Galaxy Part Four.

I needed a car, I had been using a taxi, seven days a week, I became like a ‘skilled back seat driver,’ my Husband Paul often looked on line for another car, but funds were low, so each time he’d say, “Look at this car, it looks good,” I’d look, and say, “OK,” And that was all. Eventually he got a bit discouraged and said, “You don’t seem keen on any of them.” I replied, “We haven’t got enough money yet to be looking for a car.”

Soon after I said this to Paul, I had an idea to ask someone for the money. I informed Paul what I planned to do, he didn’t think it was a good idea, but as someone said, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get, or “You have not because you don’t ask.” I had nothing to lose really.

I went to this Person’s house and asked, “Please can I have some money to buy a car?” Without hesitation the Person said, “Yes, how much would you like, the Person said an amount, now I’m not greedy, and I will not take advantage, I replied, “That is too much,” So, the Person said, “How much would you like?” I said, an amount and the Person replied, “That is far too low to buy a car, why not double that amount.” I said, “That amount is just right, much more that I could ever afford, but this lovely Person insisted, that I had the double amount, so I said, “Thank you SO much.”

I know someone who is in dire need, I decided to give that other half, to that Person. So, that is what I did, I rang this Person up and asked them for their bank details, (this Person trusts me enough to know I would do only good and not bad) and I put that money into their account. They cried, they were SO overjoyed. I cried too, I was SO happy for them, I was glad that I was able to help them.

So, now I had the funds, Paul’s enthusiasm, went through the roof! I think he was too excited to sleep! He’d gone to bed, but got up two hours later and in the morning, there he was when I came downstairs. As I entered the Living room he said, “I’ve found the perfect car, it’s well, within our budget.” He went through all the things that we wanted in a car and it certainly seem to tick all the boxes. Paul said, “It’s a garage, we don’t need anyone to go with us, they would not rip us off, lets just go and buy it.” I replied, “No, you and I know nothing at all about cars. I’m going to ask my breakdown cover Company to go and check it out.” Paul was not keen on the idea at all, but we were not paying for it, as this was still in the budget of the money, I’d been given to buy the car.

I rang up my breakdown cover, they said, “You need to ask the garage’s permission if they are happy for the breakdown cover company to come and inspect the car first, also you need to ask them if, “They are willing to set the car aside for you for three days, when the Inspector will come to check it over.” I rang the garage and asked, them both questions and they replied, “Yes,” To both. So, the date was set for the Inspector to go over in three days, I was SO excited. I was very confident that all would be well and that the car would pass all the checks with flying colours. The car was, “Sold,” to us in Paul’s eyes. I gave the breakdown company the address, it was fifteen miles from our home. The breakdown Company said, “You will get a short phone call to say if the car has past or failed and you would get a comprehensive report by email, the day after the Inspector has been.” The fee which was paid three days before the checks cost just under £200.

The following day after the checks, the Inspector rang me and said, “The car is no good at all, it has failed most of the test,” He went on to tell me all what was seriously wrong with it, and how expensive it would be to, “Replace or repair.” I was stunned! Paul was gutted! I didn’t bother reading the emailed report.

We didn’t expect to be back at square one, but that is exactly where we were. I couldn’t imagine a better car than the one we had our hearts on, but undeterred the following morning, there was Paul, excited he exclaimed, “I’ve definitely found the perfect car for us this time!” I didn’t know what to think, and then to my horror he said, “We don’t need to involved the breakdown cover, we can buy it without them, for if you use them five times, that will be a grand you have wasted,” I said, “We know nothing about cars, you don’t drive and I know less than you!” Paul responded with, “They are a small Company, they have a reputation to uphold, if they sell rubbish cars bad feedback would soon put them out of business.” I thought about what he’d said, and I said, “OK.” Paul said, “Lets ring them and see what they have to say, and if they sound good, we should buy the car.” I said, “Where are they?” He told me where the car was, it was fifty, FIFTY miles away!!!! I said to Paul, “That means we have to go and look at it, and then come all the way back.” His confident reply was, “If the Dealer says it’s good, then we will arrange to buy it there and then, it’s too good to let it go!” I said, “Without seeing it?” He said, “Yes, without seeing it.” His Brother, I thought, God rest his soul, would turn in his grave!

