My Dream Road Trip, how to make it happen?

"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
02/08/2018 at 13:35 • Filed to: None

Hey guys, I’ve long had a dream of buying a classic convertible car and driving on perhaps a weeklong roadtrip. I was thinking the coastal roads of California. Preferably with a lovely lady by my side. I think this is totally a bucket list item for me, it may happen in 2 years, it may happen in 10 years, but I feel a strong need to make it happen! How would you approach this?

Roadkill style: by a cheap-ish car, fix it, hope for the best. Unless I find a skilled mechanic to go along with me, I don’t think this is a realistic option.

Buy a car sight unseen, somewhere near a good starting point, have it directly sent to a mechanic for a thorough service and inspection. Arrive and drive! I imagine with some of the less sought after convertibles from that 60's/70's this would be financially feasible.

Rent. But then I wouldn’t have a car at the end of this, it’s not strictly necessary though and I’d be able to rent a well-sorted example, I hope, although not sure how many people would entrust me with their vintage automobile for 1k+ miles.

Buy in Michigan, take my time to get everything sorted, go from there. This would be safest, but also most boring. It takes some of the adventurous spirit out of this.

Give up, rent v6 Mustang

DISCUSSION (22)

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 13:52

The last option is the safest. Your lady may or may not be into a road trip with a car that could be perceived as troublesome, and the point of the trip is the journey and not necessarily the car used. Depends on the gal.

E90M3 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 13:59

I’ve always wanted to buy a car and road trip it home. So I convinced another opponaut to buy a car, and we’re going to fly up, pick the car up, and road trip it home. Stayed tuned this weekend for updates.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 14:01

Hey so i did this in 2015. Unfortunately I’m on the road for the rest of the day. The tl;dr is buy a car it’s awesome, budget for tires, bring tools.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/that-time-we-did-top-gear-part-1-1791947044

lone_liberal > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 14:03

An old car is an old car so no matter how you get one there is always going to be more of a risk of break down than with a newer car. The question then becomes whether your copilot would be ok with that or not. If she would be then, if it were me, I’d buy the best one I could locally and go through it and really get to know its ins and outs. Then, if you don’t want to add a leg to the dream trip, you could ship it out to a location on the coast.

Derpwagon > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 14:08

Make sure the car is sorted first. It’s still plenty of adventurous to drive from damn near the middle of the country to the coast. It’s dumb to do it in a car that isn’t a known quantity.

A few of the road trips I’ve done, all originating and terminating in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area:

1: California, by way of Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore, Cheyenne WY (day 1); Salt lake City (Day 2-3); Sacramento (Day 4); San Fran (day 5-8); Monterey/Carmel (day 9); Hearst Castle and Los Angeles (day 10-15); Solana Beach to Las Vegas (day 16-17); Vegas to North Platte NE (18), North Platte to home. Vehicle: 2005 Legacy GT wagon.

2: East, by way of Chicago, the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Lexington KY, Williamsburg VA, Atlanta, a week in Fort Walton Beach FL, Nashville to home. Vehicle: 2005 Legacy GT wagon

3. Vegas, by way of Denver (2 nights), Salt Lake City (1 night), Vegas (Supras in Vegas, 6 nights), Flagstaff after the Grand Canyon (1 night), then a rest stop outside of Des Moines for a few hours before the last blast home. That’s a story in and of itself, I should do a post on it. Vehicle: 1987 Supra Turbo

The most serious issue I’ve had in all those highway miles was about 3 quarts of oil consumed, and a quart of power steering fluid on the Supra. I knew the cars, trusted them, and was therefore able to enjoy a vast swath of America and focus more on the vacation than worrying if a car was going to fail. Hence, I strongly recommend you sort the car out first.

Awesome plan, though. If you’d like recommendations, let me know.

Azrek > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 14:34

You will need music!

facw > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 14:37

I like the idea, especially having a car at the end as memento.

