Our quest for selling this truck and finding another one is quite a long story. I wanted to be sure to document this for the boys of this house, because in time, we all tend to forget the little details although this would be one that is hard to forget.
We put a for sale sign on this truck last December. My husband wanted a diesel and a truck with a bit more power to pull his trailer for work.
This was one nice truck! It was a King Ranch and we had bought it over ebay with a salvaged title. The reason for the salvaged title was because this truck was stolen. Apparently the thieves ran out of gas and left the truck sit beside the road. By the time the owners were found, 30 days had passed and insurance had paid them or something like that. So this truck had to have a salvaged title. There wasn't a thing wrong with it! Many people may have been hesitant to buy a truck with such a title, but we had been quite pleased with the bargain. And the ebay seller was a pro at selling trucks such as these. He knew the game.
We put a for sale sign on this truck last December. My husband wanted a diesel and a truck with a bit more power to pull his trailer for work.
This was one nice truck! It was a King Ranch and we had bought it over ebay with a salvaged title. The reason for the salvaged title was because this truck was stolen. Apparently the thieves ran out of gas and left the truck sit beside the road. By the time the owners were found, 30 days had passed and insurance had paid them or something like that. So this truck had to have a salvaged title. There wasn't a thing wrong with it! Many people may have been hesitant to buy a truck with such a title, but we had been quite pleased with the bargain. And the ebay seller was a pro at selling trucks such as these. He knew the game.
Finally, on June 20 after trying to sell it for six months, we sold this truck for a bit less than our original price, but very reasonable. We sold it to a banker who knew what he talked about as far as trucks and prices go.
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Day by day Merv would come home from work and search the internet: ebay, craig's list, auto trader.
Finally he saw this nice truck. But we had a dilemma. We just didn't have the cash to buy this as we had used the money from the truck sale to pay off some business debts. See, during this stretch we were slowly getting on the Dave Ramsey board. And buying a vehicle on credit was not an option. We rarely had car payments.
We waited while Merv worked hard. Also, it was during this very time that work was extremely slow and he went out of state to earn some green. Time was our enemy in this truck game. But we had made an agreement as a couple that we would have cash on hand.
It was HARD to say no to this truck, very hard, especially for Merv. And weeks down the road he was still kicking himself for not being able to buy this nice thing. It had low miles, was a diesel, and sold less than the price listed, just a couple thousand above our then dollar range.
God had other plans for us. And I kept trying to encourage Merv that the right truck will come at the right time. It was a lesson on waiting on God and we weren't always good at the waiting part.
So this truck was a NO.
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Then we saw one on Craig's list. We made the mistake of not asking to see photos.
I guess we grew up trusting folks, but in this day and age, sorry to say, you just can't do that!
It was August 10 and Merv and his friend drove almost 4 hours to buy a truck. The guy told Merv it's a nice truck and just talked and talked about it. We had seen no photos. He said we can buy it for the pay off price - $8K diesel Ford F250 crew cab with 216,000 miles. Merv's friend had drivven and pulled a borrowed goose neck trailer. The first thing the men saw when they drove in the guy's driveway was a dent in the passenger door that the fellow hadn't mentioned. The truck was a junker clunker. The gear shift was loose, but other than that it drove O.K. Furthermore, the inside was a WRECK. All the seats were torn, it was extremely dirty to say the least. Merv said it looked like a goat had lived in it!!!!! The foam on the seats was torn in various places. And the back of the truck was covered with trash. You couldn't even see the bed, the trash was a foot deep! The fellow said he didn't feel like cleaning it up in case Merv didn't buy it!!! What a dishonest fellow. SOOO the 2 men rode back with NO TRUCK!!!!!
And we all had a good laugh about it, later. We ended the day with homemade soft prezels.
His search led him to another place about 4 hours away. But this time we decided to spend the weekend with Merv's brother and family. We wanted to visit our new niece and cousin. Good reason to go with our very impromptu idea and we decided to hit the road and make a big circle. It made perfect sense.
Merv got the info needed on the 2 trucks earlier that week.
We made the 2nd mistake. This time we should have called to say we're coming. We had the cash in hand to purchase a truck. But when we got to the truck lot, we were met with a greenhorn of a salesman that had to run inside and ask someone inside or check the sheet for every little thing that Merv asked about.
