Runs Great, Just Missing a Door??

This guy is desperately trying to sell his 1997 convertible Audi on Craig's List. He says it runs great but is missing a door. Call me sensible, but usually if I am trying to sell something on Craig's List, it has all its parts and pieces.


This ad is just one of many that I have seen with similar statements. My husband and I spent most of January and February looking for a used car, before we finally found one that was just as advertised. During our search for the perfect auto, we found so many ads that were like this one. One Craig's List ad said "like new" and when Marty and I went to look at it, the leather seats were all ripped up and it had dents on all sides of the car. It also had paint splatters all over the carpet in the back seat and in the storage area of the car. Marty says there is one thing that he has learned when buying pre-owned items from anyone on Craig's List, "Everyone has their own perception of what "new" is." About 85% of the time, if someone says it's like new, it really is not.

Several questions came to my mind when reading this particular ad. What in God's name happened to the door? Is it possible that he was driving along and the door just fell off? Maybe he was stopped in traffic and he decided to open his door to get some air, when one of those crazy guys on a crotch rocket zoomed by and clipped the door, taking it clean off the hinges. A more important question would be, what makes him think anyone would want to buy a 14 year old car with a missing door?

Well, my curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to call the phone number in the ad. A man who spoke very broken English answered and he told me that "it got into a accident; someone ran into it and broke it off, but I have another door for it that's a different color." That brought me to my next question, "What color is it?" To which he replied, "green." Just what I want to drive around in, a busted up, 14 year old, red audi with one green door --Christmas colors! How attractive! I told him I would call him back because I had to check with my husband before I make my final decision. Of course I have no intention of buying it, but I had to say something, and I did not want to hurt his feelings by telling him what I really thought. I wonder if anyone will buy it.