“Im interested in buying your Tunrdra, but only if you’re interested in taking my 2007 Ford Explorer Limited on trade”.
This was told to me last week while showing my recently-repaired and refurbished Tundra to a prospective buyer, on a beautiful late spring afternoon, in the parking lot of Legion Stadium, in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the heart of The Cape Fear: the place I’ve called home for the past 28 years. I know that’s a lot of sentence, but Wilmington is that great.
I had bought the Tundra about a month or so ago from the tenant of the same person that sold me this wicked intelligent purchase a few years back. That tale of woe made more than a few of you chuckle at my misfortune in the comments and was a moment of humility for this guy. I’d suggest reading it for a good laugh and refresher if you have the click in you and the time.
The landlord seemingly has a history of money-challenged tenants leaving broken cars on his property after they vacate. Knowing an Autopian like me that is less scared and more willing to approach a vehicle in that state was apparently important enough for the guy to save my number for the last 2.5 years (since the above piece was published).
He called me up and offered it to me to quite broken but also for a wicked killer price. Not completely sure if I should pull the trigger, I posted it in our Autopian Editorial Slack channel to run it by the team and received this from my buddy (and Editor-in-Chief) David Tracy:
“It’s a Toyota truck. Buy now and think later!”
Anyway, this story is about an Explorer, and not about that Tundra, but how things come to be is important for background setting. The Tundra Tale is up next on The List Of SWG’s Wicked Evil Autopian Wrenching Adventures, to keep your eyes peeled in the upcoming weeks. Now, back to that moment in the parking lot at Legion Stadium.
Another Ford “Exploder?”
When you know a little bit about fixing them, it leads to owning them. I’ve had 162 cars over the past 31 years and 2 of them were Ford Explorers. Interestingly, both of my previous Explorers were the 2-door “Sport” models from the late 90s, which is the lower volume model when compared with the garden variety four door model.
Outside of wrenching on both of my Explorers, I also documented my wrenching experience on my neighbor (and one of my best buds) Thomas’ “Portofino Blue” 1997 Explorer in this wicked fun piece from three years back. It’s also pretty funny so I’d also recommend checking it out if you were busy on June 12th, 2023 and happened to miss it.
I love everything on four wheels which means you have to be choosy about which vehicles to allocate your time to; they have to be special and evoke an emotional response every time. There’s that old saying that if you don’t turn around to catch one more glance at your lover or your car while walking away from them/it, you’re dating the wrong person and driving the wrong car. This is true.
Explorers are to me, as my friend and Autopian Publisher Matt Hardigree says, “fine”. Matt uses that term in that manner when something is not at all, or in any way bad, but is also nothing special to write much more than that single word about. Those trucks are handsome and serve their intended purpose very well and make millions of owners happy around the world. Do they elicit an emotional response from me? No, they don’t. And that’s ok.
Considering the above lack of emotion and compounding that upon the fact that I already have 15 cars of my own that I can barely keep up with (and find parking for), taking what would be my third Explorer on trade didn’t seem like all that great of an idea. My initial response to the buyer was that I wasn’t that interested in taking his 2007 Explorer on trade. Lucky, he doubled down.
“Ok, Tell Me More”
“You sure, man? I just got it from the original owner and it only has like 60K miles on it,” I was told next. Any Autopian worth their key rings knows that hearing the above words on low mileage and on 19 years of original ownership is something quite notable.
Apparently the guy that wanted to buy the Tundra does home kitchen and bathroom remodeling and had recently done some work for an older lady on her beach house. He pulled out his phone and showed me a few pictures of it under a car port, in what looked to be a neighborhood that I couldn’t afford to live in.
Apparently, the beach house owner had purchased the truck as a beach runaround and had not really used it (nor the two Mercedes that were next to it) very much over the past 19 years. Only 60K miles. An extra set of floor mats on top of the factory floor mats. A super clean interior. No wear on the outboard edges of the driver’s seat. These are prime Little Old Lady Ownership tells to my trained Autopian eye.
Living in Coastal Carolina for my entire adult life, you immediately know that if someone has a beach house, they have some money. You really can’t get anything near the water for under a cool million these days (which is sad). People with money can afford maintenance and more usually than not, are better set up to take care of a vehicle (garages, car covers, full detail jobs, ceramic paint coating, “Suggested Maintenance”, etc).
