Death of an auto

Remember the story of my friend Charlie? It happened in 2022, so if you don’t, you can read it here. 

Some time ago, Charlie had an extra car in his garage that he decided to sell to Carmax, an American chain that specializes in buying and selling used car. Their store is 45 minutes drive away from Park City. 

So he called the company, got a price for the car, a 2007 Mini Cooper, set up a date for bringing it to the dealership and before he drove it there, had a 20 minute test drive to check if everything was okay a few hours before leaving his home. 

He got ready for the 2 pm appointment, took his wife along as the 2 owners signatures were required, stopped on his way to run a quick errand at a store and continued the journey. As he got 5 miles away from his destination, as he stopped at a red light, white smoke suddenly engulfed the inside and of the car and the exterior area of the hood. 

The engine stopped and even after a repeated attempts he couldn’t restart it. This was a busy seven lane highway and yet the drivers behind them remained remarkably calm. Soon a group of three youngsters came and offered to push the car off its precarious stop and got it on the uphill side of the crossing where it was finally parked on a wide shoulder. 

Clearly it appeared that the car engine (a joint BMW and Peugeot product) was shot following a coolant failure. Problems with the thermostat housing and water pump on this car are quite notorious. Made of plastic and located very close to the engine, these vital components crack and fail with age, which is what just happened to the hapless car. 

Charlie then proceeded to thank his saviors, the guys that pushed out of trouble, and called Carmax, that told him calling a tow truck was the only option. 

The tough part was the wait that ended up being almost two hours, and when the car was loaded on its flatbed, a short ride to the dealership where the truck driver dropped the car, not before offering to buy it for $500, which Charlie considered and said he’d let him know upon knowing was Carmax was up to. 

That decision didn’t take long, 15 minutes later someone came and offered half the price originally agreed upon based on a running vehicle and more than three times more than what the truck driver offered! Charlie was expecting less than half that amount and was delighted. 

Fifteen minutes later the sale was closed and Charlie and his wife were sent back home by taxi, courtesy of Carmax. Impressive service and customer care from this company and a tale about certain events repeating themselves!