How the heck did this get here?

[Whiskey Jack]

Here's the background: me and my brother bought an 89 Sport 4x4 on wednesday (aug 20) for $450. To say it's been neglected is putting it very mildly. We're in the process of tearing the interior down to make it decent. We have so far discovered: in the cargo area, BEHIND a panel, five (5) unopened condoms, and then, today, while tearing down the center console, we found UNDERNEATH the shifter/ gear indicator the remnants of a chicken drumstick. Does anyone have any stories of things they've found in used cars? Almost forgot, we found $.11, so I guess our actual purchase price was $449.89

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Ok, I'll play.

Several years back when I was a new mechanic, I was just 3 days into my new job at a service station and the boss handed me a work ticket. The problem was detailed on the ticket as: "nasty smell from the vents when using the heater and A/C."
Boy, they weren't kidding -- a funky, rotten smell that I couldn't describe. The owner said that the car, a late 80's Honda Accord, belongs to their daughter that was away at college and they wanted to prep the car to sell.

I had that damn car in the bay for 3 days trying to figure out how to get the smell out of the ductwork. I decided to tear into the dash and heater box to see if maybe there was just some accumulated rotting debris or something. What I found was a mouse and a nest of newborn mice -- chewed up in the turbine of the heater/AC fan. Never did figure out how they got inside the car.

 

[Ivan]

While rebuilding my '65 Ranchero years ago (car mentioned in my first car), I was scraping the bottom of oil pan free of sludge. While scraping, I hit something odd. I finally pried it loose and it was a 9/16 wrench that was laying on the bottom! The guy we bought the car from was the original owner, and never did a rebuild, so it must have come from the Ford assembly plant that way... go figure

 

[Georgia Mike]

Well,it wasn't MY car,but it was a customer's car. They had just bought a Nissan Pathfinder from CAR MAX. I don't know if you have a CAR MAX dealer near you,but they are an automotive dealership chain that sells new and used cars,and they are a fairly large company. They claim to do their "100 point CAR MAX certified inspection" on every vehicle they sell. Well,when I worked at a stereo shop,the pround new owners came in and wanted some stereo work done. I took it into the install bay and started working on it. I folded the rear seat forward to gain access to the underside of the carpet and low and behold! There were rust holes in the floorboards large enough to stick an opened hand through. I stopped the work immediately,because I new this one was gonna go back to the dealership. I told them the must've only did a "99 point inspection" that day :laugh:

So-The lesson is? Beware of CAR MAX!

The funniest thing I ever saw while working for the stereo shop was a guy brought in a ratted out 70's model Caddy. He wanted four 6X9's on the back deck. I pulled it into the bay,popped the trunk,and there must have been 100 pounds of clothes just crammed in the trunk! I'm not making this up! You know how big the 70's Caddy trunks were,right? It was PACKED full!! I said,I'm not working in there! Another,overly anxious installer cut a path through the clothes and started cutting the rear deck for the speakers! Better him than me! :shiver:

 

[Georgia Mike]

 

[RichP]

Well, when I had my customized dodge van my parents used to use it when I was on submarine patrols to go camping and traveling. My dad chewed me out after one such. Told me to empty my garbage bags and check under the pillows and mattress for "souveniers" and other used personal items

 

[sidriptide]

when i bought my current trail rig last spring i was going thriough itwith the shop-vac.. i lifted up the rear seat.. the floor had a hole the size of a football. (and still does) right below the jack which was still mounted above the hole... the funny thing is that half of the body of the jack had corroded and rusted as well!! the whole underside was gone and the lift piston just about fell out.... gotta love those "new england" cars....
mike

 

[K9Cop]

Sometimes when people buy used cars, they call me, because they want me to use my drug dog to sweep the vehicle just to make sure there are no drugs in it, just in case it was a drug dealer's car, I guess. I think this all came from an urban legend that someone found some kilos under the spare tire one time after buying a used vehicle. Anyway, one such individual came to me with his vehicle and before searching it I asked him why he wanted his vehicle searched for drugs. He stated that after he bought his used car a couple of days ago he found a big bag of pills, about 500 he said, in the hatch while trying to change his speakers out. That kind of threw me for a loop. I asked him where the pills were, because I would like to test them to see what they are. He stated he threw them away. Yeah................right..........I kindly told him he was an idiot and asked him to leave.

I do have a ? though. Everytime I take something off my XJ ie door panel, head light, or trim, I find extra screws lying around everywhere, hidden in these places. Has anyone else ever came across this?

