I was outside yesterday doing some work on my car when my neighbor came over to see what was the matter. We got to talking for a little bit and he claimed that he bought and sold cars for a living, but there was something about the way he said it that didn’t seem quite right. Also, he didn’t say anything like, “Well, if you ever get tired of this thing, let me know, I’ll get you a deal on a better one.” Which one would think that a person who sells cars would want to do. Very strange, if you ask me.
**Tucker ** and everyone else, you are so close and yet so very far away.
It’s Kidney porn. *When Organ’s go Baaaad *
Back in the real world, my arm chair detective summary is:
Something illegal is going on.
Pawn shop/stolen goods kinda stuff comes to mind. I can’t picture ( but I am sheltered) a 50-60’ish guy cooking up meth.
Or it’s a bunch of in the closet gay guys who use the place for a bang-a-thon tryst. Inside the coolers are their costumes. The day you saw them they were playing doctor.
It’s a bunch of guys using the place as a floating gambling place or some kind of internet scam place.
Have you talked to the landlord/park owner about your suspicions?
If you are feeling odd about this situation, and chances are that the neighbor senses it enough to see your apprehension to come over to try a lie on for size, I would contact a detective, Andy Sipowicz would be my first choice, but I think TN is out of his jurisdiction. You’d feel pretty lousy if it was some kiddie porn ring going on.
Do you have a pet you could attach a camera to its head and have it innocently walk into their place. Like a hamster. That would get to the bottom of this matter and make all of us Dopers stop worrying about your kidneys.
“take” them an apple pie.
I tell ya, if I thought I knew who these people were, I’d let them know that they’re the objects of discussion on an Internet message board. While this is all interesting (hey, I’m curious too about what the deal is) I find it VERY disturbing that people are advocating calling the police, setting up cameras and other BIG BROTHERish, Ashcroft-friendly nosiness when there’s not one ounce of evidence that something illegal is going on.
I used to drive cars for a living for a Driveaway company. I’d drive a different car home every night. Geez, maybe my neighbors were ready to call the cops on me and I never even knew it!
I understand that people are curious, and I understand that people are having fun with this. I also understand that it IS important to keep an eye on your neighborhood and community to know what’s going on and try to prevent or stop crime, but really, I was getting the heebie-jeebies reading some of the SERIOUS (as opposed to having fun and being silly) suggestions some people were/are making.
In any case, I too hope that Tuckerfan gives a final update when/if he finds out what’s happening.
I think Tuckerfan’s neighbor was telling the truth, only slantwise, if you know what I mean. He probably does buy and sell cars for a living–but without a business or sales tax license. If he’s an older man, maybe he’s doing it under the table to supplement his income.
:::::::bump:::::::
Any news ?
Mangetout, what in the heck is Christian Car Porn?
My bet is that Squish is correct.
I am a licensed dealer, but before I got my license I would buy and sell cars on the side. In most places it is illegal to operate as a dealer without a license, and that would be my guess as to what the neighbor is doing.
He doesn’t want to announce what he is doing because he could be caught and fined thousands of dollars, plus he is probably not keeping insurance on all these vehicles, which is also illegal.
A licensed dealer must be insured, bonded, pay sales and income tax, and go thru an FBI check.
The neighbor just does not want to pay the money to be licensed.
Are they in season already?!?
MMMmmm…my favourite time of year. You can’t drive more than a few miles around here without passing a farmfresh kidney stand. I bought a whole flat yesterday and ate half just sitting in traffic.
The rest I ate with fava beans and a nice Chianti.
Phlptflpthphlft…
I bet he buys cars and sells them on the side of the road… in parking lots and empty lots and stuff… people do that, and not just when there selling there OWN car. Maybe he’s more interested in BUYING your car to resell then selling a heap-o-junk to a neighbor.
HA! All the cars he’s had in his driveway have been in waaaaay better shape than mine! Mine’s totally immobile at the moment and will be that way for a few more days at least.
How interesting that you claim never to have heard of it; we all know what that signifies. Hmmm…
Unless you’re Irish - they always use “bring” in that context.
On the spooky neighbours OP, they might indeed be car traders: I knew a guy who used to buy used cars privately thu small ads local newspapers, then sell them again for more money in richer areas thru other local papers. He did it one-by-one, then two-by-two, and never declared anything to the taxman. The limo could have been there for a long time because it’s harder to sell a limo than a regular family car.
They are cops on a stake out, they are watching…tuckerfan. Tucker, what have you been up to?
C’mon, they live in a trailerpark. A terrible place for anonimity. There is waay to much money in the black market kidney thing, they’d have moved out by now, into a de-luxe apartment in the sky. Same with the drugs. They are guys, just normal joes, scraping out a living by :::gasp::: buying and selling cars.
There are several such people right here in the twin cities. You can find their numbers in the car section of any classified ads. You call them, since you are way too busy/not a good wheeler dealer/have little mechanical knowledge and tell them what you are looking for. They do all the leg work, and charge a small percentage of the buying price. They bring the car to your house, and you test drive it, etc. The re-appearing cars are explained by the vehicles that the buyers said no to.
It’s a low paying gig that can get you stuck with cars that won’t sell. If I did it, all I could afford to live in is a short term off the books lease at a trailer park.
What, are you afraid of getting your hands dirty? The true kidney connosseiur goes to a U-pick-em-yourself outfit.
Tuckerfan,
- You are obnoxiously nosy. (And, I mean that in the nicest way possible.) One would almost think that you WANT there to be something sinister afoot.
- Ask your landlord already!
- Run out and rent “The 'Burbs” toot pronto! (I want to see your head explode.)
- Love your thread!
-pinky!
I want to know, how did you make your water-heater explode?
I’m curious as hell, too, now.
I can’t see why any-one would want to involve the police, though.
I like the idea that they are watching Tucker.
My guess:
The older couple are in the hospital (the man had a heart attack and the woman was so worried she was admitted to the hospital and is now staying with her daughter); this is their un-employed son and his older sister’s son. The other cars are relatives from around the state visiting the couple, and they spend the night at the trailer to save money on a motel.
They’re stand-offish because they are worried about the older couple.
ALIENS!!
Come on, man, that’s the only possibility! But the nice kind of alien…you know, they’re not here to conquer us or eat us. They come from a dying planet light years away and the Earth holds their last hope for the survival of their species. One day Tuckerfan will stumble upon one of them conducting a harmless but easily misinterpreted chemical experiment on one of the trailer park dogs and run away in terror, prompting all the aliens living next door to show up on his front doorstep in a dramatic moment to explain their actions. Then Tuckerfan will become their secret human helper (that is nothing like “hamburger helper,” by the way), and aid them in slipping off the planet right under the noses of dozens of feds in black helicopters to transport the cure back to their home planet. But wait! What about that really hot girl alien who fell so hard for Tuckerfan?? What about their forbidden intergalactic romance?! In the final scene, as Tuckerfan stands weeping in the mist created by the departed space craft, she will appear as a shadow approaching him through the fog: she stayed! She chose to stay with him despite her planet full of dying brothers and sisters and the bad reception on his sattelite dish! And their days will be lived out having backdoor barbecues and watching Mork & Mindy long into the summer nights…
Tuckerfan you are one lucky sumbitch. You better get over there and start stumbling, or you’re gonna miss your window of opportunity.