I guess everyone starts out with a job that way, but we got the feeling the guy didn't care a hoot.
There were actually two trucks we came to see on this lot.
But alas, disaster, the one we were really interested was off the lot - being driven by the owner himself for the weekend fling.
"You can come back Monday," was the salesman's offer.
Now why wouldn't you have your advertised vehicles on the lot, at all times? especially if it was advertised on auto trader?
The other one was at the garage, and there was no way we could see that as they were closed. The salesman mentioned that it was just up the road a ways. So we drove several miles, and lo and behold, we saw this truck and knew it was the one we had seen advertised. This one had a dent as shown on auto trader.
There wasn't a thing in the world to do but head to my brother-in-law's place.
We were in no way coming back here. We had enough of this. Plus, it was pouring down rain.
I guess we grew up trusting folks, but in this day and age, sorry to say, you just can't do that!
It was August 10 and Merv and his friend drove almost 4 hours to buy a truck. The guy told Merv it's a nice truck and just talked and talked about it. We had seen no photos. He said we can buy it for the pay off price - $8K diesel Ford F250 crew cab with 216,000 miles. Merv's friend had drivven and pulled a borrowed goose neck trailer. The first thing the men saw when they drove in the guy's driveway was a dent in the passenger door that the fellow hadn't mentioned. The truck was a junker clunker. The gear shift was loose, but other than that it drove O.K. Furthermore, the inside was a WRECK. All the seats were torn, it was extremely dirty to say the least. Merv said it looked like a goat had lived in it!!!!! The foam on the seats was torn in various places. And the back of the truck was covered with trash. You couldn't even see the bed, the trash was a foot deep! The fellow said he didn't feel like cleaning it up in case Merv didn't buy it!!! What a dishonest fellow. SOOO the 2 men rode back with NO TRUCK!!!!!
And we all had a good laugh about it, later. We ended the day with homemade soft prezels.
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Again, Merv kept looking and searching. His search led him to another place about 4 hours away. But this time we decided to spend the weekend with Merv's brother and family. We wanted to visit our new niece and cousin. Good reason to go with our very impromptu idea and we decided to hit the road and make a big circle. It made perfect sense.
It was a lovely day for a ride. Also, it was Braden's birthday. We stopped for a picnic lunch.
We made the 2nd mistake. This time we should have called to say we're coming. We had the cash in hand to purchase a truck. But when we got to the truck lot, we were met with a greenhorn of a salesman that had to run inside and ask someone inside or check the sheet for every little thing that Merv asked about.
I guess everyone starts out with a job that way, but we got the feeling the guy didn't care a hoot.
There were actually two trucks we came to see on this lot.
But alas, disaster, the one we were really interested was off the lot - being driven by the owner himself for the weekend fling.
"You can come back Monday," was the salesman's offer.
Now why wouldn't you have your advertised vehicles on the lot, at all times? especially if it was advertised on auto trader?
The other one was at the garage, and there was no way we could see that as they were closed. The salesman mentioned that it was just up the road a ways. So we drove several miles, and lo and behold, we saw this truck and knew it was the one we had seen advertised. This one had a dent as shown on auto trader.
There wasn't a thing in the world to do but head to my brother-in-law's place.
We were in no way coming back here. We had enough of this. Plus, it was pouring down rain.
Discouragement threatened to creep into Merv, but he determined not to let it kill him. And he had a wonderful attitude about it. It wasn't meant to be.
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We had planned to bake a cake, but instead went on a trip. So we stopped and got a birthday cake.
Braden was absolutely delighted!
He was extremely happy to be six! He was so energetic and excited!
The magic candles on the cake took lots of blowing and blowing. They would constantly relight, till finally we dipped them in water. And everyone loved the cake ~ even with all the 'spit' from blowing. Have y'all ever thought of that? You have the birthday guy's germs all over the cake before you cut into it. And everyone loves the sugar, while never thinking about the germs. I didn't mean to grosss you out.
We had a typical Saturday night supper of pizza. The girls and I gave the new Mommy a break from cooking, although she couldn't stay out of the kitchen! We made the pizza sauce with fresh tomatoes from the garden! My sister-in-law made some awesome peach smoothies.
After supper, the boys wrestled and carried on with their uncle. They found this cloth bag and covered his face and played catch while he was blinded. Oh, they had fun. Such shrieks and jumping! Their little cousin didn't know what to think.
