Private for-sale ads for damaged cars are always fascinating. It seems almost expected that mangled, stolen, or vandalized cars get run through salvage auctions, so when one pops up on Facebook Marketplace by a private seller, it’s easy to get lost pondering what might’ve happened for a car to end up in such a state. Then again, sometimes you don’t have to wonder. This is one of the strangest used car ads I’ve seen in a while. It’s for a Subaru Outback that’s been in a predicament, and it’s a great public service announcement about the dangers behind sleeping at dangerous times.
My word, that’s a lot of water. Not exactly a common sight in the dry climate of Bakersfield, Calif., especially since it seems to be isolated solely to the vicinity of this Subaru. However, even though such dampness suggests the involvement of firefighting equipment, there aren’t any flames here. Instead, its seller’s been in a soggy situation. Here’s what the Facebook Marketplace listing says:
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I’m selling it because it was in a minor accident where I fell asleep at the wheel in the middle of the intersection at Columbus St and Manor Dr. next to Garces High School. I fell asleep in the middle of the left hand turn at the signal turning onto Columbus St from Manor Dr traveling south and going east onto Columbus. I was doing about 8 mph when I hit the fire hydrant damaging the sub frame and pushing the radiator fan into the engine block where the belts are located.
Well, that’s a lot to unpack, but props for the accountability. You don’t see many damaged cars for sale, on Marketplace or otherwise, with an explanation of how the damage happened, let alone the seller taking responsibility for the damage.
Secondly, this whole situation could’ve been a lot worse. Unsurprisingly, collisions where driving while tired are tracked by the government upon reporting, and the numbers really add up. As per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “NHTSA estimates that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and nearly 800 deaths.” While those casualty numbers seem disproportionately high, keep in mind that these are just the drowsy-driving crashes that were reported. How many weren’t reported? That’s anyone’s guess.
It’s safe to say that this is one of the more shocking Facebook Marketplace listings I’ve seen in a while, and while the story of how this Subaru ended up in its current state delivers psychic whiplash, the seller’s explainer of the damages is even more unusual.
The car will start but wont turn over due to the radiator needing to be reset. Nothing and I mean NOTHING else was broken inside the engine area. Everything is still in tact. There is some cosmetic damage to the bumper and the hood. My guess is that it could cost about 6-8k to fix. I’m not a mechanic that’s just the number my head came up with.
Possibly the most eyebrow-raising thing here is “will start but won’t turn over” because, well, I don’t think that’s how this works in a car with a continuously variable transmission. If it were a stick-shift Subaru, it could be push-started, but the owner’s manual for the 2015 Outback doesn’t say anything about push-starting. What, you thought it was “I’m not a mechanic that’s just the number my head came up with”? Around here, we wrench on our own cars not because it’s easy, but because we thought it would be easy.
An asking price of $7,500 does seem a little pricey for a crashed decade-old Subaru Outback, and the car being for sale in a damaged state under such circumstances suggests the seller might not have opted for the collision coverage when buying insurance or might’ve purchased it from insurance in the hope of a bigger payout. Anyway, don’t drive tired. You don’t want to hit a fire hydrant, let alone something worse.
Top graphic image: Facebook Marketplace; DepositPhotos.com
It looks like they used foam to suppress the flames. Did this happen near an airport?
And my guess is that drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident. I’ve felt drowsy late at night on the freeway, which is scary in and of itself, but I can’t recall a time I felt that way driving in the city.