Hey guys,

About a month ago I posted that I was in talks with a friend about buying his CL. We passed on his deal, however was able to secure a sweet deal on an 03 6 speed last weekend. The car is about 900 miles away from home, and now wifey and I are looking at 2 options:

1. I take a one way flight out to get it, then drive the 11 hour trip back or
2. Use a auto transport service to get it delivered.

I researched the auto transport option, and it is rather pricey without any time guarantees. A few referred companies quoted me between $1100-1500 for an enclosed transport, with a 2 week window to pick up, but couldnt guarantee when during that window, or if it would be picked up for certain in that window.

If we went with option 1, my airline miles I have built up thanks to work would get me to the car for free, and if I decided to break the drive home up in 2 days, I could stay at a hotel for free.
Thoughts?

 

drive it home. I drove from california to WV. so a 900 mile drive is very doable.

 

Thanks. Just curious - how many days did it take for you to make that drive back?

 

took 5 days doing 8-10 hours days and driving 75-80mph. But some ares had more traffic then others. Also a good way to bench mark the car. If it can survive a 900 mile trip. It is in good shape

 

I've driven that distance with my family from Canada to myrtle beach. Including border and food/gas stops and traffic we could have avoided it was 18hrs. We could have done it in 17.

 

A counter-point is if the car breaks down during this trip, your costs are going to significantly escalate. You'll need lodging, a place to fix the car, and possibly a rental if you end up having to leave the car there for repairs.

I have certainly gone out of town to get some of my vehicles, but it is something to consider if the condition of the car is unknown.

 

Thanks - that was the initial thought for the auto transport vote.

 

I say fly there and drive back I've done it twice once DC to CA 2.5 days and,the other San Antonio to CA 15-16 hrs straight. I didn't have a,lot of time so I rushed both trips but if you have time catch some sites. Didnt have any car trouble either time. I don't trust transport companies and besides that I wanted to see the vehicles up close and personal.

 

Thanks. I am heavily leaning towards doing just that. I have an extra day I can take off to extend the drive back, so might break it up into two short trips with an overnight at the half-way mark.

 

I'd vote for driving as well. I live in Texas (Houston at the time) and found a CB7 Accord in the exact combination I wanted in Seattle. I spent a couple hundred dollars at RockAuto buying every small part I could envision being or becoming an issue on a 2,300-mile trip back in an unknown commodity. I flew up there to look at the car with a deposit down, bought the car and then proceeded to have the road trip of a lifetime. For what it's worth, Utah is some of the prettiest country I've ever seen.

 

drive it back dude...You get to expereince your new ride in action.

It's fun driving the CL cross country..driving at 90mph plus at certain times feels so effortless.

I drove the CL many times from Houston to Chicago(19 hours) and never regret 1 time because had the option to take plane

 

Quick update - flying out tomm to pick up the ride, will follow up with how the trip went

 

Have fun it should be a blast

 

Just wanted to provide the update. The drive was great. I split it up over the course of two days, electing to drive 460ish miles each day. The only "issue" I noticed was my second day I saw the SRS light come on when I started my ride back home. I will read the tutorial on how to reset that this weekend. I will take pics and post after I get the car cleaned up, but glad I made the purchase. I actually had someone offer to buy the car from me while I was fueling up about an hour away from my house Friday. The man wanted to buy the car for his son who had just left for college, but his offer was way too low (offered 4 grand cash).

 

how much did you pay for it?

 

Glad you got home without problems and got a nice trip in as well.

 

Good to find out you had a great trip and everything worked out.

 

Yeah, that's great! Congratulations - looking forward to the pics!