A father in Florida is making waves online after posting an advertisement on Craigslist listing his 1998 Ford Explorer for sale. But it’s not the car that’s grabbing people’s attention, but the reason why he was selling the car.
The Jacksonville resident was selling the car in order to teach his son a valuable life lesson. According to the Craigslist ad, Allan Gieger Jr. originally bought the SUV for his son’s 16th birthday “to finish school in, get a decent job, and get a head start on life,” but his son had other ideas about how he would live his life. According to the father, his son, Alan Gieger III, is too interested in “smoking dope and acting all thug” to use the car for its intended purposes.
The father hoped selling the car would be a lesson to his son. He even said he would take $250 off the asking price if the buyer lived in the area so his son could see the car go by every day and be reminded of “how good he had it” before he changed his priorities.
According to the local news, Gieger Jr. was inundated by inquiries from prospective buyers, many of whom lived in the area. People also sent in messages praising his creative parenting technique. The SUV was sold in two hours.
Although the son did not comment on his car being sold as a punishment, he says that he is remorseful for his action. He is focusing on getting his diploma and most likely working towards raising enough money to get himself a new car.
Even though the SUV was sold almost immediately, the father decided to leave up his Craigslist advertisement as a reminder to his son of the consequences to not taking life seriously.