We ate lunch at the home. It was so nice not to have to cook anything. And we enjoyed the tasty haystacks!
These girls were ecstatic to see me. They run to me and hugged me so hard, I nearly lost my balance. They had spent several years of their two week Christmas break with my parents when we girls were still at home. And we became good friends! I was honored to pose with them.
Shirley and Teresa, God made you very special! I suppose you know that by now.
We all went to the park so that the new mommy and baby could rest. The boys needed to run off some of that energy before the drive home, and this was a fun place to do it.
Merv loves to have his feet treated! And I don't mind doing that, at all. His feet never stank.
You girls have blessed me in so many ways.
Allison is always full of life and energy. Amber is my lady. They both have wonderful character. Isn't it unique how we are all wired differently? Everyone has a talent, something special about them.
I've always loved this old bell tower. It rings at the same time every Sunday morning.
Lots of items are baked at Mission Home Bakeshop! The place is closed Sunday, unlike many competitors. Sunday is a day of rest, because God created us to enjoy that day to rest and worship Him. I think too many people are getting away from this concept. Let's remember to keep the Sabbath day holy, a day of rest to cease from our labors and shopping.
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End of August we made a 3rd attempt to look at a truck. This time we made the call and all. I guess we were hard up because we drove another 4 hours to look at this truck.
To sum it all up, the seller was asking too much for everything that needed to be fixed on it. He worked at a body shop and therefore, could fix everything himself, that is, when time allowed. It also housed a dent. But it was just too much money for what we were willing to pay for. We would have needed to spend a couple more thousand on it, just to get it fixed.
The seller planned to raise his price after it was all tuned up. Why he didn't tell us everything before we drove that far is beyond us.
We did discover that he had 3-4 other vehicles and his wife had been after him to sell some vehicles so she went ahead and listed all of them on Craig's list. We concluded that she was hard up to get rid of some of this stuff, and husband and wife weren't on the same ball team. So that listed trouble, for selling anyway.
We wasted a day! And later wondered why in the world we had pursued this truck. But we did have a nice time together as a couple while our two youngest rode along in the back.
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Months of searching.
Months of waiting, waiting till the right truck came along, waiting till we had the cash.
There were several other trucks of interest with calls made that I didn't document here.
There were several other trucks of interest with calls made that I didn't document here.
Then suddenly the tune changed. We had been looking for a Ford f250 diesel crew cab from the years 1999 - 2002 with high mileage like 200,000 miles. We were at Bible study and the men got to talking about trucks. One of our friends said he preferred another make over Dodge but he bought that because of better gas mileage.
Merv's gears started shifting and he got to thinking about this.
Another friend has a Ford, but it doesn't do well on gas mileage, only like 14 mpg; and this guy was talking about 18-20 mpg. Merv got excited. So he did almost the unthinkable for him. He bought a Dodge and best of all, it was local. He didn't have to drive far at all.
On top of that, it was an even trade with his original truck, a diesel, and only 120,000 miles.
God is good! God is faithful!
But this story isn't finished. We drove the truck home without a tag, then drove it to the garage, and back home. It sat at our house for 2 weeks before we ever got the title to drive it!
This truck had a lien. And the title was in Chicago.
They mailed the title to the dmv.
The owner got a letter in the mail saying the title is at the dmv.
The owner went to pick it up and dmv said they mailed it, but they didn't know where.
"Come back in a few days if you don't receive it and we'll issue you a new title," dmv told the owner.
So a few days later, his wife went to the dmv and got the new title.
When she got home, the origianl title was in her mailbox!
With all that, Merv finally has a truck for work. It is tons better than using the family vehicle. There's nothing like a man having a truck. It is a necessity!
We had some things to learn this summer. We were forced to stay home, but we made the best of it. It didn't kill us to sacrifice for the man of our house.
I guess it's kind of like this, If you don't have a vehicle, you want to go away.
If you have a vehicle, you feel like staying at home.
At least we weren't wasting gas this summer! And it didn't hurt us a bit to have to scrimp.
Merv and I would talk and he felt so bad about the situation. I felt bad for him. I kept saying, "Don't worry about it. God will give us one at the right time. We only need to wait."
God granted our request. In His time.
He's never late, nor too early.
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