The Ultimate Yinzer Story: When you were sold Donnie Iris's car
A beloved Pittsburgh rocker just got the keys back to his Buick Park Avenue and it's a Yinzer story to rival all Yinzer stories.
Pittsburgh rocker and icon Donnie Iris said he can't even believe it.
What started as a car sale turned into a plea on social media and then a big reunion.
"Well, that's the thing, everyone is like, 'well, did you make money off of this?' I'm like, look, I don't need to make money off of this, I've got a story," said Tom Lawler.
Lawler said this was the first time he bought a car and the owner asked for it back. Pictures of the big ole Buick Park Avenue kept popping up on Facebook and Craigslist just asking to be bought so Lawler messaged the seller, Tim Heffner.
"It's got a new inspection sticker, it's got a fresh gas tank, he's good to go for another 120,000 miles or so," Lawler recalled.
So he asked if it was still available and met up with Heffner.
"He tells me no, it isn't, this is Donnie's car and he shows me the title," he said. "It has his real name on it - you know, Dominic Arachi. I asked him what's the deal. Donnie's getting older and I'm selling all his cars for him."
Lawler said he paid just under $3,000 for the 2004 Buick and then dropped another $1,000 or so into it for repairs.
"I had the rear suspension fixed, I had to put a new gas tank on it because the gas tank rattled away," he said. "Had to do some brake repair on it, I put a new stereo and speakers in it."
Fast forward months later and he was sitting at dinner with his wife when he saw a post on social media asking if anyone knew the whereabouts of the Buick Park Avenue. The post was on the OneBurgh and they said a friend of Donnie Iris reached out, hoping Pittsburghers could help him find his Buick.
"I messaged the page, they gave me Donnie's information and I sent him a picture of the car," Lawler said. "I heard you want your car back, if this was sold out from under you, I'd feel real bad that I'm driving your car and you want it back."
So KDKA reached out to "King Cool" himself and asked what it's like to get one of his favorite cars back.
"It's great," Donnie Iris said. "I'm driving it, it runs great, I'm happy as a lark."
Iris met up with Lawler, checked out the upgrades, and wrote a check to make him whole.
"I'm a believer in karma and the universe so I'm not looking to turn a buck on somebody else's misery," Iris said.
For Lawler, he may be from New Jersey, but now he's got the Yinzer story to rival all Yinzer stories. He also said he never considered keeping the car.
"I'd feel really bad if someone told me that I can't have a car I love," Lawler said. "Of course, this means I'm already on Facebook Marketplace looking for the next Buick Park Avenue."
As for the person who sold the car to Lawler, we've reached out to him for his account of what happened and we're waiting to hear back.
