had plenty of power, but it was really hard to start (I had to crank it for more than 30 seconds before it would finally fire). Also, it idled really rough (though it never did stall at any stoplights or anything), and it was starting to spew steam out of the exhaust pipe.

I’ve been told I’m pretty good with computers and electronics (no comments from you, Gabe), but I’ve never been known for my mechanical ability. Still, I’ve read enough to know that steam coming from the exhaust pipe is bad. Like, you might as well start shopping for a new engine kind of bad. With a car this old and used, we didn’t want to go through the trouble. For the tiny amount we might get for selling the car (it had a reconstructed title, and I was going to remove the stereo before we did anything else), we didn’t want the hassle. So, we donated it to Goodwill.

We did a bit of research to see which would be the most deserving recipient, but no one seemed to want it. Even when we explained that the car still ran under its own power, they were all turned off by the age and the high miles. Goodwill, however, said that as long as we could get the car to one of their stores, they’d take it. So, mid-December, off to Goodwill it was.

Fast forward to late January. The family and I were driving down SE 82nd, and something in the corner of my eye caused me to whip the van around at the next intersection and drive back a block. There, sitting in a crappy used car lot, was my old car, being offered for sale. I got out of the van to check it out, and saw that my old car was virtually untouched. The dash still had a big hole with wires sticking out where my stereo used to be. The fabric on the driver’s seat was still torn. The carpet hadn’t even been vacuumed. I popped the hood and saw the same engine, unrepaired and still dirty and grimy. And the sticker on the windshield said they were asking $1900 for it.

$1900 dollars!

Entry Filed under: Photos, Cars, Money