Selling My Car and Golf

I have been trying to privately sell my 2000 BMW 528i for almost one year! Previously, I bought used cars from the dealer and traded in my car. This time I bought a used car from a private party and had to sell my car myself. We listed the car in the auto trader magazines and once in a blue moon we would get a phone call or e-mail and when we returned the phone call or e-mail, the person never responded.

This week we finally had a real buyer! Mr. and Mrs. Canuck (this pseudonym was affectionately penned and approved by Mrs. Canuck) from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They have a second home in the Valley of the Sun and wanted a car for Mrs. Canuck rather than renting one each time they came for vacation. When SO returned Mr. Canuck's phone calls or e-mails, he actually responded! Mr. and Mrs. Canuck came to the house to test drive the car and they were a very nice and friendly couple. Mr. Canuck and I hit it off right away because all he wanted to talk about was golf and I was right there with him. He told me that he lives about a 5-iron off of a certain street and I confirmed that he hits his 7-iron about 150 yards so I could calculate the exact location of his house (it is better than a GPS!). I showed Mr. Canuck the Giant and I think he was a little jealous. I complained about my poor putting and Mr. Canuck told me that he swears by the cross-handed (or left hand low) putting style and that it took 5 strokes off of his score.

I had never sold a car privately. Mrs. Canuck drove the car while I talked golf with Mr. Canuck. She loved the car. Then Mr. Canuck got in the car to test drive it and quickly asked his wife to come for the ride. Uh Oh! As the car left the driveway, SO and I looked at one another with the same panicked thought: "Mr. and Mrs. Canuck are con men (or to be politically correct, con persons) and we are never going to see the car again", followed by "Mr. and Mrs. Canuck are too nice to be con men; of course they seem nice dummy because they are con men!", followed by (putting on our attorney hats), "is it theft if we gave them the car keys?", followed by "is this covered by our automobile insurance or homeowners' insurance", followed by "how long do we wait before calling the police?" Luckily, Mr. and Mrs. Canuck actually were nice people and were back in the driveway in no time at all!

Mr. and Mrs. Canuck bought the car and I am going to play golf with Mr. Canuck and a potential business referral from Mr. Canuck when they are back in town during the Spring! Golf is the universal language!