St. Cloud Man Gets Dream Car For $563 In Penny Auction
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) -- A brand new 2012 Mustang usually goes for more than $30,000, but a Minnesota man just drove away with his dream car for pennies on the dollar.
In fact, St. Cloud resident Matt Crouse said he got his dream car at a whopping 98 percent off. He paid just $563 for a brand new car.
"I mean it purrs just like a kitty," Crouse said.
Crouse found his second love on a sleepless night just weeks ago.
"It was about 2:30 in the morning. My wife was sleeping, and it was really hot. It was one of them really hot days," Crouse said.
The uncomfortable humidity was keeping him awake, so he decided to enter a bidding war against, at first, two other bidders.
"The other guy sent me a message that said he fell asleep right before the end of it," Crouse said.
The competition dwindled down to just one other bidder.
"I realized I won it, and I start yelling and she goes, 'What are you trying to wake me up?'" Crouse said. "She probably thought it was something like one of them emails you get from people, like you win a billion dollars from a guy in Cambodia or something."
At first skeptical, Crouse's first love now openly welcomes his second love to the family. Crouse even lets his wife take the blue beauty for an occasional joy ride.
"It's not too big of a loss if she crashes it," Crouse said.
Crouse said he's just grateful, and still waiting for someone to pinch him.
"So, I guess it pays to be humid in Minnesota," Crouse said.
As for how the Fast Penny Cars website works, think lottery meets eBay. Bidders go online, increasing the vehicle price by two pennies each time. If you are the last bidder when the timer reaches zero, you win.
The cars are supplied by local dealers who sell the cars at face value to the website, which is based out of Michigan.
The founders of the website say they make revenue by taking a chunk of the money that all the other bidders put in the pot.