That said, I don’t think you should try this with an iffy car. If you are going to buy a ‘60/’70s convertible, you probably need to buy one in good running order from a reputable used car seller (don’t skip the PPI even in that case, have them take it to an independent garage for you.) That means you are probably paying a lot more than you want, but I think that’s the way to do it if you want a classic. Unless your driving buddy is extremely tolerant of mechanical issues, you want to make sure you get something in good shape.

If you want to avoid that cost, you might do better to look at things that are old, but not classics. You can find cars from the early ‘00s that are in good condition, cheap, and in general significantly better the classics (though you may miss out on the looks). Plenty of options that are available, and while you’d still want to have them looked over, it seems much easier to find one in both good condition and cheap.

Failing that, yeah just rent the V6 Mustang, it will be cheap, safe, reliable, and probably pretty good compared to a classic (though watch that they don’t give you one with spent tires, no easier way to ruin fun driving).

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > facw
02/08/2018 at 15:35

Your 00's idea isn’t a bad one, I do enjoy Mercedes convertibles from that time and I’d be okay with a BMW too. Or failing all else, a Dakota convertible, haha. Any other thoughts on ‘00 cars?

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
02/08/2018 at 15:36

Very good points, I’ll definitely take them into consideration when the time comes. As they say I’m not currently going steady with anyone, so not sure who lucky lady is yet and what her tolerance for being stuck on the side of the road is.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > E90M3
02/08/2018 at 15:37

Sounds awesome, I’ll definitely stay tuned!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Azrek
02/08/2018 at 15:37

I’ll make sure to play this. Haha.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/08/2018 at 15:38

I’ll read this tomorrow, thanks! Or confirm whether I’ve already read it or not, haha.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Derpwagon
02/08/2018 at 15:39

Yeah, I think my first option is not a good idea, any of the other options could conceivably be workable. As facw suggested, perhaps an ‘00-ish car wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

facw > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 15:51

Not too many thoughts. I’d stay away from the Sebring, even though you could probably buy one with the change in your pocket.

In addition to the BMW and Mercedes offerings, there are other Europeans like the C70 and 9-3, or the Mini, if you wanted something smaller. Obviously the TT, but I think those haven’t dropped in price as much. I don’t think I could handle a new Beetle (and probably not a great choice for reliability). From Japan, there would be things like the Miata, MR2, and Eclipse, maybe even a Celica, though those are getting pretty old at this point. Solara is probably too boring. For domestic brands, I don’t think there’s too much interesting, obviously the Mustang or the Camaro/Firebird if those fit your tastes.

No idea how the reliability is on most of those, but there should be decent options. Regardless, I feel like there’s a pretty good range of cars in the 10-20 year old range where the car is heavily depreciated, but you can still find them in good condition, with decent mileage without paying a premium for a collector car.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > facw
02/08/2018 at 16:14

Your list confirmed that I’m likely most interested in BMW or Mercedes for this particular purpose. I think I’d want something with a V8 or a spirited, well-handling straight six.

The Eclipse, Solara, Beetle are definite “meh’s” to me. You could talk me into an old Beetle though, haha.

Parssh is probably too expensive?

With Mustangs I’m HIGHLY selective, there’s only a few I like from the 80's all the way through the early 00's. An ASC Capri would be cool for example.

Firebird-nah.

Maybe a Jag with the straight six isn’t the worst idea? I know the V12 can be rather finicky, I know, I looked into getting one. Although I suppose a very well sorted example could still be in-budget.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 16:52

I’d buy remotely and drive home simply so you’d be buying in a non-salt environment. If I had to buy another NA/NB Miata, I’d probably buy a California/Arizona/etc car and drive it all the back to Canada.

Given enough time, you could fly to California, maybe spend 3-4 days checking out Craigslist finds that you found before you left, then buy the best one.

nermal > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 17:21

The first thing you need to do is acquire money. You then use the money to get the girl, and then the car, and then take the trip. The more money you have, the easier everything will be.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/08/2018 at 21:54

Oh hey! I’m in front of a computer now! So yeah, depending on how deep you want to go and what your budget is, buying a car is nerve-wracking, distressing, and extremely rewarding.

