Nevada boy, age 13, trades his Xbox and does yard work to buy his single mom a car

A teenager in Nevada bought his single mother a car by trading his Xbox and earning the difference doing yard work.

William Rabillo, 13, surprised his mom, Krystal Preston, with a 1999 White Chevrolet Metro during what she has called ‘her low point,’ after getting inspiration from videos on the internet.

William told ABC 8 he found the car on Facebook, negotiated the deal and managed to keep it all a secret from Preston until it was time to pick it up and bring it home.

‘What 13-year-old buys their mom a car? I don’t know any,’ the single mother of three said, still in shock at the generosity of her oldest son. ‘I can’t even express it; there are no words that can express my gratitude and how proud I am.’

Preston, her children and their three dogs recently suffered an unspecified setback that left the family living in Fernley without any means of transportation, struggling to make ends meet. 

‘The last couple weeks have literally been hell filled with so many tears, anger, confusion and heart ache,’ Preston wrote in a Facebook post on March 23, announcing her son’s grand gesture.

‘I have no words right now that can express how I am feeling at this moment,’ she wrote. ‘I’m in complete shock.’

For William, at least one solution to ease his mother’s woes was right at his fingertips. 

‘I saw on YouTube where people get their mom a car and then surprise her with it,’ William said. ‘I wanted to do that.’

Preston, her children (left to right: William, Trista and Nathan) and their three dogs recently suffered an unspecified setback that left the family living in Fernley without any means of transportation, struggling to make ends meet

William (right) said he got the idea to buy Krystal Preston (left) a car from watching other kids do the same on YouTube. He said he found the car on Facebook, negotiated the deal and managed to keep it all a secret from his mom until it was time to pick it up and bring it home

The teen said when he first found a social media post advertising the vehicle he would later buy, the woman selling the car was hesitant to accept his offer.

‘It was really cheap so I asked her if I could trade it or earn it, and at first she said no,’ he said. ‘After she thought about it, then she said yes.’

Preston described how her son, who she called ‘a lawn mowing, yard cleaning, money making machine,’ revealed what he had been up to in the social media post.

‘My son had a job today that he had to go do and so I allowed him to go assuming it was like any other time,’ Preston wrote. 

‘Well this time was different. Very different. William came home and said, “Mom I bought you a car.”‘ 

Preston revealed what her soon had been up to in a social media post on March 23. Preston ended the post with a message direced to her son, writing, ‘William I love you son and thank you. You have such a big heart and I love you…’

William commented on the post, ‘I love you too mom [hearts emoji, hearts emoji]’

Preston described William (pictured) as ‘a lawn mowing, yard cleaning, money making machine’

Preston said she laughed at her son, telling him, ‘Ya right!’ but when he persisted, she followed him outside to find a woman waiting for the two of them to give them a ride. 

Preston said her son got in the car, so she did too, as she was still thinking the whole thing was a joke, until they pulled up to a house and her son said, ‘Mom, that’s your car.’ 

‘I completely lost it. I started balling my eyes out.. I am speechless my 13 year old son bought me a car,’ she wrote.

‘He did some work for this women and that was his payment that he worked out with her. And here I thought it was a joke… Nope I was handed the keys and paperwork to the car and I’m freaking out but so in shock. 

‘So we got into the car it started right up and off we went. I am so proud of my son. He is such a good kid. He may have his days but OMG what 13 year old kid do you know that buys his mom a car…’

Preston ended the post with a message directed to her son, writing, ‘William I love you son and thank you. You have such a big heart and I love you…’

William commented on the post, ‘I love you too mom [hearts emoji, hearts emoji]’ 

Preston shared that she had mixed feelings about the circumstances leading up to the gift, despite how grateful she was.

‘The fact that my kid did this, I’m proud but as a mom I’m supposed to be able to take care of my kids, I’m supposed to do this, not the other way around,’ she said. 

‘At my low point, here comes my son,’ Preston said.

‘Everybody goes through rough patches in their life, but there’s good that can come from any situation as long as somebody with a heart does it.’

Preston lives in Fernley, Nevada with William (second from right), his two siblings, Trista (left) and Nathan (right), and their three dogs. The family is pictured in front of the car William bought for his mom