So, armed with my usual pen and paper, I rang the number, the Man answered, my mobile was on loud, I started off by asking, “Have you still got the Galaxy for sale?” He replied, “Yes,” Paul then said, to him, “Can you tell us about it?” He introduced himself as, “Stephen,” And said, “It’s a lovely car, it runs very well, I’ve driven it to Scotland and back.” We were both impressed with that! He answered all our questions of which we had many. Then Paul said, “How do we go about buying it?” Stephen said, “I’ll take from your bank card now £100 as a deposit then you pay the balance tomorrow by bank transfer and I will drive it to your home the next day.” It was still weird, totally surreal, that we were about to give this Man thousands and thousands of pounds, without knowing him from Adam! He gave us his bank details for the money to be deposited into his account. And we arranged what time he would bring the car to us. He would return by train. The whole conversation lasted fifteen minutes.

I went to the bank with the cash, I thought it would take the Cashier ages to count it but they don’t count it, they put it in this device and feeds it through and it counts the money. She asked, “Do you want to send a message with it?” I replied, “The Galaxy.”

Stephen hadn’t arrived the time he said he’d be at our home and I did wonder if we had been ripped off! In fact, I’d thought that a thousand times, since the first phone call. I’d already decided until I had that paper that said, from the DVLA that I am the New Registered Keeper, would I believe the car was not a ringer, stolen or anything that was fake! But if it was wrong or bad, I knew I would not be to blame but Paul, it was what he wanted to do, so he would not be able to say, “It’s all your fault.” But having said, that if Stephen was a phoney, I’d make it my life’s work to get my money back and put him in jail! I decided to phone Stephen.

His mobile rang twice then he answered, “Hi I’m stuck in traffic, I should be with you in about thirty minutes,” I replied, “OK.” I looked at the time to gauge when thirty minutes would be up, for I still wasn’t convinced, it was really going to happen. Would it be possible for everything to happen perfectly? Only time would tell.

Thirty minutes later Stephen rang to say, “I’m outside.” I went to the front door and let him in, he didn’t look how I expected him or how he sounded, to me he was an older gentleman, much older than I’d envisaged, I later told Paul, “I thought he was about seventy!” Paul thought he was twenty years younger.

Stephen sat down next to me on the sofa, and asked, “Have you got a computer, so I can set up your New Registered Keeper.” I went and got my laptop and turned it on. Stephen typed in my details and in a very short time, bingo! There it was, I was the New Registered Keeper! Then Stephen asked me, “Do you want me to tax it now, here on line for you?” I replied, “Yes please, again this was all done quickly and professionally, he’d used my bank card to pay for it, it was strange sitting next to him and watching him type in all my card bank details including the security numbers from the back! Paul sat nearby all the time from the other sofa, watching.

When he’d finished, he and Paul chatted about this and that, they seem to have a lot in common. He was a lovely Man. He left all the paper work with me and there was a lot as I was only the second owner, this lovely car has had.

Then forty five minutes after he’d arrived, he got in my car and I drove him to the train station, on the way he said to me, “You must be very trusting to have trusted me with all that money, and to bring the car to you,” I replied, “Yes,” There was SO much more I wanted to say like, if only you knew the inner torture you put me through,” that I didn’t believe that the car was kosher until I had the paper, New Registered Keeper in my hand, but it turned out, I didn’t need it in my hand for I saw it for myself, on my laptop, only then did I know I wasn’t ripped off and this wasn’t all a bad dream or a scam. I didn’t see the point of saying any of that, for it all pale into significance.

Paul was right, it IS the perfect car. If anyone ever up to this point, had said, to me, “One day, you will buy a car for thousands of pounds without seeing it or anyone you know and trust, driving it first,” I would have told them, “No way would I ever do that!” Yet that is exactly what I did.

I’ve learnt in Life, to never say never. How about You? Would you have done what I did?