The worst deal I ever made on an automobile was when I purchased a Hillman. I am not sure of the model but I know that it was a small foreign made auto. The picture at the left is a Hillman. While mine was not exactly like the one pictured it was somewhat similar. Mine was most likely a later model than the one pictured.
It sounded
real good when I drove it off the lot in the Los Angeles area. We were still
living in Riverside Ca. at the time. It still was running like a top when I got
home with it. A few days later I had agreed to go on a trip to the south desert
to shoot doves and my friend and I started in my new auto. Pretty soon after we
started it started making a knocking noise. The further we went the worse it
sounded. As I remember there were some others going with us in another car so
we parked my car and went on our trip with the others and picked up my car on
the way back home.
A few days later I dropped the oil
pan to have a look for what I thought was causing the knocking sound. I found
that the inserts that go between the piston rods and the crankshaft were badly
worn and that was what was making the noise. The reason that it did not make
noise when I first began driving was that someone had put tinfoil material
between the inserts and the crankshaft. It took several miles for this to beat
out so that the noise could begin. This could have been remedied by just replacing
the inserts, but I also discovered that the crankshaft was cracked; A job that
was beyond my skills then and now.
I think I had paid around $1600.00
for the car. After tax and license was added and I paid a down payment I owed
about $1400.00 on the car. I was still in college and had gone in debt for
clothes and school expenses so in the early part of 1960’s this was a blow to
us financially. I took the car back to the lot that I had bought it from and they
told me that used cars were sold as is and no guarantee came with it. I went to
the company that had loaned me the money to buy the car and asked for
additional money to get the needed repair. They would not loan me any more money.
I gave them the keys and said to them the car is in your parking lot it is
yours and I left. They sold the car for junk, a little over $100.00. They came
after me for the difference.
Credit was easy to get in that era
and I had gone in debt up to my neck. I needed a car to get to work and to
school so I went to a lending company in Riverside and tried to consolidate my
debts. This company told me they could not loan me the money but if I would go
bankrupt they would loan me the money I needed to consolidate and buy another
car. I talked to the people who were clerks at the bankruptcy court and they
told me I did not need a lawyer. They gave me the papers with instructions on
how to file. Two of the companies I owed money to came to court but told the
Judge they were there only as observers. Out in the hall after the judge ruled
in favor of my petition I signed a new contract with both companies. The next day
I went to the loan company and they loaned me money to consolidate my debts and
buy another automobile. I am sorry to say that the company who loaned me the
money to buy the Hillman car was the only company to not in the consolidation
loan. I did not pay them anything I felt badly about that years later but at
the time I was angry with them for forcing me into bankruptcy.
On a good note by the time I graduated
from college in June of 1965 I started to seminary debt free.
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