He said he took the truck on trade for a discount on the beach house upgrades after his truck was rear-ended midway through the job. The beach house owner said she didn’t really use it, need it or want it any longer (she said the same about the two Mercedes next to it – their fate remains unknown).
The prospective Tundra buyer drove the Explorer for a few weeks as a temporary measure until he found a replacement truck (he’s in construction after all), which brings us up to speed on the Tundra sale/Explorer trade in the Legion Stadium parking lot that afternoon.
I agreed to buy it from him for $2K (his full asking price – he was definitely aware of the below issues – read on!) without any haggling and handed him the title and keys for his new Tundra. I was now the owner of my third Explorer; a car that I really didn’t want, nor need, but a car that was remarkably clean.
Let’s Wrench! Rear Suspension Noise
Upon getting in my new Ford, I was greeted by a nice-smelling interior in great shape, some cold AC, soft leather and…a loud clunk from the rear when I hit my first road imperfection while driving it home to my Evil Wrenching Lair (underneath that volcano in Wilmington, NC). Dammit.
Laying on my back under the rear of the truck, there is more than enough ground clearance to clearly see most of the rear suspension and it was very obvious that the rear sway bar link bushings had decided they no longer wanted to be involved with this truck.
That was actually a really great discovery! Out of all the difficult and expensive things that can cause a clunk in a rear end/rear suspension, those sway bar link bushings are probably the easiest and cheapest to fix.
Let’s Wrench! When Your Door Is Not A Door
The next item that was immediately noticeable as broken was the red “Door Ajar” message and light on the gauge cluster that was communicated and illuminated even when the door was closed.
A quick Google search showed that this is a hyper-common problem with this generation of Explorer and repair videos and parts are plentiful. Cheap parts and common knowledge on repairs are the classic hallmarks of Chevy/Ford/Dodge. Score one for the home team.
One $15 “Door Jamb Sensor”, one quick 10-min video watch to get myself up to speed on the repair, and about 45 minutes in my driveway pulling the door panel, latch and bad sensor and it was fixed!
Wicked, wicked easy and a great feeling when a repair goes so smoothly and exactly according to plan.
Let’s Not Wrench! Third Row Seat Motor
I also noticed that one of the electric 3rd row seat motors that are used to raise and lower the seats did not work and was stuck in the “down” position.
Not a hard fix, but I wasn’t going to keep this truck and the next owner may or may not need/use the 3rd row. I’ll leave the repair choice up to them. No need to fix a seat that may never be sat upon.
Exploring New Ownership
After vacuuming out all the beach sand from over the years, filling it up with fresh gas and oil and cleaning it up a bit, I posted it for sale. The truck immediately garnered massive attention due to its low mileage, great interior, excellent presentation and three-ish rows of seats from a good number of shoppers.
Unfortunately also from all the usual seemingly-unintelligent, mean-spirited, lowballing jerks with poor reading skills on Marketplace.
The above guy was just weird and kind of funny in hindsight but not mean-spirited or such. I’m mostly just so over the kind of person who offers less than half of the asking price even though the ad states that the price is firm then continues to berate you to lower the price while disparaging the car after you tell them to actually read the ad/the price is firm. I received a few messages from that crew as well. I cannot stand that guy!
Ok, I’ve recomposed myself and apologize for being saucy. I’m good now, promise. So, back to the story. A few hours after it was listed, I received a message from a guy that wanted to see it that evening. Fantastic! That was wicked fast. People love them some Ford Trucks.
I went to move the truck from my driveway (where I was vacuuming it) to street parking for a few hours before the showing. I hopped into the driver’s seat, turned the key, heard the smooth ignition of the 4.0V6 engine, hit the accelerator and…nothing. The gas pedal did nothing. The tachometer stayed at idle; the Check Engine Light came on with a taunting “ding!” Dammit.
I now had about 2+ hours before the showing and a truck that only idled. Greeeeeaaat.
A quick check of the OBDII system with my cheap-ass Wal-Mart scanner showed a throttle body code – of course! That explains the dead throttle response! Another example of how moving to electronic throttle from a wire/cable is tech making cars worse. I’ve only once, in 31 years and 163 cars had an accelerator cable snap (and that was in Miami in an ‘87 Escort Wagon), but that’s another story for another time, my homies.
