Part II: Tales of Saab Madness

It was Winter of 2020, going into 2021. Earlier, I had gotten the approval of my parents to purchase my own Saab. However, there was a compromise. The car had to be a modern Saab, of at least 2000 or later. Or, at the bare minimum, have an airbag, except the idea of a late model 900 with an airbag wasn't really motivating my parents. So, I cut my losses. I was now able to get a car, and for me, I was content. I knew I wanted a 9-3 or a 9-5 wagon, and I spent days religiously searching classifieds and ads for a good car. 

One day, I found a bright red 2008 9-3 wagon in Massachusetts. It was listed at a used car dealer, and the price seemed pretty fair. I presented the idea to my parents, and we agreed to go check the car out. However, when we arrived at the dealer, the car was there, but there was something a bit off about it. The car's entire right side was full of scratches! These definitely weren't in the listing photos when I was studying them. The rims were scuffed up, and the bumper, well let's just say it backed into something sharp. A bit let down, I decided to pass on the car and keep looking. I thanked the seller for his time, but I let him know I would pass. 

The following day, my parents and I drove up to Lowell. The car was located in the back of a duplex, along with a few other European cars. This is where I learned of what a car "flipper" was. Until this point, I had never heard of the term or had any idea of the practice. The seller greeted us and we began to look around the car. It was polished up, and everything looked to be in good shape. We took it for a test drive, and it drove well. The engine had no knocks or strange noises, and no codes popped up on the infotainment screen. I did notice that the rear piece of interior trim on the hatch was missing, but I brushed it off as the car being a few years old. 

When we got back from the test drive, we agreed to make an offer on the car, and the deal was sealed. Papers were signed, checks were exchanged, and plates were swapped. I now had a car. I drove it home, unaware of the mess that would soon follow in the days to come. 

It came time to register the car, and now this is where everything fell apart. The DMV told us the car was unable to be registered because the car was issued with a salvage title, but was never changed to a rebuilt title. That seemed strange, because the title we had said the car was clean. The DMV said that title was not the correct issued title. The Saab would never qualify for registry because Rhode Island required that a rebuilt title must be issued via the state where the vehicle was purchased from. This meant the car would have to go. Luckily, being that the seller was a car flipper and worked for a dealer, the car was able to be exchanged, and we got our money back, which definitely helped ease the stress of the situation. However, in wake of the car leaving, I had learned a valuable lesson.

Yes, I neglected to run a Carfax report, but I also rushed this whole car buying process. I was too set on buying a car, that I really didn't take a step back and think about what I was about to do. I'm very happy this all worked out in the end, and I was able to return the car, but that could've gone completely wrong, and the seller could have skipped town or completely ignore the issue. I was very lucky, and my parents were too, but in wake of the events that had just transpired, I was once again without a car, and due to the stress, I was back to my early days of not being able to purchase a car.