HeatherThe scrap dealers in Calgary suggested Matt’s car was only worth $80 Canadian dollars. WTH?! While it was a piece of crap, surely it was worth more than $80?
It was at this point we made the decision to drive the car to Mobile, Alabama. Our original plan was to take a bus or fly with our bikes to start our bike trip on the Underground Railroad. Matt’s research told us that we wouldn’t have any issues selling the car for scrap metal in the states.
So, why not drive?
In the winter.
In our beater car.
What could possibly go wrong?!
There was NOT a lot of room for much more than our bodies!
The adventure started with the task of packing the bikes, and panniers into the small car. Matt put his Jenga and Tetris skills to the test, and somehow we managed to fit everything in. Our plan was to get the car as far south as it could go. If it fell apart on the route, we would get ourselves to a bus and sell it for junk there!
Winter hadn’t yet let go of its grip on western Canada, so we were pretty pumped to head south. The car held up pretty well. By the time we hit St. Louis it started to make some interesting noise when Matt hit the brakes. The good news is that driving on the Interstates requires very little use of the brakes!
Green grass... lunch outside...and the car didn't make any noises when it was parked!
By the time we limped the car into downtown Mobile the car was making more obnoxious sounds. I am still a little bit shocked that the car made the trip. It only took one or two extra quarts of oil, and a ginger use of brakes to get it this far. I will admit I was impressed with the old beast.
We unloaded everything from the car and put our bikes back together. We were about to become a car-free family, but we had a slight issue of how to get rid of the one we just drove across the country.
Matt getting his ride ready.
We drove to the McDonalds for free wifi to research junk dealers nearby. I phoned the first number I found. As you may know, people in the south talk with a rather strong accent. This is typically easy to understand when you are face to face, but the phone is an entirely different matter.
The first junk dealer I spoke with asked me questions like: does it have a catalytic converter. I said to myself:
“What the heck is a catalytic converter? Was that even what she said?”
I replied well - it might have one….. We just drove it from western Canada, so if a car needs one to run then, yes it has a catalytic converter. I also confirmed that the car had 4 wheels and an engine (thinking to myself - isn’t this obvious given I just told you I drove it from Calgary?)
She asked us a few more questions and I heard the sounds of typing on the keyboard. Then she said: “we can offer you as much as $400.” I was still struggling to understand what she was saying. Matt was sitting across from me with an expecting look on his face. I replied: “can I confirm that is 4-0-0 in US dollars?”
Just imagine the image of Matt’s eyes bugging out of his face. He yelled - take it!
Once I got him quieted down we made arrangements for a pickup location and time. I think we were both a little skeptical that we were ACTUALLY going to receive this amount. There was the lost in translation issue and our general skepticism about offers on the phone.
We had parked the car at our hotel in downtown Mobile. The tow truck driver couldn’t get into the parking lot because of a high limit bar. We told him it wasn’t an issue - we could just drive it to where he could get to. This seemed to be a little surprising for the nice man.
Trading one ride for another!
This was when the penny dropped for the questions I was getting from the lady on the phone!
Most scrap metal cars are vehicles that have already been stripped. The majority of them don’t have tires let alone engines that work. In fact, the nice tow truck driver seemed shocked we were selling this thing of beauty for scrap!
Matt drove the car onto the tow truck and handed the guy the keys. A bunch of paperwork was signed and he handed us $400 USD. In cash.
Not a bad mark up from the $80 Canadian we would have received in Calgary.
At that point, we had made the transition from a two-car family, to a one car family, to a no car family. It was just us and our bikes (and 400 bones in our pocket!). Awesome!
We have no idea how we will get to the start or end of our next bike trip. Hitchhiking with two bikes is somewhat unreasonable.
Maybe, just maybe we will buy another beater and drive it to Mobile, Alabama - seems to be a very lucrative post-retirement money making scheme!
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