Let’s Wrench, Again! Electronic Throttle Body
A quick search on the mobile apps of my local parts retailers shows that Advance Auto had a replacement throttle body about 2 miles from my house for about $230. I normally would go to the local Pick n’ Pull and grab one of one for ~$45 off one of the many Explorers they always have in stock, but there’s a chance that you grab a bad unit and the clock was ticking before the showing! I decided to not take any chances and just pick up the new unit.
The old unit was carbon-baked and electronically fried. It was also super easy to remove (air intake tubing, 2 electrical connectors and 4 8mm bolts) and I had the job done with more than enough time to shower, change and make the showing – thanks Ford Engineers from 2006!
Put Up & Show Up
I arrived at the showing with my now fixed-up “Grimace’d Out” purple Explorer to meet the buyer with a good feeling about the machine I rode in on. He lived close by and told me that we had a bunch of mutual friends on Facebook when he arrived. Nice guy.
He took it for a quick spin and remarked that he used to have a Mazda Navajo in high school and loved it as one does a first car. That’s when I knew that he was probably going to buy it and that he was also the perfect buyer for this truck; someone that would appreciate it for the low-mileage, barely-used machine that it was.
He said that he was looking for a low-mileage, 3-row SUV, and that he didn’t care about 4WD (it’s flat and doesn’t really snow here) and he said also that he loved it. He was the perfect person/ideal buyer for this specific truck in this spec.
He did say that he needed that rear motorized seat to function, so we struck a deal where I’d buy the part and deliver it to him for install when it came in 5-10 days after the sale.
He enthusiastically agreed.
Two-Wheel Driving Away (with AdvanceTrac RSC)
I couldn’t help but smile as I waved goodbye (while trying not to spill my celebratory Stanley Tucci Negroni) to the new owner and to that Explorer for the last time after delivering it to his house. It felt really, really good leveraging all the amassed Autopian /automotive knowledge and skills that I have spent 31 years culminating, curating and focused-upon (daily) to fix this truck up so quickly and to have it repurposed and pointed towards a brighter future.
Every article you read on this site brings a little automotive knowledge. To read every article, every day brings more. I try to read every one that I can. For example, Editor-In-Chief David Tracy’s latest eBay WW2 Jeep Build series is a treasure trove of wrenching knowledge, presented with that classic DT style alongside our own Aussie wrenching hero Laurence Rogers.
Learning brings a feeling of power. Putting it into action brings a feeling of accomplishment. Doing so efficiently, quickly and without any of your past wrenching hangups/mistakes makes for a feeling of advancement in the craft. I felt good about the rapid-fire resuscitation of this truck.
Yes, the door sensor, throttle body and sway link bushings weren’t hard jobs, but they were jobs that I was familiar with due to trial and error in years past. Jobs that I now know the parts costs, the time involved, the tools involved, the potential pitfalls involved and what each repair would add to (if completed) or detract from (if not completed) the sales value of the truck.
These items come from time invested and from experience.
I didn’t need nor really want this truck and had zero space for it, but fortune favors the brave and also favors those that show up and put in the effort. Those that try. There are so many opportunities out there to make a certain car a little bit better, or to give a car a better future with a new owner or set of circumstances.
If I hadn’t bought it, this Explorer may have been sold with the rear-end clunk, the about-to-die throttle body and the door that constantly dinged at you while driving to someone that didn’t have the ability or resources to fix it properly. They may have taken it to a predatory independent shop or worse and received a massive repair quote and decided that fixing it just wasn’t going to happen.
The truck may have met a much earlier end as a half-busted beater after a short life. I’m so glad that it didn’t.
I will always look back with a smile at the week that I owned my third Explorer. That one week when I felt really proud about showing up, putting up and about making something just a little bit better.
That’s what we, as Autopians, do.
Until next time, my Autopian Friends.
88mph into the future.
All images courtesy of Stephen Walter Gossin
- I Took On A Bad GM Design In A Hail-Mary Attempt To Fix My Friends Broken Suburban But It Was Too Little Too Late
- Sparking Joy And Plugs: How To Repurpose A 31-Year-Old Junk Buick
- What I Learned Restoring A $600 Dodge Ram With A Burned Up Transmission And Ruined Interior
- How I Bought A Broken Version Of My Dream Car For $300, Then Nursed It Back To Glory And Let It Free
- Proof That A $700 Car Saved From The Junkyard Can Make Someone As Happy As A New Lambo Can
- How I Saved My Buddys’ SUV After It Died At The Most Embarrassing Possible Time
- Rescuing A 75-Year-Old Car From An Older Car Enthusiast Reminded Me How Important Every Minute We Get Doing This Truly Is
- How I Rescued A Long-Neglected Citroen 2CV Covered With Bullet Holes
- Kumho Flew Me To The Mojave To See If Their New ‘R/T’ Tires Are As Good As They Claim
- How Learning Saxophone in 1990 Led Me To Rescue A Dead Xterra From A Bouncer’s Driveway
Another excellent SWG story! You’re such an enjoyable author to read.
