Roo-B go bye
For Sale: 2001 Subaru Forester
2001 Subaru Forester for sale has 184,000 miles and has been cared for by Clarkson’s Automotive for the last four years.
Has a new timing belt, water pump, clutch, new oil seal, drive shaft, brake pads, front struts and BRAND NEW (less than 500 miles) tires.
Interior is in good shape, only a couple minor rust spots on the body, front end newly replaced and painted (a little fender bender in February). Has that little slidey-thing that covers the back trunk area.
Will need a new fuel pump, rear axle in the future. Has a rear main seal leak.
Goes incredibly well in snow. Gets about 350+ miles per tank of gas BUT loves premium unleaded gas.
Still has plenty of miles left! $2,000
The above was the ad ran in Denver’s Craigslist for Roo-B a Subaru I bought in 2009 for $6,900 from a local Subaru trader. You might wonder why a blog about home improvement has a post about selling an old car and the answer is simple – Roo-B always got me home safely, carried my groceries and home improvement supplies, got me to work and home again safely through bad storms deep snows and everything else Mother Nature could throw at us. She was as much a part of the story as any hammer, nail or board at this house.
Subarus are popular cars and in just a few minutes my email box had a handful of emails (never put your phone number in a CL ad, it only invites problems) asking how soon they could take a look at her. I had people from all over Colorado respond and they were willing to get in their car NOW and drive to Conifer. A few emails offered me $1,000 for her, sight unseen, emails I politely refused.
I cleaned her up for the last time and detailed away the dust and dirt of our 4-year relationship. I cleaned out all the nooks and crannies Subaru is famous for putting in their cars and found the following: My Colorado Press Association press car credentials, assorted paperwork, a red filter for my SB-800 flash, three bungee cords, a screwdriver, electrical tape, scissors, rubber bands, three packets of salt, three Federal shotgun cartridges, a pair of funky sunglasses, one battery, one bad CF card, a lens duster that looks like a lipstick, a broken American flag, a clock face, a packet of ketchup, rope, four Veteran’s Day poppies, less than a dollar in change a copy of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small. Not much for four years of ownership.
As with all things I put on CL, I got the cream of the crop with the buyer of Roo-B. He had scabs over his many tattoos and I detected a rather anti-racial theme threaded through them. He seemed nice enough and his $100 bills passed muster at the bank. He wanted Roo-B for his mother-in-law who cares for his two really cute children and I let the car go, hoping it would be true, that a family would use the car for family things.
I made sure to tell him about her quirks, how she runs in hot weather (not so well, she needed a new fuel pump), that the rear axle was shot and she would need some care before winter. He said his brother could fix all her problems for about $600, a lot cheaper than the $3,000 Clarkson’s wanted to fix her. If I could have gotten her fixed by someone in the family, I would have Roo-B still as opposed to a new car in my driveway.
For $2,000 I let her slip away and I felt a little guilty letting Roo-B. I saw him driving her down 285, in the right lane, doing the speed limit. I can only hope they take good care of her – she’s a good car and I’ll miss her.