In late April back in 2025, my cousin Billy and I were scrolling through the treacherous lands of Facebook Marketplace. While ferociously doomscrolling through all the used and beat up Honda Civics and rust buckets they called call Chevy Malibu's, we found this hidden gem of a good-looking car: a 2000 Toyota Celica GT coupe. It looked like it was in mint condition with only 170,000 miles on the engine, from what we saw on the post the vendor said it drove like a beauty it had no mechanical issues and was willing to negotiate the price, we couldn't possibly believe its price range, as it was only $2,300. Unbelievable we thought there was no way they were just asking for that much, "What's the catch?" we wondered.    We needed to ask more questions and set up an inspection of the vehicle, we sent them a message to go look at this gem. Boom after waiting for over an hour or so the vendor sent back a message and said he was free the next day around 5-6 pm. "Perfect" I thought, we were both free to go see the vehicle the next day, we set up everything we needed, we grabbed an OBD2 scanner, a small tablet that allows you to see if there's anything wrong with the car, we also grabbed rags to check the fluids, as well as flashlights and tools, and of course the 2300$ in cash, we needed to be sure this was the real deal so we went in with all we had. The next day the vendor sent us the location he wanted to meet at, a school parking lot about an hour away from my home.  

 So, by 4 that day, my car was packed up and ready to go. We started the drive. When we were about ten or so minutes away from the designated place, I sent the vendor a message to start heading over to the parking lot. He replied quickly and started making his way there too. I got to school ground a bit early and looked around the area. It was the most suburban place I have ever seen. There were white, picket fences galore. The houses were humungous. I considered them mansions. They were mansions surrounded by trimmed hedge bushes. Families were walking with no care in the world. My cousin and I looked at each other. We couldn't believe where we were. This was the total opposite to our lives and homes. We felt completely out of place! It was insane.  The vendor finally pulled into the parking lot with the Celica GT. He brought his father and brother with him. The car didn't look anything like the picture we saw on the post. It had nicks and tears around the front and rear bumper. It looked like it just came out a demolition derby! This car was seriously rundown! We genuinely could not even understand the vendors mindset when he put fake picture of the car on his post. We still greeted him and his family, too.  We asked him about the vehicle and its history. He told us that he wasn't the owner but his father and brother were. He was merely trying to be the one selling it. He told us that they were the second owners. They had the vehicle since 2017. They said that they tried their best to "take care of it."  Billy and I were skeptical!  The car on the post was silver white. The car he brought was gray and matte colored.  Obviously, confused. Eventually, we just asked him, "Why is this car not the same color than the one you posted?", All he was that they were same car. He told us to not worry.  All of the alarms bells were ringing in my head!  After all the talking, we popped the hood and looked at the motor. Surprisingly, it was clean and in decent condition. It looked super promising. The fluids were all good. The oil was fresh and clean. The coolants were just topped off. The engine bay seemed to be all good with no complaints from Billy or me. We went around the car. When we looked under the car, we were perplexed to see the car was all rusted out, underneath. We both knew that it was a car 25 years old. We expected rust. Billy and I decided to offer far less for the car. After checking the outside, we used the OBD2 scanner inside to look for any codes. We saw that it has an O2 sensor code. It also had some other easy fixable problems. Finally, after all that we asked him if we could go on a test drive. He agreed, sitting in the passenger seat. My cousin took the back seat. I drove. He told me to drive towards an open area where we could drive the car past 60 mph. The car did, in fact, drive nicely. Once we got to the open area, I drove over 80 mph. It felt really good and clean. The car performed just as the sellers said it would.  When we got back to the parking lot, the Car Wars began.  My cousin and I considered the cost of the various repairs. We made multiple offers to the vendor. He wouldn't budge at anything less than 2100$, whatsoever! Eventually, I said I wanted to negotiate with the real owners. I called his father over and offered $1800 or $1850 for Celica, without explanations. I told him that the car wasn't at all like the posted one. It had huge amounts of rust on the cars underbody. It had nicks and dents on the body. There was a big, orange check engine light on that came on while driving. We'd need money for repairs. The father didn't seem offended by the offers. After discussing it with his son, he accepted the offer of $1850. I counted out the money and gave it to him. He gave me the title of the car. I was now the new owner of used 2000 Toyota Celica GT coupe.   We said our goodbyes. The father wanted me to take good care of his beloved car. He did not want it scrapped. He felt, quite strongly that a few repairs could make it better than ever. He asked me to send updates on his car to his son. The man gave me a hug. Then, he and his sons drove off into the sunset, never to be seen again. Now that very same 2000 Toyota Celica GT coupe rots in my driveway, wasting away to never be touched again.