A woman who posted a plea on Facebook to trade her horse for a car has ended up with a free Range Rover. Alicia Moss, 27, was devastated when her silver Volkswagen Golf broke down unexpectedly. She could not afford a new car so put a cheeky post on social media offering to trade in the one asset she did have - her mare called Pizza.
The post read: “Unlike Roger, Pizza starts every morning, doesn’t have an engine warning light, and has only ever left me stranded because she fancied grass.” It continued: “This is either the world’s worst sales advert or the start of a very questionable deal… either way, my inbox is open.”
Viral post catches stranger's attention
Her post went viral, reaching nearly one million accounts, and received over 170 comments with several offers. But one offer stood out: a kind stranger called Pete Wood was willing to gift her a grey 2008 Range Rover HSE TDV8 - for free.
Alicia, a dock worker, said yes gratefully and is now the proud owner. She says Pete had loved her post and didn’t want her to have to part with her homebred mare.
Grateful owner keeps her horse
She said: “I put the post up on a whim really. It was a bit of a laugh but also serious at the same time. I thought it could work as a good swap. I had nothing to lose at the time. Either way I needed some money or a car. On the post a guy commented saying he had a Range Rover that I could have free of charge so that I could keep my horse. I thought it couldn’t be real, but I messaged him. He didn’t want a swap, he wanted me to keep my horse and to see his car go to good use.”
The car, which the owner bought new 18 years ago, was an hour from Alicia and she went to pick it up a week later. It passed its MOT, and she says it is working perfectly. It has around 95,000 miles on the clock.
Happy ending for all
Alicia says getting a 4x4 was also ideal as she can now start towing a trailer for her horses. She added: “That was a really happy ending. It has worked out really nicely for me and him and my horse. When we went and picked it up he was the loveliest guy ever. I am so grateful for what he offered. He just said that he absolutely loved my post. He was so genuine. He will definitely be on my Christmas card list. It is really crazy. Things like that don’t really happen to anyone let alone me.”
Alicia has four horses and says she decided to try selling Pizza as she was the only one old enough to be of value. However, she had not wanted to part with the beloved mare, who was her first ever homebred horse. She is called Pizza as it was a running joke when the mum was pregnant that the ‘pizza was in the oven’ rather than a bun. Alicia says she is like an “overgrown Labrador” and is very sweet.
She added: “I have no money and the only other asset I had to sell was my horse, Pizza. I didn’t want to ship her off but needs must. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. But luckily thanks to this lovely guy I didn’t need to. I am so glad that she is safe. She is like my first child.”
Alicia says she intends to keep in touch with her heroic stranger and give him updates on the car, which hasn’t broken down yet. She said: “In a time where there is so much going on in the world there is always someone out there just trying to do a nice thing, and it goes a long way. He has done a lot for me without probably even realising what he has done.”