Very kind of you, and thank you very much, Unpaid Copyeditor Intern!
It’s about time you started gettin’ paid!
Sway bar links would disappear on all 2nd/3rd/4th gen explorers and literally almost all 1st gen Expeditions/navigators. The Expeditions/Nav’s would handle pretty crazy when they would blow out.
Weird that it was on the rear only, it was way more common on the fronts, but maybe it’s more of a 4th gen thing.
Great article – love it!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
Another GREAT article!
You are the most “driven” man I know.
I’ve said it before and I’ll sway it again: Always go with an SWG refresh. Kudos!
More SWG pieces, please!
Was this explorer built on the same Ranger platform that eats balljoints constantly?
I can’t answer that for certain, but when I swapped the Ranger front crash bar onto mine it was not the exact same as the 3rd Gen explorer, so my guess is no.
Good stuff as usual, SWG.
Great read, as always. I’m about to sell a car to a friend and realized NC has a notary requirement for the title. How do you handle that since I assume you’re not bringing a notary to the meetup? Do you just put the buyer info on the title then get your signature notarized as the seller before sending it to them after the sale?
Only the Seller’s Name needs to be Notarized, since it is their property being signed away. In this case, the guy that bought the Tundra had signed and notarized the title of the Explorer when he handed me the keys.
Thanks for reading and for the kind words!
Great, that’s what I’d read on a quick scan of the internet, but it’s better to hear it from the real, trusted experts!
Another fantastic and inspiring read from SWG. Hats off sir
Thank you, my friend!
Means a lot; especially for a writer like me that isn’t here as often as I’d like to be. Cheers to your kindness!
As usual, I’m amazed at your skillset and applied motivate Stephen. I don’t even want an Explorer yet if that crossed my path after such attention and in such condition, I’d be hard-pressed not to jump on it.
Thanks for such a great piece as always! 🙂
Very kind of you to say, and thank you very much, Scott!
Thanks for reading and especially for your Membership.
1: AdvanceTrac RSC (Roll Stability Control) was actually something worth celebrating at the time. Ford acquired the tech from Volvo (who they owned then) and on something with a higher center-of-gravity it genuinely can minimize the chances of rolling the vehicle in a collision. It also includes additional sensors and sometimes curtain (and other) airbags to protect occupants in the event of a roll. So it’s more than mere stability control.
2: I’d have probably kept this and sold off much of the rest of the fleet if I were in your shoes. Something like this doesn’t always come along and in such relatively good shape. But good on you for fixing its issues for the next owner.
I mean, have you seen my sweet-ass ’94 LeBaron?!
I have, and, uh, well, I’ve heard of one example of a young lady named Kitty (or was it Karen?) trading her MG for a white one of those, so there’s that.
I kid, I kid!
Hey, seriously though – thanks for reading and for the insightful, knowledgeable comment, my friend!
Should say “…more than mere traction control.”
As the site Explorer apologist, I approve. I’ve owned seven Ford Explorers over the last nearly three decades, mostly first, second, and third gens. The first two generations were solid, if not necessarily nice, but easy to fix with cheap parts. The third and fourth gens started getting more electronic issues, but were still on the easier end of repairs. That 4th gen has a lot of life left in it, so good on you SWG to fix it up and pass it on!
I put myself in a similar situation when disposing of my dad’s three vehicles when we moved him near us into assisted living, about 2.5 hours away:
1) 2008 Ford Taurus X
2) 2003 Ford Focus
3) 1995 Ford F-150
The Taurus X and F-150 were mostly fine, but the Focus couldn’t be driven thanks to a front rotor worn down to the vanes (!!!) and horribly cracked tires. My wife thought I was dumb, but my plan was to ditch the Taurus down there, then tow the Focus home behind the F-150. I’d keep the truck and flip the Focus, and sell my ’98 Chevy C1500. She thought it would be better to sell the Focus down there – I convinced her that the car could relatively easily be brought back to life and sold for a profit instead of scrap value. Plus being so far away and it not being able to be driven meant a massive PITA to deal with it.
