Three friends from Sorrento pulled off a heist at Vernon Dodge Jeep Saturday morning, and didn’t even need their own getaway vehicle.
The automobile dealer held its 18th-annual auto liquidation sale on Jan. 4, and like in years past it featured a unique way to clear out some of its used car inventory.
Members of the public were invited to sit behind the wheel of a car in the dealership’s parking lot at 4607 27th Street, and at 9:30 a.m. staff members came out and assigned discounted price tags to each vehicle.
Three of the cars had price tags of just $77, and all three cars were claimed by 19-year-olds in the same friend group.
Carson Kiriaka drove away with a 2001 Volkswagen Golf, Darren Adrian took home a 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix and Thomas Schroeder nabbed a 2001 Oldsmobile.
The cars could all use some fixing up, but the boys are keen to do the work themselves - and regardless, they all agreed a better bargain would be near impossible to find.
“I mean, this is less than a tank of gas for me so it’s a pretty good deal!” said Kiriaka.
One thing they couldn’t as easily agree on was who got the best deal.
“Mine is the newest and has the lowest mileage,” said Adrian. “
“I think I’ll make the most money, though,” Kiriaka retorted.
Prior to the 9:30 price reveal, potential buyers were allowed to inspect the vehicles to judge their value. There were a lot of vehicles to choose from, as the lot was completely full.
“In the last few months we have increased sales at a tremendous rate. Now we need to reduce the number of cars and trucks in our used car inventory,” said general manager Dan Loewen ahead of the event.
The three $77 cars wouldn’t be the only steals of the day.
“Everything else is slashed to rock-bottom prices,” said sales manager Tim Proctor.
On Saturday Proctor said he hadn’t before seen a single group of friends take home such a haul.
“It just gets bigger and better every year, and we’re really looking forward to the 19th next year.”
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