Added a new set of wheels to the collection this past weekend, courtesy of Kaleb.
He spotted a nice 2002 E320 in Claremore on Craigslist. I tried several times to contact the owner without success. Kaleb swung by one day and got a look at the car after which I was finally able to speak to the owner. After gathering more information from the owner, Kaleb was kind enough to go back and check the car out in more detail for me. It passed muster, so I arranged to purchase it and fly up to Tulsa to pick it up and drive it home. I flew up to Tulsa on Friday on Southwest via Houston. Pretty uneventful until we were ready to push back and the captain comes on and says there is a maintenance issue that will require us to deplane while they repair it. Three hours later we're finally on our way. So I blow into Tulsa three hours late. Kaleb picked me up and we headed over to the owner's house in Claremore. Checked out the car, swapped plates, money and title and we're done. Swung by a Chili's and grabbed a burger before hitting the road. Kaleb warned me about the toll roads down to I-40, so of which did not have attendants and required exact change, of which I had none. Kaleb was kind enough to give me 75 cents to get me started and advised me to "just drive through, no one will stop you. After the first one they have attendants that can make change." Got through the first toll booth - 75 cents. Get to the next one and... no attendant, just the bin you toss the money into. Hmm. This is out in the boonies and there's no one around..... so I just went on.... The rest of the way they had attendants, so I could pay up. I asked the attendant at the first toll booth if they had a means for collecting missed tolls. She told me not to worry about it. Made it to Russellville, AR Friday night/Saturday morning. Stopped at a highly rated Super 8. Walked in, told the desk clerk, "I can go out to my car and book a room for $65 right now. What will you book it for?" "$50.00" Done. I got some sleep and then was up at 6:30 and on the road by 7:00. Despite bouts of heavy rain and interstate that resembled a parking lot between Birmingham and Montgomery, AL, I made it back to Tampa about 12:30 am Sunday morning. Thanks a bunch to Kaleb for helping out on this buy. It's a really nice car and well cared for. I was telling the wife that I was surprised at how little it needed as I made up my shopping list for the dealer last night. Being that I was pretty tired on Sunday and the normal weekend stuff I had to accomplish, it did not receive the full Martha treatment yet. It did get an oil and filter change, air filter, cabin air filters and a well deserved wash yesterday. I'll probably have at it as the week goes on. Here's a link to a Flickr album of pictures. Some are from Kaleb's visit, the rest are mine taken yesterday after washing the car. https://flickr.com/photos/31200473@N06/sets/72157682855751014 -D _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
