Posted on 11/24/2016 11:30:54 AM PST by BBell
RED BUD
When the repo man showed up, “Baby” lost her ride.
The little Pomeranian dog loved to curl up on 82-year-old Stanford Kipping’s lap when he and his wife Patty, 70, went for a drive. But in recent months a sharp increase in the cost of prescription medicine and other bills were more than a match for the couple’s fixed incomes. With several $95 a month car payments left unpaid on their 1998 Buick, the repo man, Jim Ford of Belleville, stopped his tow truck in front of their house.
Ford, 41, ought to have turned into a cynical, bitter man, he said. After all, he had been shot at several times when repossessing vehicles, including once when he was lying on the ground hooking up a tow chain and a man let fly with a rifle inches from his head.
“I never even saw him but I felt the flash and tasted gunpowder in my mouth,” Ford said.
But Ford, co-owner of Illini Recovery Inc., is different. He said he knocks on doors to tell folks what’s going on and allow them a chance to remove personal items. “I may be getting soft in my old age but you get more done with kindness,” he said.
Ford had met with the Kippings. In fact he tried to work out a deal with the bank for them to keep their car but it was a no go. It was the hook for the Buick.
“When I got home that night, I said to myself, ‘They are a real nice elderly couple. I gotta do something. I can’t just take their car,’” Ford said.
Then he did something that surely broke the hard code of ethics for repo men, he decided that he would pay off the Kippings’ debt
(Excerpt) Read more at bnd.com ...
BTW, does anyone know what they grow in Red Bud?
Beautiful story about what Thanksgiving in America is all about
Belleville IL, across the Mississippi River from St Louis.
Good people for sure.
I have a buddy who lived there for many years and always said it felt more like home than the place where he was born. Now I see why.
Happy Thanksgiving all!
They had debt on a 1998 car?
My dad repossessed cars when he started in banking and his best / funniest stories were from those days.
Yeah he was big and tough but always had a kind heart.... Turned out he loved other ladies besides my mom too.
Buried him 5 years ago and found he left a parting secret gift, another sister for me and my siblings.
Oh those Repo Men
Well Ma’am, maybe we can make a deal....
Well they may not have any credit so they may have had to go to one of those crooked car salesman to buy it. Hypothetically of course.
I have been to Red Bud countless times, so I can attest that they grow lots of corn and soy beans around there. The town was named for a red-budded shrub.
How do you owe $2,500 on a 1998 Buick? I got a 1999 Century with 95,000 on it for free. A ‘98 in good shape, even a Park Avenue, is a $1,500 car.
I did pay $2,700 for a ‘94 BUick Roadmaster wagon, but that is a southern car with an LT-1 engine. They weren’t driving one of those.
Thry had to take out a loan on the car to buy it.They apparently could not pay cash when they bought the old car.
Hey Mac do u know the way to Red Bud?? How’d u know my name whas Mac? I just guess! Well then why dont u guess ur way 2 red Bud
I pray that Hod blesses this man
The life of a Repo Man is always intense.
Funny Farm!
Pardon me sir, could you tell me how to get to Red Bud from here?
Well, if I was going to Red Bud I certainly wouldn’t start from here.
“I did pay $2,700 for a ‘94 BUick Roadmaster wagon, but that is a southern car with an LT-1 engine.”
When men were men and RWD V8’s were still mass-market drivetrains.
“I got a 1999 Century with 95,000 on it for free.”
If it has a 60-degree V6 engine, there’s a reason for that. IIRC, that being intake manifold gaskets.
Ok, fair enough - no offense was implied.
Just dealt with them enough to want to steer clear of those engines, unless that’s been fixed.
No offense taken. My sister had a HORRIBLE Quad-4 engine in an Olds Ciera. She had to go to small claims court in order to get justice, and their lawyer was happy to lie in open court. She got caught in her lie.
The engine in question (the 191ci/3.1l L82) is the bad boy you mentioned. Is there something inherently wrong with a 60 degree slant? The venerable Mopar slant six had a 60 degree slant.
Besides the manifold intake issue the GM folks decided to use different antifreeze. The idiot lights actually barked at me for a while AFTER I did a complete change out of the coolant.
This car also has the most ridiculously expensive wheel hub assemblies ever.
What no longer exists is a car with SIZE and simplicity. If you want crank windows and fewer gizmos, you have to get an Altos box sized Nissan Versa. In the old days, the big cars had base models at a reasonable price. (e.g. Newport, Belividere)
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