Reunited and it feels so good
There are two things Steve Riggs has regretted selling: a 1958 Fender bass guitar and a white 1993 Toyota Corolla wagon. While he's still kicking himself over the Fender, he was just shocked to find that the Corolla that got away... came back.
It all started in 1993 when Riggs special-ordered the vehicle for about $16,000. "It was the only car I ever bought new," he says. Unfortunately, his mom, who cosigned the loan, died that year. By 1996, he had to sell it.
Meanwhile, coincidentally, Krista Weih's mother also died, and that was how she had the money to afford it. She bought the Corolla from Riggs for $7,000. She took great care of it ("except for melting the motor," Riggs chuckles.)
Recently, Riggs had been missing the old car more than ever. "He's been wanting it back for six months," says his girlfriend, Betty Jo Dominick.
Riggs and Dominick had been searching for cars with little luck and were even thinking about buying a new one, but then their tenant moved out. So they kept looking at used cars, but for some reason, they held out for a while.
Then, a few weeks ago, at 9pm, Dominick went online to look for a car for the first time ever. That's when she saw a Corolla her boyfriend might like. She sent the seller– who who turned out to be Weih– an email and then called on the telephone.
"I told her we're definitely gonna buy it. We don't even need to look at it," says Dominick. She was especially excited to have found a Corolla wagon since they're no longer manufactured.
"By the way," Dominick told Weih, "my boyfriend used to own one. What color is it?"
It was white. Her boyfriend's name was Steve Riggs. Weih pulled out the car's title, and sure enough, he was the original owner.
Riggs bought it back for $1,200, scraped off Weih's Kazakhstan flag bumper sticker (her son was adopted from there) and put on an "I'm marching to a different accordion" bumper sticker (Dominick plays the accordion).
Maybe someday Riggs will find his Fender Bass on Craigslist. Either that or he'll have to resort to eBay.
8 comments
It a competition to match the news value of the Spring Street dress story. At least that one was full of hope.
You all must be desperate for news stories. For one thing that guy comes off as an idiot buying back his own car.
I'm just hoping they find my old Tercel while they're at it. Or my Alfa. Or my other Alfa. or any of my three old Fiats. Or my 67 Mustang, I'd really love to know what came of that car.
I wish I had the dictating in-dash cassette radio I left in my Ford Escort in a San Francisco junkyard. Only car deck I ever saw with a Mic-in jack.
As for cars, there is a whole web site for this sentimental crapola:
http://www.lost-car-registry.com
The lost car registry. I know I drove or towed most of mine straight to the junkyard. The other one I sold to a guy who lived in a junkyard. Housing was tight in California!
I once bought a garden tiller I never owned before. Can you believe that? I actually bought it. It was pretty cool.
HA! This could only happen to Mr. Riggs!
That the summer months are invariably a slow period for news is practically cliche, but this story and the recent heartwarming tale of beauty-queen Boopsie and her new frock are beyond the pale of banal.
C'mon, Hook: give us some news. Liz Sorenson's random, chewing-on-tinfoil rants were better than this drivel.
I thought I was the only one that thought this story was nonsense!
How random to pick this story? My neighbor's cat has only one eye...that could be a story for the HOOK?