Pros: Every mile is an adventure; You’re in YOUR car; you get to pick exactly what you’re driving; truly rewarding; not as risky as you’d think, most cars really want to keep going;

Cons: Risky, obviously; If your lady friend isn’t into it she won’t find your breakdowns (if you have any) the least bit amusing*; At the end of it you have a car that you have to deal with; this style road trip is addicting (I’ve done 2 now and we’re working on a 3rd)

*If your lady friend is into it, consider buying a car for each of you! Double the money, half the risk, double the fun. Having now done three road trips this way (only two of which we bought cars for, mind you) it is amazing. Basically it gives you “alone” time between stops and makes you less likely to want to murder each other. You can use radios to keep in touch but have a “radio malfunction” if you just want to be by yourself. Also if one of the cars fails catastrophically, you have it towed to a scrap yard and mosey down the road in the other car!

Assuming you buy in CA, legal stuff is a little complicated, but not much. If you buy from a dealer, you’re fine. They’ll give you temp tags and you’re golden. If you buy from a person, you technically have 30 days to get the car registered, but we generally looked for cars that had current reg so we didn’t get pulled over every 10 feet. The tricky part is a lot of the really cool, cheap cars are registered as “non-op” because they can’t pass smog. Good for making deals, bad for reg. If you find something you can’t live without that falls in the latter category, I’d double check but I think you can just like... take the plates off and run without. Maybe.

If you do decide to rent, please do not rent a Mustang or Camero. Seriously. When we were driving Big Sur is was lousy with them. I am not exaggerating when I say we saw at least 50 of them in a few hours. They were all driving slow, hanging selfie sticks out the window, and generally ruining everything for everyone. I cannot stress enough how much this has made me hate these cars. Go with a service like Sixt and you can do a one way rental of a 4-series convertible for not that much money. If you’re doing round trip you can use Turo or equ too.

If you want to see how the buying process is done, while we didn’t record that part for the first road trip, we did for the second. You can find it on oppo here .

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/09/2018 at 09:34

Appreciate all the knowledge! Would it perhaps be easier to buy in a state next to CA with easier regulations? Like NV or AZ.

I trolled autotrader for some cars today, ~2000 SL500's aren’t terribly priced. Nor are V12 SL600's from the 90's, but I hear those are a nightmare if the wiring hasn’t been replaced and oil changes are real pricey.

I like the idea of the 4 series if I decide to rent/drive something new, especially if the place is already littered with Camaro’s and Mustangs.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/09/2018 at 10:33

It is possible that starting in not-CA could make things easier legally, but I think you’d still run into the same problem (need for temp tags or current reg). As I’ve said, we’ve done this twice, so six cars and about 4,000 miles traveled and never ran into a problem*. We’ve done three cars from dealers and three cars private party.

[Ok yes, I did get pulled over and ticked in Utah for having the old plates on the car. The dealer I bought the Rover from forgot to put temp tags on the car (though my documentation was correct) and I spaced on it. I’m calling this one my bad.]

The benefit of starting in CA is population. Especially LA you’re going to have your pick of cars. In our opinion that far outweighed any possible reg problems. Below if my spreadsheet of potentials from the first trip. (Notice which car is #1 haha!)

Another option that we never tried is getting a Trip Permit from the CA DMV. The info on them online is super spotty and I’ve called the DMV three times about it and got different answers each time. Also it would mean going to the CA DMV so.....

Kinja'd!!!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/09/2018 at 13:39

Good point. Especially if I’m buying from a dealer I imagine I should be fine.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
02/09/2018 at 14:26

Legally you’re fine either way. You do have a 30 day grace period on most car purchases. (Unsure about non-op cars.) It is just if you want to take the risk of getting pulled over and have to explain the situation. Minor risk and unlikely to happen, but still a risk.

“Hello officer! Yes, I just bought the car and am on my way to [home jurisdiction] to get it registered there. Yeah, I know I’m going the wrong way :forced laugh: I am driving up to visit family in [destination city] before heading home. I’ve got my bill of sale and proof of insurance if you’d like to take a look!” Should work fine just fine.