Taurus X: cleaned the interior thoroughly, replaced the broken off whip antenna (possibly the only time I’ve been able to remove a broken threaded fitting in seconds), sold it to my best friend who’s still down there. Easy!
F-150: replaced the broken multi-function switch (turn signals/wipers/hazards) and one of the flashers, stuck an extra starter solenoid in the console, crossed my fingers. Made it home just fine and it still needs a few odds and ends, nothing major.
Focus: that poor car. It was an ’03 2.0L SOHC with a manual trans that had sat outside under a tree its entire life – only 75k miles, but it looked like it had one tire in the grave. However, I was confident I knew what was wrong based on the noise from the brakes and the other stuff would be minor. I estimated it would cost $750 in parts:
New pads and rotors, one new caliper (just in case)New tires (14″ FTW)Headlights (yellowed beyond all recognition, far worse than the Exploder’s)Gas cap (evap code)Plugs & plug wires (misfire code)Trunk strutsCouple of bulbsBrake fluidI was close – it ended up being $800 total. That plus a major cleaning inside and out did the trick. I think I only had it in the garage for two weeks, the codes went away and never came back, and it was suddenly a fantastic little runabout. Couldn’t have gone better if I’d tried. It was a worthwhile little project, and felt nice to turn it into something worth owning again. My wife was pretty impressed with it.
I sold it to a friend’s kid as his first car; they did have to fix a missing thermostat gasket and rear light connector but no problems since. He continues to love the silly little thing. The ’98 C1500 went to the first guy who looked at it, a random dude from the auto parts store who was admiring it.
Not bad for a month’s time or so.
Edit – why does the list keep disappearing? Have you all hired some former Jalopnik coders or something?
I’ve never driven a Focus with the 2.0 SPI but my Escort had it. Did they calm down the idle shake or was it just as bad in the newer car?
I don’t recall it being noticeably bad, compared to some other vehicles in that range I’ve driven.
Or the Dodge Ram Cummins 12V I drove earlier this week. That was bad.
You could see my Escort’s steering wheel vibrate while in drive at a stoplight. If I put it in N it would be much lessened. Otherwise I actually liked the engine, it had power where it needed to be and got great highway mileage.
Blues Brothers represent. There’s a lesson in there somewhere…
I was hoping that someone would notice that!
Good form, my dude!
Upvote to bring SWG on full time editors!
You’re too kind – thank you!
Definitely upvoting! 🙂
Same.
I’ll never not click a SWG auto resurrection. Keep racking up the good karma!
Oh man, story time. Back in my early automotive days one of my high school buddies had a Firebird*. He insisted it was a Trans Am, no one believed him. It had a similar rear end clink also diagnosed as a sway bar problem; but we were far too young and ignorant to understand how to replace those end links once he got the parts. Couldn’t even find them when lying under the car.
Fast forward to 2007 and I’m doing Sway bar Mods on my Scion, flash back to those early days and realize how undereducated I was.
*It had many maladies, one of which was a propensity to diesel at shut off, which he would resolve by flooding the carburetor. The expected outcome happened one night when the hot engine ignited the overflowing gas and turned it into a literal Firebird. We DEFINTELY never called it a Trans Am again.
What happened after the carbeque?
How do you get those away bar links torqued properly? Just replaced the front ones on my 97 F150 and they look pretty much the same. Factory torque specs are 15ft-lbs but I can’t even get that on them before it absolutely crushes the bushing. I loosened them up a bit and I’m going to tighten them up a bit at a time till they stop making noise, but surely there’s a better way.
My approach is to torque them right until the bushing begins to bubble-out from the pressure. Any needless flattening of the bushing will cause a short lifespan and any less would lead to future rattles.
Thanks for reading and for joining us in the Comments, Clark!
Thanks for the tip! I feel like a celebrity. I think that’s about how mine are now but need to check.
Thank you for calling it the ‘Exploder’.
You kinda have to, right?
They don’t necessarily deserve that moniker, but it just works.
It’s nearly as fun as calling the Mercury Mystique the “Mercury Mistake“!
Exactly.
Or the F*rd Tortoise instead of the Taurus.
Or the Mercury Disabled instead of the Sable.
