"ciscokidinsf" (ciscokidinsf)
10/13/2014 at 17:16 • Filed to: None
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"ciscokidinsf" (ciscokidinsf)
10/13/2014 at 17:16 • Filed to: None | 2
| 6 |
(No, you didn't miss part I - I have like 4 more of these encounters with awesome cars that I couldn't buy (and one that I did!), I decided to start with this one is the best so far of the ones I wrote, maybe I can share more, there are many unfortunate encounters I have had like this, you know, on condition of 'acute poorness' and a case of the bad credit scores and being a Jalop who's too ambitious)
2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
It was the winter of 2010, and it all started in one of those trips you do to give your life and your family life a veneer of normalcy, even if everything was already going to hell and everyone in the car knew it. It was just a simple mission, take the kids, their mom and a friend to a 1-day trip to ski near Tahoe during winter break. Wherever Groupon made possible to do this in a frayed post-holiday budget on a Saturday, that's where we were going.
After a year of unemployment followed by "deep underemployment" in 2009, going back to a corporate behemoth (even at a paycut) was no small mercy. That winter was also the beginning of what it would be a long 2-year divorce process. The possibility of it loomed in my mind at every driven mile towards Tahoe.
On the way, I saw it, next to the highway, parked at one of those huge GMC dealerships in the middle of the rural parts of Northern California. (Who shops there? The towns I passed by seem so much smaller than the dealer) It was a G8 GXP, black, in the corner, keeping company to 100's of pickup trucks and new Buicks and it was for sale. Yes, the thirst for a decent performance car needed to be tended for. I saw it about a mile away driving and I didn't take my eyes of it. I made a mental note of the place and town and used my phone during the sky trip to take a closer look:
2009 Pontiac GXP, 54,000 miles, one owner, black, 6MT - Yeah, as a Jalop. I knew the unicorn as soon as I saw it. Pontiac had gone bust a few months ago. And its best car was here to tell the story.
I knew what it was and I wanted it. The question is, whether I could align enough financial stars together. I had about $2,000 put away for home repairs, and thinking that maybe a new car can be motivation to keep family hell together going another year or two. So I decided to go for it. I had already paid 2 cars in full in the last 3 years and the current car I had had less than 9 months left on an always-paid-on-time car loan to a bank.
The car was an obsession in my head the rest of that day and night. The next day (Sunday) I decided to go wake up early, go back for a 2 hour long drive and trade my beloved 16 years-with-me and in good condition green 1993 3000GT SL 5MT with 128,000 miles and a clean title and took the extra $2000 on hand. I drove my 3000GT happily for 2 hours again to get back to the dealer, and even ran my Mitsu to over 110MPH for a few miles in a flat stretch or two, to say a proper goodbye and thanks. (Do people say goodbye to their cars before they sell them? I do. I'm weird, I know)
As a car with a bright future that never came, the reviews of the G8 GXP and GT were pretty good. And as soon as Pontiac hit the wall, the car's value was immediately understood and a lot of them became scarce. They were a deal for like, 2 weeks, then the prices starting going up. It was my mission not to let this one go.
Once there, I was happy to discover the car was as expected, but the mileage was almost 8,000 miles higher. It was being driven fairly often by the dealership owners, so the car, now had 62,000, but was still was a great looker, even if the interior came with too many compromises. Really the plastics and the all-black interior made the insides as welcoming as a cave.
No matter. The test drive (6 miles!) was glorious. The car accelerated in a mad rush of contained power that I held in the crisp 6MT. I chickened out after reaching 85 MPH on a straight, I really wanted to push it more. Not too many curves to test. I was in love. Sold. The dealer knew I had driven for a long distance, so the usual used-car kimono dance was going to be short and sweet and to the point. Price was listed as $27,000 (I offered $25K, thinking I have $4K down on hand, I can finance the rest)
It had been 4 years since I had bought a car, and those payments were all done on time, even if other bills didn't during the low days. I had cash and a trade. A semi-decent credit score, Done deal, right? Right?
Wrong. The condo I had bought 6 years before and that had finally been sold a month ago to a all-cash buyer, was in the netherworld of a short-sale that would (unbeknown to us) last another 3 months between 2 asshole banks. The short sale was a result of that year of unemployment but payments were done on time.
Since the Short sale was still not done, no one would touch me in a financial sense. It was a bizarre experience to suddenly being unable to buy a car where before the keys were literally being thrown at me to take at every previous purchase I made. However, even with me offering an extra $1,500 (from nowhere, really, just a desperation move) would not work to make the deal palatable to any finance company.
Incredulous that my own car loan bank wouldn't play ball, I tried calling in person, just to get the same humiliating results via human voice. I called the last bank (Capital One) where I had just paid off a car less than a year ago, and no dice. Despite paying off cars on time, the short sale made my cash no good.
The car purchase wouldn't happen, and 2 hours away from home, it was going to be a long and lonely drive back – Yet another Unicorn that got away. To give credit to the seller, he was gracious beyond belief at my position. I left promising to look for my own credit and he promised to look around other creditors, yeah, yeah, yeah. Words to save face. But we knew that it was futile. I drove my 3000GT back to SanJo.
Yet another automotive unicorn that got away.
CAR_IS_MI
> ciscokidinsf
10/13/2014 at 17:19 |
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(No, you didn't miss part I - I have like 4 more of these encounters with awesome cars that I couldn't buy (and one that I did!
OOO! OOOO! So it's like Star Wars where you start in the middle and end at the beginning..
DoYouEvenShift
> ciscokidinsf
10/13/2014 at 18:17 |
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Sorry for your..uh, what could of been, Ill call it that. Im too familiar with that pain from my younger days. Late teens, trying to afford unicorns. Amazing cars, theres two in my town. Youll get your unicorn, keep at it.
davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> ciscokidinsf
10/13/2014 at 18:24 |
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Ugh.
holdenbacktears
> ciscokidinsf
10/13/2014 at 18:40 |
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Sorry to hear you missed out. My mate just got a ve commodore ss wagon with the 6 speed, same car but without the (awful) pontiac front fascia. Is excellent
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ciscokidinsf
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
10/14/2014 at 03:15 |
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Can't win'em all
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> ciscokidinsf
10/14/2014 at 08:31 |
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Yeah, but it sucks to lose this one...