Erik the Trucker?

It took nearly 14 years of home ownership and living in Texas, but I finally drive a truck. Well sort of. Perhaps more accurate would be that I bought a truck to use when I need it, which if I’m honest with myself likely should have happened a long time ago.

If you know the types of things I do around the house, you might be surprised that I don’t have one by now, but I’ve always been a car guy… but the need — especially with the looming move to Volente — finally proved too much. And it certainly didn’t hurt that I found what I hope will be a great opportunity to buy one.

I haven’t been actively looking for a truck by any means, but I did happen to see what looked like a good option in the classified section of NextDoor. But try as I might, I couldn’t get a response from the person selling it. But as things have a tendency to do, that got the gears in my head turning a bit, and then I started looking casually on Craigslist.

If you haven’t looked for a used vehicle on Craigslist, let me educate you that there are now a ton a spammers pretending to sell vehicles at low to fair prices. I would have thought that those listings with phone numbers were legitimate, but apparently that isn’t the case. When the first person texted back to send them an email address for pictures, I thought nothing of it. When the second came in with a similar message, I recognized a problem.

Fortunately, I had sent out enough inquiries before that happened that I had contacted someone about what would be my future truck. The listing sure seemed like a good option: reasonable price, no major mechanical issues disclosed, and the notion that it could be a good work truck or truck for a high schooler.

When I got a phone number back via email, I was a bit cautious — especially because this truck had been listed nearly a week ago, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. And am I glad that I did.

It turns out that the guy selling it had listed it, but not really been ready to respond to inquiries. The only reason that he picked me was because he had an old neighbor named Erik Anderson, and that’s how he picked me out of over 200 responses. If this was the real deal, I was incredibly lucky. But i was still cautious, because if one thing holds true…. if something seems too good to be true it probably is! However, after talking to him for a bit, I realized that he was a legitimate person, and the story that behind the truck was the ideal buying scenario.

It was passed down from his father-in-law who hadn’t driven it much recently, but had taken good care of it. The Carfax information verified that as matching as well. He had considered giving it to his high school son, but opted for another passed down car instead. He drove a truck and just didn’t need it. It had some sun damage, but was good mechanically — to the best of his knowledge.

It was pretty much exactly what I had hoped to find. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but wanted something that seems like it was cared for. Finding that at a dealership would be hard, and I didn’t have any family members getting rid of a vehicle personally. The engine could seize up tomorrow (I sure hope it doesn’t), but it seems like about as good of a scenario that I could have fallen into.

We met him and his wife last Saturday morning to check out the truck at the bank. I took it for a spin, checked as much as I could do myself (no leaks, engine knocks, rough ride, A/C works, no pulling to the side, etc.). Talking to them in person, I still fully believe that the situation really was as they described, and I really do think (and hope) I got lucky.

It’s by no means perfect, but if all things go as planned, I really do think it will be perfect for what I need. Here’s to being a truck owner! Let the projects begin!