Or, to get philosophical, did you ever notice that the first seven letters of Grand Marquis spells GrandMa? And who do you usually see driving them?
Guilty secret: Whenever I see a “TRD Pro” badge I think “turd pro” and giggle to myself.
SAME
“Toyota TRD where all that’s missing is you”
Related: Ford Super Doodie I mean Duty pickups
I’ll tell you an inside secret, Mercedes, if you promise not to tell anyone.
The engineers at Toyota also call it the “turd”
And not the TRD Raptor-fighter “Hammer” package is coming out.
Yep. The TURD HAMMER!
(And for some horrible, twisted reason, I keep wanting to hear that to the tune of Perter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”…)
There, now you can have the earworm too. 😀
“I wanna be…..your TURD HAMMER….won’t you call my name…”
Bastard.
TURD SPORT
I always enjoyed the Catera CTS – cateracts (slightly misspelled but still)
And the Honda CR-V EX
Saw a FBMP ad recently where some guy was selling a Grandma Keith. Took me a minute.
Have you seen where that originated?
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/cars/junkyard-treasure-1993-mercury-grand-marquis-ls-44497164
That may have been exactly where I saw it!
> the first seven letters of Grand Marquis spells GrandMa? And who do you usually see driving them?
Nobody!
This tells where that originated
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/cars/junkyard-treasure-1993-mercury-grand-marquis-ls-44497164
Never heard of a Grandma Keith before Rad Barchetta mentioned it above, but I’ve also never used speech-to-text before.
I always enjoyed calling out the Oldsmobile UnderAchieva.
This brings back memories and makes me feel old. I was a Ford tech from ’98-’01 and remember when Ford brought in a test mule for the ’02 Explorer back in late ’00 and the whole rear suspension was camouflaged with the kind of bristles you see on the back of RV mudflaps to hide the upcoming independent rear suspension. I’ve also replaced probably dozens of those door switches in Explorers and Rangers.
I worked at a Mazda dealership when the B2500/3000/4000 were nearly ALL extra cab trucks with these sensors going bad every week. There were also like 8 or 9 different sensors to pick from, they were different left to right, and you were nearly guaranteed to order the wrong one.
I remember one particular truck that needed four different sensors to be ordered before we got the one that worked. All four had nearly the same part number, were for the same side, and only differed by the suffix digit on the part number.
The microfiche (yes, those) listed all of the part numbers, yet showed no distinction between them (like a VIN split or a ‘used for 2-door only’ notes).
We had PILES of unreturnable, wrong electrical switches for the B-Series on he backstock shelving. If we were lucky, we’d order the wrong one, but have the right one on the shelf…
My Ranger extended cab need those switches to be replaced but I like it that way, when I hit a big pot hole and the door dings its like the truck telling me hey bastard lol
I have been lurking in an out of The Autopian for some time (now member and avid reader and commenter) but had never stumbled upon one of your articles.
I absolutely adored it. <3
Thanks Albert! All the above hyperlinked pieces are from my history of writing for The Autopian the past 3+ years if you care to check out some additional adventures.
Your Membership and kind words mean a lot – thanks again.
Will do this weekend!
Looking forward to more articles im the future!
You should go find them all! SWG is good wrenching, sometimes philosophical, and always fun.
I will walk with my people.
Thank you!
Hermano, you’re in for a treat if you go through the SWG oeuvre. Worth it.
Nice save! I owned a second generation Exploder which had 151,000 miles on it when I acquired from a friend and 265,000 miles when I sold it. While it was thirsty and had a harsh ride it also gave me very few issues in the entire time I owned it. I’m hoping the 2015 F-150 I currently daily drive will continue past the current 157,000 miles with similar ease.
That’s Beautiful Man!
*single tear*
What was with that guy in the screenshot? I’d take it as a massive red flag if he only wanted to come to your house. Great read as always!
People are weird on Marketplace. I had one guy agree to meet me to buy something, then about 20 minutes after the time we discussed I went to message and ask if he was still coming, only to discover he had just left the chat completely.
I had another guy message me about a motorcycle I was selling. He made some comments that suggested he knew what he was talking about and sounded very interested. He also ghosted with no explanation.
I don’t know if it’s some people’s hobby to just screw with Marketplace sellers, but it kind of feels that way sometimes.
I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to use Marketplace for anything but giveaway items that I can stick out on the curb and say, “Come pick it up whenever.” Scheduling time to meet a buyer is infuriating.