It was in the fall of 1982 that I saw a 1979 Mercury Marquis advertised in the St. Louis paper. I called and found that it was being sold by an individual who lived in an upper middle class neighborhood just a few blocks from my office.

It was a Saturday, so I arranged for Vinci to go with me to see the car. We met a very nice middle aged couple, and we were told that her father had passed away and left the car to her. They already had 2 cars, including a Lincoln Continental, which I could see parked in the garage, so they decided to sell the Mercury.

The Marquis was a beautiful, dark red 4 door sedan with wire wheel covers and a vinyl top -- very common in that era. We took it for a drive, and were quite impressed. The odometer showed 30,000 plus miles, and the only thing I noticed was the drivers seat felt less firm than expected, but I figured the woman's father had been a large, heavy person.

We thought about it awhile, and after discussing the car on the way home, I called back to tell them we'd take it. The price seemed right, and the mileage was low for a 3 and 1/2 year old car.

The following day, we arranged for the woman who owned the car to accompany us to the credit union, to sign over the title before a notary. On the way she told us about being active in the PTA of the school in her area, talked about her children and gave other information which didn't surprise us, because she appeared to be an upstanding citizen from a nice family. When we finished our business, we dropped her at her home and said goodbye.

Back in the late 70s, auto manufacturers, particularly Ford Motor Co. were putting undersized tires on the larger cars -- even Lincolns; probably a cost cutting measure. Not long after we bought the Mercury, we decided we should buy new tires; those on the car showed considerable wear, and we thought the larger tires would improve both ride and appearance. While waiting for the tires to be installed, my wife was summoned by the mechanic to view the underside of the vehicle. He explained that the exhaust system and other components indicated age beyond what he thought they should for a car with only 32,000 miles.

This incident was forgotten after a time, and we went on our way, enjoying the car on numerous trips, with nothing out of the ordinary required in service needs. The car was a pleasure to drive, and we felt it had been a wise choice.

About 5 or 6 months after buying the car, my wife was watching the local evening news, and saw the previous owner's picture. The story was, she had been arrested for fraud; her husband had fled and an all points bulletin was out for his arrest. It turned out he was wanted for bank fraud in some other part of the country. The news story mentioned the beautiful home where they lived was staffed by a number of people with phones coordinating the appointments for showing the cars for sale. The vehicles had been purchased from rental and leasing companies, and all were registered to this woman's "dead father" at an Indianapolis address. Using a fake death certificate, she then had the authority to transfer title to my wife and me and any other suckers they pulled in with this scam.

They had arranged for these cars to be stored at various filling stations in the area near the home, and would transfer the car scheduled for viewing to the home before the customer arrived. This would keep neighbors from being unduly suspicious, and preserve the impression the couple gave of a personal sale.

At about the same time as our purchase, I found out later, a neighbor of a man I worked with also bought a car from this couple. It was a 1979 Chevrolet Caprice with 42,000 miles showing on the odometer. He was a retired auto dealer, and yet, taken in as were we. But, like us, had no problems with the car -- even on a trip to the west coast right after the purchase. He learned about the scam before the news story broke, because law enforcement contacted him for information. They had run a title trace on his car, and found it had 92,000 miles when he bought it.

All of the many people who bought from this couple were offered a title trace, but we never discovered the actual mileage for the Mercury, and maybe just as well. I did notice one day while giving it a thorough cleaning, that a full carpet had been installed over the original, hiding the definite wear.

Not too long before we sold this car, we had a minor problem with the engine occasionally stalling at a stop sign. I took it to the Mercury dealer, and was told the Exhaust Gas Regulator valve needed to be replaced. They performed the service, and told me it was completely covered by warranty because the car had only 49,000 miles on it, and emission controls were covered for 5 years or 50,000 miles. Since I really didn't know the exact mileage, I gladly accepted this free service, which otherwise, would have been $85.

What could have been an expensive problem, turned out OK. Nice to get a break now and then.

Copyright 2002 H. Thomas Flanagan