Wellesley’s Scott Maney, who gained local notoriety fame in 2014 after posting his “My Kids Suck” trampoline ad on craigslist, is back with another cleverly crafted craiglist notice — though he takes it relatively easier on his offspring this time around.
The ad is for a 2010 black Ford Flex that needs a new engine, and Maney’s prose goes something like this:
Hello, Dad?
Hey, what’s up?
We’re in Connecticut and the car stopped.
What do you mean, it stopped?
On the highway. As we were driving. The engine just. . .stopped.
On the highway?
Yeah.
As you were driving?
Yeah.
It stopped working?
Yeah. Everything went dark and we glided to the side of the road.
(A silence grows over the line. The room is somehow warmer now. Sweat begins to bead. Eyes dart back and forth. Something is heavy.)
Without warning?
Yeah. Well no. A red light came on awhile before.
Red light?
Yeah.
Check engine light?
Yeah.
How long before?
Pretty long.
Oh god.
Triple A guy is here. He said the engine seized and we need to tow it somewhere on a flatbed truck.
Seized?
Yeah. He said the oil is milky or something and there’s water in it and he doesn’t think the engine will work.
Until we change the oil?
No. Like ever.
Oh god.
Yeah. And it’s $500 to tow the car home.
I’ll put it on my. . .
Cash.
Apparently the ad worked: Maney got 10 offers in the span of 12 hours and sold the 4-cylinder Ford Flex (the same brand that took its star turn in Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg’s “Daddy’s Home” movie) for which he was asking $3,500.
The whole ordeal has actually inspired Maney, who is chief creative officer for a marketing firm.
“I’ve found my only gift is writing craigslist ads. I’m thinking of writing a book of them (seriously),” he writes.
MORE: Wellesley’s “Trampoline Man” pens tearjerker about college-bound son
