Japanese cat owner sells his sports car, his most valued possession to pay for medical bills, and finds the best buyer in the world!
A heart-wrenching story of a cat, a car, and compassion.

The majority of people form strong attachments with both pets and cars but when they have to choose between both of them, guess what they do! A Japan auction user who is well known by the name Leiz opted for his pet cat called Silk when he had chosen between his car and pet. However, the poor cat was recently diagnosed with a potentially deadly gastrointestinal viral condition called ‘Feline infectious peritonitis’ which can be treated but incurs a costly medical treatment.

With the veterinary bills growing, Leiz decided to raise money by auctioning his Toyota Supra 1989 that he owned since 1993, to raise money for his cat’s medical expenses. No one keeps the same car for more than 28 years with them, unless they are fond of it. Leiz’s car, Toyota Supra is a left-hand-drive model that he brought back to Japan with him after studying abroad in the U.S., although domestic right-hand-drive versions were sold in Japan because he doesn’t just love Supras, he loves his Supra!

“I didn’t have any intention of selling the car,” explained Leiz on the car’s auction page, I have to do as my cat is diagnosed with ‘Feline infectious peritonitis’ and I need to raise money for meeting its medical expenses to save my pet cat. Soon a word started spreading on social media about the circumstances behind the sale of the car, and a few bids started coming in too. Then one day a person who lives in Osaka Prefecture, near Leiz’s house contacted him to ask if he could come to see the car, and he mentioned that as long as it was in good condition, he would like to purchase it right away for its listed “buy it now” price.

The interesting point here is that the car was sold for 2.7 million yen (US$26,090). This was the ‘buy-it-now price listed by Leiz which was a very high price for a Supra of that age with 168,914 kilometers (104,958 miles) on it, although the car has undergone various cosmetic and performance modifications.

This is because of the high sentimental value that Leiz had for his car. Also, this was a fairly high price when compared to a similar model currently for sale on Yahoo! Japan auctions have a buy-it-now price of 1.35 million yen, and it has received no bids with just two days left. However, after a quick visual inspection, a buyer who runs a construction company, agreed to pay the full price, because just like Leiz, he loves both cars and cats.

The buyer mentioned that “I have a cat of my own and it must be so hard for you right now.” Leiz offered to knock a bit off the price due to some cosmetic damage, but the buyer politely declined the discount, saying he plans to pay for various restoration costs out of his pocket. He is even going to build a garage for it on his office property to keep the paint nice and protected from various damaging elements.

If the buyer is planning to do all that, I am sure that the buyer must be planning to make the maximum use of the Supra, right? But, not really. He already has a range of other cars to drive, and ideally, he doesn’t even intend to keep Leiz’s car for very long. The buyer wishes to sell the Supra as soon as possible…but he’s hoping to sell it right back to Leiz without making a single yen of profit for himself.

“I will clean the car, and store it like a decoration,” the buyer told Leiz. “Once Silk-Chan’s treatments are done on the car, come buy it back from me for the same price you sold it to me.”

Remember we told you before that they both also live close to each other? The buyer told Leiz that “think of me as a friend who likes the same car that you do and when you miss it, come by to visit, and take it out for a spin.”

In simple words, this transaction is more like a loan than a sale between the buyer and Leiz. Think of it it’s even better than that because, in addition to the cost of the car, the buyer is planning to toss in an additional 100,000 yen to help pay for the cat’s medical expenses. This proves that it’s always nice to go that extra mile when one car lover is helping another car lover.