Craigslist score? You decide..

[JayQ]

It all started last week when I noticed a listing 3 hours from me that listed a 26” weber kettle and “a weber smoker.” The pic was a single up close pic of the kettle and one of the wsm.
His pic of the wsm


The kettle.
The pics looked good and they looked large and clean. Both looked in good condition and for $50 each. I figured what the heck and emailed him to tell him I was interested and to ask the size of the wsm. Besides I had always kinda wanted one. I got no response for 2 days and when I did he told me that they where still available and he wasn’t real sure about the size of the wsm but he thought it was 30 inches. Obviously he didn’t know much about them and just wanted them gone. So I emailed him and told him how to measure his grill grates and told him if it was the 22.5 I would take them both. 4 days pass with no response and I got a sick 4 year old on my hands that’s not feeling good and whiney when my phone rings with his area code. I answer and it’s the seller. I tried to ask him if he had a chance to measure the grates and he said that he was pretty sure it was a 22.5” and ask me to come get it, but the kettle was spoken for. After explaining I couldn’t put my sick son in the truck for a 6+ hour road trip he promised to hold it for me the next day. Excitedly I made plans the next morning to make the drive even though I would only get the wsm. Figured it was still worth it to get a good condition 22.5 wsm for $50 plus a tank of gas. Boy oh boy, that was a long drive but I started pulling into his neighborhood and realized he lived in a very expensive neighborhood in a huge house (3000+square feet) on the beach. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that the kettle was still there and I had the extra cash to buy it also. But then everything went south. After shaking hand and introductions he ask me why I would drive so far for such a small smoker. And then he took the cover off of a mini wsm in the corner of his garage. It was the 14.5”. I tried hard not to be rude to him and keep my composure. I ask him if he measured it and he told me no but he thought it was about 22 inches “TALL”.... my stomach sank and I told him this model wasn’t what I was looking for and wasn’t interested. I then ask about the kettle and he said that it was awaiting pick up from his friend. As my aggravation built and I apologized for not buying it, he in turn felt bad for my time and gave it to me free of charge for my time and gas.


All in all I got the Mini wsm for my time and gas. Score or no score?

 

[mstewart39]

Score. I love my mini WSM. It is my travel / beach / camping / tailgating smoker.
You can do 2 pork butts on it, you can do coiled racks of ribs or cut racks if you just want to do 2.
It's a great little cooker!!

 

[SirPorkaLot]

+1
My baby WSM is one of my favorite cookers.
Just a little fuel goes a long ways and it makes fantastic smoked pork butt!

 

[JayQ]

We’ll see how it does. I just put a chuck roast in and I’ve got a doctors appointment at 1245. Hopefully it will be almost done when I get back. It is holding a steady 210 with all 3 bottom vent just cracked open. It has been a real long time since I cooked at these kinda temps. I’ve always liked hot and fast but then again I am chilling on the couch in the AC today:thumb:

 

[Chitown_hillbilly]

That's not a 26 in kettle either...

I'm not sure I would have drove 6 hours to pick up a free 14.5, but coming home with something is a hell of a lot better than nothing.

 

[Jrogers84]

score for sure. Free cooker and a story everytime you cook with a new person around. Cant put a price on a good story

 

[HumboldtSmokeBBQ]

a few of my friends have the smaller WSM, and they like them alot.

 

[JayQ]

That's not a 26 in kettle either...

I'm not sure I would have drove 6 hours to pick up a free 14.5, but coming home with something is a hell of a lot better than nothing.

I think it was the jumbo joe kettle you can get all year long at wallyworld for $68. The mini sure is holding 225 like a champ though.

The side charcoal door doesn’t fit well either. Anybody have a fix for that?

 

[ronbrad62]

Do you think he met his wife online using, er, measurements of his own? Bet she was disappointed, that's why he bought her the big house. I say score because of the good stuff you will produce.

 

[pjtexas1]

At least you got something for your trouble, right?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Czarbecue]

The dead giveway would have been the door on the WSM.. too tall and narrow for a 22.5" version. But either way, it's $199 new. Even with the Craiglist discount you took the road trip and was paid at least minimum wage for your troubles

 

[JayQ]

Here is the original CL ad. Maybe I should have known better
https://panamacity.craigslist.org/fuo/6314256828.html

 

[JayQ]

This little guy is pretty darn cool. It’s like the crockpot of the bbq world. Even my gasser wasn’t this easy. Put the chuck roast on at 930 this morning and came home at 3. Held a steady 225 most of the entire cook and still whisping smoke. Perfect IT on the roast and it had and amazing bark. Let it rest for 30 minutes and the kids and I went in for a taste taste. Smokey flavor was a little less than I had expected but it was very pleasant. Well, the roast is completely gone and the wifey isn’t even on her way home from work yet... guess I’m in the doghouse again.

