ECHO

What a sad day. We sold our Toyota Echo. It's not like we lost a member of the family, or anything, but it was still hard to part with our reliable little car.
















Using the online classified ads for UT (KSL) was an interesting experience, to say the least. It is nice that it is a free service. Anything "new" that has been purchased to furnish our house has come from the KSL classifieds. But this was the first time I had used them to sell something. Blessing or a curse? The jury is still out.

I listed the car last week, and the phone calls I was getting were annoying and laughable. The top 3 were:

#1- a phone call from a guy who (partway in to the convo.) disclosed that he was a used car salesman from Karl Malone Toyota, and wanted to persuade me to bring the Echo in as a trade for something else on their lot. I DESPISE Karl Malone Toyota (bad experience with one of their salespeople dating back 10 years ago, but I am still hanging on to the grudge). My ears automatically turned off the second he told me his employer. But trying to get off of the phone with him was a total chore! And HE CALLED ME! How "hard up" are used car salesman these days if they spend their time scouring the local classified ads and calling people who want to sell their cars? Nick told me I should have said "Sure, I'll bring it in, we can do a trade for a Tundra, straight up!". Sometimes I wish I could be as "quick off of the cuff" as Nick is. Instead I practically had to hang up on the guy. I thought it was a total fluke, until....

#2- a nearly identical phone call from a sales guy at a Toyota dealership in Ogden, UT. Really? REALLY?

#3- a phone call from a hearing aid company. Wanting to know if I would agree to trading the car for hearing aids. This lady took the stance that I would get all sorts of tax deductions for a transaction like that. Um, no thanks.

Most of the week passed without any serious calls for the car. So, Nick and I thought we'd drop the price a bit and see if that got us any decent "bites". Result: HELLO Piranha's! My phone was ringing off of the hook with interested parties inquiring about the car. I had people wanting to come look at the car at 11PM last night! It was insane (but in a good way, I guess, because it got our car sold). We ended up selling it to the first people that test drove it. They went to an ATM to get a 10% down payment for the car, and then came back again with the rest of the money.

I'm glad that experience is over with. And I think the mouse-motor Echo went to a good home. All's well, that ends well.

Our plan now, is to look for a good deal on a truck with 4-wheel drive, for Nick to use as his primary vehicle when it snows. We aren't in a big hurry, but I'd like to have it by October. Our budget is limited, so I am going to have to be on top of things while I look for a car so that I can snatch up a great deal when I see it. And yes, I'll be using KSL classifieds to find said deal.