Buy And Cell

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

17 year-old Steven Ortiz is the envy of his friends at Charter Oak High School. The reason? He drives a Porsche Boxster S to school. And before you say it, it doesn’t belong to his parents. It’s legally his. Now I know what you’re thinking at this stage, “How does this punk drive a Porsche to school and I had to make do with a Ford Pinto?” Well, the answer lies with 3 things, an old mobile phone, a little time and Craigslist.

Steven Ortiz used an old mobile phone and bartered his way to a 2000 Porsche Boxster, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. And because he’s now famous for this, people think he can provide this service at random. “I get so many people who say, ‘Can you trade my phone for a car?’ I just say ‘Yeah. It’s not that easy,'” said Steve Ortiz. The barter went like this:

Mr Ortiz got given an old mobile phone from a friend of his. Using Craigslist, he traded it for a better phone, which then got traded for an iPod touch. That, then, got traded for a few dirt bikes, then a MacBook Pro and then, a 1987 Toyota 4Runner. By this time he was only 15 and couldn’t really use it, so that got swapped for a souped-up, off-road golf cart, then another dirt bike, a streetbike, then another series of cars, then a 1975 Ford Bronco. This was the key trade, because older Broncos are considered to be a collector’s item. Mr Ortiz’s Bronco was worth an estimated $15,000. Whilst he had the Bronco, Ortiz was offered a locksmith business, which he turned down. Then came the offer of a Porsche Boxster for his Bronco. What was interesting was that the Porsche was only worth $9000, so it was actually a trade-down, rather than a trade-up.

It’s important, at this stage, to clarify that Steven Ortiz considers himself not to be a crook. “People just make trades,” Ortiz said, “I am not lying to anyone.” So before you all start swearing and screaming what a jammy sod he was, deep down you’re all thinking the same thing. “Wish I’d thought of that…”.

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

More by Cammy Corrigan

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 30 comments
  • Cdrmike Cdrmike on Jul 21, 2010

    Good on the lad for his 15 mins of fame and ingenuity. However, "he spent around six hours a day on his iPhone, trawling Craigslist's barter section, seeking deals that would somehow make his asset base seem more impressive." Multiply by two years and that's not much of an hourly return on time invested.

  • Ian Anderson Ian Anderson on Jul 21, 2010

    Bloody awesome, why didn't I think of that a few years ago. Now trade the Porsche in at an unsuspecting car dealer before something expensive happens and get the aforementioned BMW or Accord or whatever!

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
Next