RIPPED

THE DELIVERY COMPANY NEEDED AT LEAST ONE NIGHT to rest over from the long haul of picking up vehicles south of Springfield, Missouri for an end route delivery north of Chicago in Glencoe, Illinois. The driver, a lone elderly hispanic man edging on his legal retirement year answered the phone to relay his message to the client who called back on the number left by the cellphone in his pocket. "I need a night's rest ma'am. Unless you're gonna be awake for delivery at around 2a.m. I won't be dropping your car off on schedule. If I shut my haul down right now for the night I can get there by nine or ten in the morning. I get a few hours shut eye and you got your car there in one peice on good time for your household... if you don't mind, or we can meet at 2 in the morning... I keep driving. I do have to unload the last pick up that's mounted on my rig behind your car... that will take about a half hour then we do the delivery paperwork and I take your check for the balance owed and get on my way to Chicago. What's it gonna be>" The old guy stopped talking just long enough to hear her sigh. He continued, I'm at a truck stop outside St Louis... upper part of St Louis where I got the last vehicle loaded on. If you can wait til morning... a decent hour of morning, that would be fine with me."

It would be months before she found out the true cost of having bought the car from "a reliable republican brother" from Springfield, Missouri. Advertised at just under $5000, the MAZDA CX7 was the option taken in lieu of the $7000 VOLVO T90 first inquired about and sized up on her credit score and bank account. The banker self determined the opt out as his "preference" for financing from the secured funds already in her bank account. She was "buying a car to up her credit rating. second to the purchase of a home, buying a car was the best means for credit rationg improvement. A car within range of her existing bank balance was reassurance that she could not fail on repaying a loan from the bank for that amount. The money was put into secured check format and the car paid for. Transport fees were an additional cost as were cost for an inspection once it arrived. The extras totaled nearly $2000. The dealership inspected the vehicle after an initial test drive left it stopped along a major outroad where it had to be towed in to the only mechanic familiar with the manufacturer of Mazda. Title and Registration added another $400. A later inspection of the vehicle revealed that it was "shutting off" due to application of the wrong tire type and size. All four tires were different and not suited to the vehicle they were placed upon. An entire new set of tires and installation with balancing, were $1079.

The "car note" for having taken out a loan against her money cost less than $1000 in interest to the bank for cutting the deal of loaning her money from the holiday savers account of that year. It paid the final amount at the regular closing date for distribution from HOLIDAY SAVER ACCOUNTS. The trauma is and was as always maintaining a vehicle... new or used. The problem could be in trusting a service industry to do good business over assaultative business practices... as in any American business industry. Where honesty is the best policy is an expected firstline in the business world, it is not always the actual outcome. Don't forget to check your oil and catalytic converter... they are transporting those lately.

Bus fare is only $1.25 per trip.