saablog

I bought the 900 on January 20 from a guy named Brandon. He gave me directions to his house, which ended with “it’s the one with the ‘67 Volvo parked in front and 2 Saabs in the driveway.” The house, in a neighborhood just south of Northgate, was easy for me to find. Brandon helped me get the 900 home by following me while I drove the R, then I drove him home.

I’ve seen Brandon 3 times since that day. The first time was less than a week after I bought the car from him. We met at the University License agency to get tabs for the car. Since he had only bought it 6 days before I bought it from him, the state’s computer didn’t show him or me as an owner of the car. He had to produce paperwork showing himself to be the owner, so that we could buy tabs. He showed the paperwork, I paid the money, and the car was registered to Brandon, but at my address. Kind of shady, I know, but that’s how we made it work.

The second time I saw Brandon was on February 16. The state had sent the 900’s title to my house, but in Brandon’s name. I attempted to license the car that way (he had signed a release of interest) but the lady at the licensing office in Mountlake Terrace said he needed to sign the title, and also because I bought it for less than book value I needed to fill out a form that he needed to sign so I could pay taxes on the amount I bought the car for instead of the book value. I drove over to his house and he signed the forms and he sent me on my way.

The third time I saw Brandon was this morning on Aurora Avenue. I was looking at a ‘92 or ‘93 900s convertible while waiting at the light at 130th on my way into town. I was drivng the 900 to work because I was going to a meeting downtown in the “4th & Blanchard Building”, which has a very tight underground parking garage. Previous experience told me the Volvo doesn’t do well down there, so the 900 was good to go. In any case, I was checking out this 900 convertible and noticed that the passenger in the front seat was checking out my 900. Then I realized that the passenger was Brandon. We were at a stoplight so he put down his window and said hello. He must have noticed the poor condition of the headliner in my car, because he said that he knew a guy who could replace the headliner for about $200. He also told me the car looked good… he said he’d been checking it out and then saw me driving it, and told his friend that he’d sold me the car. It was humorous to run into him out there, and nice to get a compliment on my 900’s appearance.