Here's what happened yesterday.
We heard from a potential buyer of my car the night before. She was a young girl, a recent college grad with no wheels at the moment, and said she'd call us Saturday afternoon before she came over to see the car. So at about 11 am, P drove the car down to the gas station to fill up the tank and run it through the car wash. The car was parked in a visitor spot just down the hill from our house. When he came home, he parked it in a spot just up the hill from our house. The girl came over at about 3:30, bringing her boyfriend along. They checked out the car, drove it for a while, and really really liked it. She immediately called her mother (who was bank rolling her), and an hour later, both of her parents showed up to check out the car.
At this point, we were excited! We figured we had sold our car.
So the parents check out the car, drive it, and like it as well, I think. But when they got back from their test drive, in which they had the A/C running on full, the Dad noticed a big gloppy wet spot on the pavement underneath where the car was parked. He and the boyfriend started getting very nervous and thought our car was leaking oil or some other vital car fluid. We assured them our car didn't leak anything, except for the normal amount of water condensation from the A/C, but they were not convinced.
They were ready to write us a check and let the girl drive the car home. We were that close to making a sale when they noticed the spot. We showed them every other place the car had ever been parked, including our driveway, where it had spent the prior three years, which was absolutely clean. But they were still unconvinced. They insisted on having a mechanic check it out, which we whole heartedly supported, but being late in the day on a Saturday, there was no open garage to be found. The girl was in a panic. She wanted the car so much, and they almost bought it anyway, with an "upon final inspection" clause, which I vetoed. I suggested, if the girl could wait a couple of days, she should contact a mechanic, and have it checked out on Monday afternoon. She was worried we'd sell it before then, but I promised her I wouldn't.
So now we don't know if the car is sold or not. I am really hoping that they do come back on Monday and have the car inspected. I know they will find there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. We would not try to sell a car we knew had problems like that! We'd get the car fixed first.
Now, the kicker. We KNOW why there was a puddle of goo on the pavement of that parking spot. There's this old truck, whose owner parks it frequently in that very spot. It never occurred to us that it had leaked all over the driveway and our car would be blamed for it.
If we lose this sale because of that, we are going to be very angry. I am prepared to fire off a formal letter of complaint to the Board of Directors about the junky vehicle leaking goo all over our parking lot. That vehicle does not have Board permission to park there (like we do), and there is a Regulation in our governing documents prohibiting junky and in-bad-repair vehicles from being parked anywhere on our property.
So now we just have to wait and hope the girl and her parents come back and really do get the car checked our mechanically. Because they will then know for sure it is in excellent condition.
But we could have a check in hand right now, and the car could be GONE. We could be shopping for tent trailers today, but we're not. Talk about bad luck.
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