A Singaporean In Australia

I had to apologise to Steph profusely because I wasted his precious evening time. His reply was socially acceptable, so that I would feel better. Thus, I had the cheek to ask if he was willing to drive me to Melville for the viewing that I cancelled earlier to check out the CRV. The owner said, "Yeah, come on here. I will be home all evening." Steph was willing and so we were going.

It was almost dark by the time we reached Melville. It was the more atas Northern side of Melville. The owner's house was a double-storey house on the top of the hill and had another similar house down the road, as we found out when Steph was chatting with him as I inspected the car. He was an Aussie, perhaps of Italian descent. (gut feel) It was getting dark and I had no time for chats. The test drive went well. Things that were supposed to work, worked. The condition was the car was good and its mileage was considered very low for its age at 110,000 km. It was a 1.3L manual with 2 sets of keys with central locking functions. The body had minor scratches but nothing too serious that I couldn't fix with a bit of polish and some elbow grease. The tyres were worn and needed replacement but overall, a car in immaculate condition. No dents or hail damage for once. Finally someone who advertised accurately, for fuck's sake.

The seller's asking price was too accurate for my liking though. He insisted on his asking price and told me the imperfections of the car were all factored in the price. To be fair, he wasn't wrong. He took the trouble to show me how well the car was maintained by showing me the regular servicing done at a Honda dealer and the receipt of a rust-proof addition he made on the car. The car was also tinted and should be useful during the potential worst Summer ever since I came here. He refused my offer of $3,700. So I told him I had to walk away from the deal because that was all the cash I had. He said, "Ok, I guess I had to wait for one more week and see if I can get better offers."

"Can you do a $3,900 then?"

David, the seller, said, "Hmm... I can do that, since that is the middle of our asking prices."

Deal. We shook hands. David insisted on taking a small deposit from me so that he could be sure I was a "serious buyer." I handed him $100 reluctantly and David promised to deliver the car to me the following evening and I would pay up the rest of the money. I wasn't very keen on a deposit because of the no-show by the Pom the previous week after he shook my hand for a done deal in similar fashion. However, on our way back, Steph told me if he backed out, we could return to smash his expensive house. That was the kind of friend I needed. I promised him lunch on my bill the next day.

It was an anxious wait the next evening. However, David turned up and the deal was completed without any complications. I was still doubtful of my choice and regretted that I failed to land myself a bargain CRV. However, all of a sudden, I was assured by Josephine of Swan and Tucky of Singapore that it was a great buy and they were fans of the car. I guess I would have to grow to like the car. 

The teacher requested for my "hitch hike" tale, which started from the breaking down of my car to hitching a ride from Adam and a boring series of my car hunting accounts. With this post, it will end the "hitchhike" topic.