 

[RichP]

Hmmm, thats a good idea, need to remember that in this day and age. Be a bad thing to get pulled over after owning a used car for a couple of months and getting busted, a real bad thing. Can you actually go to a local PD and ask for this service ??? I think though it would be a better idea to just add it to the 'taking it to my mechanic to have it checked out first' so you don't loose your money. If it checks positive what happens ???

 

[woody]

Not an urban legend...a guy I went to school with bought his first car from a police auction. it was a clean 73 Camaro, and he spent a good bit of $$$$ on new interior, rims/tires, motor goodies etc...

Some months after he had it on the road, he got pulled by the Mass HP. They transported him to the barracks and had his car towed in, where a team of mechanics proceeded to dissasemble and search it. Basically they tore the car apart...he wasn't charged, booked, or anything, they turned him loose when his dad picked him up.

Turns out the car was previously owned by a drug dealer, and was never searched for evidence before it was released to auction...the traffic stop wasn't random or prompted by a traffic infraction; They were looking for this car.

Long story short, they offered him his choice of any car they had on the auction lot...he ended up picking an almost new Lincoln Town Car. It was worth a bunch more than he had in the Camaro, so other than the stress and wasted labor, it was a fair deal. IIRC he sold the Lincoln (quick) for a great profit.

 

[Sarge]

Had a aunt pick up a new car when I was about 14 or so. Can't remember what it was other than one of those long old luxo boats. Everytime you took a turn or went down a bumpy road you heard all kids of knocking sounds from the drivers side. After having her local gas station dude check it out over a few months she finally took it to an actual mechanic. He called later to tell her he had found the problem. Turned out to be a coke bottle hanging from a string inside the door with a note in it. Note said, "Finally found me!"

Other time Dad and I were cruising down the road in our VW bug and boom, flat tire. Was real close to our usual gas station so we rolled her in and they went to work. Turned out to be a large screwdriver inside the tire/wheel. Considering the station had put the last tires on they were a bit upset!

Sarge

 

[woody]

I had my Subaru worked on at a Goodyear store (tires,steering and CV axle replacement) 10 miles or so up the road I heard a loud CLANG and immediately stopped to investigate...

Back the road a few yards laid a tie-rod splitter (pickle-fork)

:dunno:

 

[Jump This]

Here in San Diego many drug dealer or traffficer cars are impounded and sold. It has happed recently that a truck was purchased at auction, the proud owner takes it into Mexico to have the upholstery redone (very common around here to take old cars down to Mexicali or Tiajuana for upholstery work) When they remove they back seat they find a few pounds of weed. They call the police to report it.....and the new owner gets arrested! To make a long story short... some political pressure and lots of money gets the guy out of a mexican prison....one month later!!
Not an urban legend.......

 

[Kejtar]

OK... not my car.. but it's in the family
Traditonally for me (and my family) we have mostly fish for Christmas Eve supper (all types, prepared differnt ways).

Anyways, aboyt a week after Christmas, my cousin gets into her 1 year old Celica (convertible) and realizes that something stinks real bad..... they first thought it was the cat taking a leak on the top, then they checked upholstery nothing...... she drove it like that for couple more days as they were searching for a cause.... till they got lucky (kind of): as they took it to get it shampooed, the guy decided to pull out the seats and it turned out that one of the fish that was bought for that supper has slid out of the bag and right under the seat and got wedged somehow.... GRRRRR talk about a fishy story LOL

Kejtar

 

[Tucker]

I was putting a stereo in and I found $100 in a Honda Prelude I bought in Hawaii. It was under the carpet, rolled up like a coke straw.

RichP -- another bubblehead? I was AWeps on the Patrick Henry (SSBN 599 [Blue]) from '77 to '83. We should trade sea stories, but not here -- it would scare the kiddies

 

[RichP]

Hard to believe the're pretty much all gone to the breakers isn't it...

 

[XJJack]

I had a 74 charger and one dane lost all oit presuser, so I had to pull the pan and pump, found a cotter pin in the pump. The screen at the botom of the pump was still good so it must have come the other way through the filter (I dought that) so it was eather there from the start, or in the filter when I bought it.

Now I shake out new filters just to be sure.

 

[Yellow XJNJ]

My 85 Waggy came with about 30-40 Cell Phone accessories, A 2 liter bottle of Pepsi, a 20oz bottle of Coca-cola, 13 cents, a Bud Light Slip Resistant bar mat, a crescent wrench. I still havent even gone through it to check under the seats and stuff