The Great Escape

We knew when we were planning for our baby that we'd need a different car for Megan. The Cougar she drives now is sporty and gets great gas mileage, but it's a 2-door and the back seats are molded into two captain-chair buckets. They're great because they fold down to make a huge cargo area and they're terrible because if you're over 5'10" or if you're a baby's carseat, you don't fit in them. So we decided we needed the "mom-mobile" of our generation... the SUV. We wanted something as small as possible and narrowed our search down to the Ford Escape. The regular Escape gets very decent gas mileage for an SUV (rated 19c/25h) but all along we had in the back of our minds the hope that an Escape Hybrid (rated 36c/31h) would come along for the right price.

Then we got lucky with an ad on eBay. A small dealer in Louisville listed a no-reserve 2006 Hybrid for a very low starting bid price, red exterior and gray interior, 2WD, and the right options package. They were a small dealership that at best came across as amateurish with a terribly-done listing with spelling/grammar errors all over, not enough pictures and very light on details. Their eBay feedback rating was terrible: 90% for 22 items. In eBay, if you don't have a rating of 100% people have the right to look at you funny unless you have a good excuse. If your rating is below 97%... it's a big red flag that you shouldn't be trusted. 90% !?.

As I watched the auction, the Louisville Escape got no action at all - very bad since eBay items tend to get "hot" as more people bidding leads others to believe the item is more desirable. In the last 30 seconds of the auction (to avoid anyone else rebidding) I put in a bid and we won the vehicle with the very first (and only) bid... at a ridiculously low price.

Then I went into full prep-mode. The auction ended on Wednesday. We needed to get insurance, financing, and a travel plan prepared before the weekend. Being naturally cynical we assumed the worst of the dealer. I took screenshots of the eBay listing, their website (they had listed it locally as well), prepared a full-legalese'd counter-offer regarding inspections and warranties to present to them in case they tried to make up for the low price by sticking us with bogus fees (something we read was very common). I looked up the # to the Louisville police! I recorded in type every single phone conversation I had with them before and after the auction and archived all the emails we exchanged. I printed the important stuff and took the rest on a flash drive. I refused to fly and demanded Megan ride with me in the Cougar so that we could take our check and leave if it came to that. We were ready for war.

So we felt both silly and relieved when we met them face-to-face and not only did they not try to gouge us with anything above what we already committed to, they were genuinely likable guys. They told us they had expected the Escape to get way more bids and that not only were they going to tell us we got a great deal (car dealers always tell you that) they were going to show us how much they paid for it at auction. It turned out we got it for 25% less than they paid!

After getting it checked out at a Ford dealer in the area (everything was fine), we were on our way home. Caravaning home (8hrs driving time with bathroom breaks every hour for the seven months pregnant girl) wasn't a whole lot of fun and would be a lot easier if we'd ever spring for a cell phone plan with two phones.. but we made it and the Escape made it just fine. Driving to Kentucky and back in one weekend was an adventure. Highway gas mileage was as advertised at just around 30 running into the west wind. Thank you to the McGuires who offered up their home to weary travelers.

Also, congratulations to Jane and Megan for beating us at Pitch (that was written by Megan).