Color me impressed and I give it the official craigslist score....:thumb:

 

[HogGrog]

I think it is worth it. Kudos to you for keeping cool and composed (hard after realizing he misstated the dimensions of both cookers!). I bet you would have returned without it had you let your anger/aggravation show. Enjoy the smoke and stay cool.

 

[Bob C Cue]

Not a bad deal. Hope you got his butler to put in the truck for you!

 

[BillN]

Score since you got it for the cost of gas.

 

[Czarbecue]

Did you put any chunks in your cooker?

 

[JayQ]

Did you put any chunks in your cooker?

Couple chunks of pecan. Maybe a little hickory next time see if I get a deeper profile

 

[angryelfFan]

Free = Score

 

[WeberWho]

You have to love Craigslist. We had a similar story when trying to find a used car for my wife. My wife had a Buick but she wanted to go back to owning a Saturn. (She has had 3 previous Saturn's) She also wanted a SUV. Saturn made a SUV called the "Vue" but they only made the most current model for two or three years before they ended production at GM. So numbers on the most current model of the Vue were small. I searched Craigslist for a few weeks without much luck. I eventually found a newer model Vue go on Craigslist in Chicago that caught my eye. (I'm from Minneapolis) A nice deal but not worth the 13 hour round trip. Three or four days go by and I notice the seller has dropped the price $1,500 within the last hour of him reposting. His price was good before but it was a steal with the $1,500 price drop. I talked with the owner and his wife was upgrading to a Lexus that his wifes parents were selling. We eventually go into detail on how the owner wants the payment. With everything finalized I told the him that we were going to head out that night and that we would meet up with him early the next morning. So my wife and I grab a hotel about an hour outside of Chicago that night. (5.5 hours of driving) He said to call in the morning and he would get us directions from our hotel. So we call the next morning like we have any other time but this time he doesn't answer. So we call again an hour later thinking he maybe didn't hear the phone ring. Nothing. We gave him another hour and called again. Nothing. It didn't take us too long before we realized that he wasn't going to be picking up. I was ready to snap this guy's neck. 11 hour roundtrip wasted! I'm guessing the seller had a higher offer from a different party. That's fine and all but give me some respect and call me. Let me know. Except he was a sissy and hid behind his phone and wouldn't pick up. It went straight to voicemail. So I called the a-hole for the next two weeks and pretended that I was still in Chicago. So at least he had to keep his phone shutoff for the two weeks of me calling. I thought that was only fair after 11 hours of driving.

I found another used Vue in Chicago a few weeks later. This time it was at a Hyundai dealership. I felt a little more comfortable this time around as it was a dealership and not private party. The salesman told me that they would hold the Vue for me until I came in later that day. So we left for another 6.5 hour drive as the price was right. I called the dealership after 2.5 - 3 hours into the trip just to double check everything. I was a little paranoid from a few weeks earlier. I get, "I'm sorry sir we just sold it. Our sister dealership came over and picked it up without letting us know." I called BS. I guarantee someone came in and bought it straight away from them. Don't give me some BS lie about some sister dealership coming over and loading it on a flat bed without them know. I wasn't too happy with them to say the least.

The third time I found a Vue was locally here in Minneapolis. This time I want to say it was a Mazda dealership. I talked with the dealership and wanted to make sure that the Vue was manual transmission. The salesman assured me it was manual transmission and that he moved it this morning at the dealership. I told him that we were on the way. During the 40 minute drive I call the dealership back as I forgot to ask about a few other questions. This time I get a different salesman and I explain the Saturn Vue that they have listed online. The salesman says, "I'm sorry sir but we sold that vehicle 3 weeks ago." What? I just talked with your other salesman and he said that he moved it this morning. You could almost hear this salesman eye's roll. He was pissed at his coworker. He said that he was going to go talk with his manager. So I get a call from his manager apologizing for the other salesman. He said that the original car salesman was new and that he might not be working there much longer if he keeps this crap up. So another trip wasted.

I told my wife that Saturn Vue's were out. I didn't even want to see or hear about another Saturn Vue. We ended up finding a two year old Mitsubishi Outlander Sport for her. Of all places...Chicago. We couldn't have asked for a better dealership to work with. The last two years we've got a text from our salesman on Thanksgiving and Christmas wishing us well from his personal phone. Even with us being from Minnesota and all. I believe everything works out for a reason.

I'm glad to see you make it back with something. I'm glad the owner was able to help you out like that. Although being his fault from the start. That says something about him and you not going ape crazy about it. Great story and I hope you enjoy the new smoker! Got to love Craigslist!!!