By Jeff Glucker
Whenever I settle into a hotel, be it near or far from home, I like to figure out the local marketplace for things with engines and see what’s happening. Today, I’m not far from home at a hotel north of San Diego, but I still figured it was worth taking a look at what’s for sale. This surf wagon is the second listing I saw on the page and quite appropriate for the area.
When you’re out traveling, do you check the local CraigsList (or equivalent site) to see what the locals are selling?
If you’re interested, here’s the link to the wagon shown above.
My Country Squire came from the factory with center-facing third row seats. The bottom cushions can be removed for additional storage, and presumably they were out of the car during a prior ownership change, so I received the car without the full seats. Used seats are somewhat available, but typically only in other parts of the country and costly to package and ship.
My son was planning on taking the car on a 4000 mile road trip a couple summers ago. I checked random Craigslist ads, and found a set of seat bottoms 1000 miles from here but only a handful of miles off the planned route. Upholstery doesn’t match, but the price was only $60, and I didn’t have to pay for shipping, so that’s good enough.
nearly ten years ago i sold my manual 240D to a graduating high school senior who was passing through Texas on his way back to Louisiana from a family trip. he saw my car listed for $2500 and stopped by with his sister in the family truck. he said he wanted a car to take him through college and then law school.
he fixed the air conditioner with a paper clip, bought the car (and i guess the paper clip) from me for $2000, and drove the remaining 8 hours home in a 35-year-old car he’d barely test driven. when he got home he texted me that the air had been blowing cold the whole time. that car probably only had 15 hp left for driving with the A/C running.
when he jumped the terminals to get the compressor running, i thought, this car is his destiny. i’d have sold it to him for any price he offered. i hope he made it to harvard law and spent his first obscene paycheck getting the A/C fixed properly, but wherever that car is, it’s probably still got the paper clip jumping the terminals.