Buying my son’s hot car at 60

At 60, when our sons get in trouble financially, we tend to reach out and try and help at the time. I was a little too generous when I went and bought his very old four wheel drive car, as he needed the money for his other car. My son gave some excuse for not putting the four wheel drive car in my name. I paid $7,000 for it and when I had a good look at it I realised I had paid too much. This car was full of rust, did not start easily and had to be “fiddled with” to get it to turn over. It was a horrific yellow colour and was an effort to get up into. Consequently I barely got to use it and it sat in my yard rotting for about a year.

My son started to come back and borrow the car on weekends, leaving me his rather hot Commodore ute to use. He had a new girlfriend and wanted the four wheel drive car to take her up the beach. Perfect opportunity to swap, so I put up the suggestion that maybe I could get my money back by selling the Commodore if I paid him a little more.

We changed cars and I suddenly was registering this V8 SS Commodore in my name. Wow, did this car purr.

I would take it down to the shops enjoy the different feel and power of the vehicle. One day I was travelling along the road in this car and spotted one of my sons driving along. I pulled up at the lights beside him and gave my car a few revs as if I was going to drag him off. I thought he would look over and see me but later he told me he was sitting thinking, “who is that idiot beside me in the black car?!”

This car was now mine and I was driving it regularly when I noticed other hot cars were following me into garages and looking in my window at me. I thought there was something wrong. This went on for a few days before one stopped beside me and said “Love your sticker”. I said “what sticker?” and jumped out of the car and went around the back.

On the back of the car, down near the numberplate, was a sticker that only showed up when someone’s headlights hit the car. The sticker said “Follow me for action“. So at 60-years-old I had been driving round town with that on the back of the car, no wonder they looked in the window and took off!

I did eventually sell the car about a year ago and I was standing on the taxi rank about 90km from home, waiting for a taxi this week when a black Commodore drove past. I told my friend the story of the sticker. The man standing next to her suddenly said “yes, and I bought that car and you should see it now, I have done it up”. I looked at him and it was the man that had bought the car. He produced two photos of the car with mag wheels looking very flash. He said “I never did remove that sticker”.

What kind of experiences have you had when buying a car?