After my friend Mike B. sent me a scary story of oil prices, I took a moment to shop for hybrid cars on Craigslist. Lo and behold I found ads for two different cars that are written surprisingly similarly (emphasis mine):
2004 Honda Civic Hybrid, Excellent Gas Milage – $15500 (Raleigh, Five points)
In Very Good Condition! Asking price $15,500. 52,800 miles. Only owner. I have had no problems with the car, I am just down sizing. It is a wonderful car. Averge gas milage is between 38 in town and has been up to 51 on the highway. New tires in July. Record of all services to car. Metallic Blue exterior, Dark grey cloth interior. Five speed transmission. Very clean, owned by non-smoker.
air conditioning, cruise control, tinted glass, rear spoiler, power brakes, power mirrors, stereo (CD, tape and radio), driver and passenger air bag, over drive, power windows, aluminum/alloy wheels, keyless entry, power steering, anti-lock brakes, front side impact air bag.
2005 Honda Hybrid – $12500 (Raleigh)
In Very Good Condition! Asking price $12,500. 39,500 miles. Only owner. I have had no problems with the car. It is a great car. I’m selling the car because of a need for financial downsizing. Average MPG is between 38-39 in town and has been up to 50 on the highway. Record of all services to car. Metallic Grey exterior, dark grey cloth interior, five speed transmission. Very clean, owned by non-smoker. Also includes air conditioning, cruise control, tinted glass, rear spoiler, power brakes, power mirrors, stereo (CD, and radio) hook up for your MP3 or XM-Sirius radio, driver and passenger front and side impact air bags, over drive, power windows, aluminum/alloy wheels, keyless entry, power steering, anti-lock brakes, trip/mileage and MPG computer
Here are a few similar ones for Toyota Priuses:
2004 Toyota Prius in excellent condition for sale – $15950 (Cary)
59250 miles, light green Prius, Beige interior with cloth seats
Power windows, locks, and mirrors, AM/FM, CD, driver and passenger airbags, alloy wheels, cruise control, Non-Smoker, This Prius runs and drives great
Averages 50 MPG, takes 10 gallons of gas! Selling it because I love this car so much I want to upgrade to the 2009 model.
2007 Toyota Prius – LOW Mileage – Excellent Cond. – $25900 (Durham, NC)
2007 Toyota Prius HYBRID Gas/Elec Sedan. 14,000 miles. Black exterior, Tan interior, excellent condition, garage kept, 15″ alloy wheels, extra clean, ALL features of package #2. Averages 48 MPG, takes 9 gallons of gas! Selling b/c I love this car so much I upgraded to the ’08 model!! Call for more info. Call quick – won’t last long..919-xxx-xxxx
I’ve heard others say that Craiglist is broken – that the CAPTCHA method of proving a poster is a human has long been cracked. Looks like this is the case. I’ve responded to a few ads myself only to find what I thought was a individual seller was instead a commercial dealer.
It raises an interesting question: has Craigslist jumped the shark? Is it time for the follow-up to Craigslist to take the world by storm?
How about those all upper case or all lower case ads with the hard luck story and circuitous payment procedures: Bury the money in an egg wrapped in a red bandanna and call me in three days.
No wait that’s the Gypsy demon removal scheme…
If you haven’t read Simmon’s book Twilight in the Desert you really need to. He goes into detail about all the Saudi oil fields and lays out the case why he thinks they will run out of oil sooner rather than later.
As an aside, my brother actually works at Simmons & Co, but he’s very low level…
Yes. I have a friend who works closely with oil companies. He once told me the reason the Chinese won the Saudi oil-exploration contract was because the Chinese don’t know what they’re doing. The Saudis want to keep their dwindling oil supply a secret.
I’ve got to read that book, though. Thanks for the reminder!