Got screwed by the movers and they wanted another $1800 cash to move the car on there schedule. Does not work for any
of us. Decided to get a bus ticket to Mankato,MN and catch a ride to New Ulm and drive my car home to Washington. Going
to be one of the longest weeks of my life. Bus route takes me 1583 miles, while my driving route around the Sturgis Bike Week
on 212. Is only 1312 miles. Will see how tired I am from that bus ride to see how far I get the first day. Arrive in Mankato at 12:40pm
Tuesday. Leave Spokane at 5:45am Monday.

That’s a loooong way to go!
Drive safe, and don’t drive tired.

Cheers,
Slug

Watch out for the cops...

LOL, Love that movie. Wife and me watch it regular.

You ain't doing all that in one week. And not for much less than $1800. You're talking around 3000 miles total, 1500 via a BUS???

You're going to get hammered. On the other side of the coin it WILL be an adventure, for sure...

I'd have paid the $1800, and I'm a pretty adventurous and hardcore motorcycle rider...

We have no real concept of distances here in UK. Good grief, that trip is 5 times the length of Land's End to John O'Groats (the extreme tips of Britain). On our roads that total would take many weeks!

Jim just find a semi to follow to go past Sturgis.

BD-123, it would take me 4 days if pushing, 5 days normal, 6 days if not pushing, to get to Vancouver. Back in the day some relatives came over from Scotland and wanted to take a day trip to visit some other relatives in Toronto. That is a 500mile round trip and at least 6 hours of driving each way back then. Their jaws dropped when it was explained to them it was not going to happen. Yup no concept of distance.

I've always been fascinated and humored by the totally different perception of distance between Europeans and North Americans and this thread has been an awesome example of that!


Heck, I'm not even in the furthest southern part of Florida but it would still take me about a 5.5 hour drive to get to the border with Georgia!

It is about the same as the round trip from London to Venice/Cavallino. Did that on a coach once (with bikes in a trailer behind). Was okay, if a little uncomfortable. 14 hours each way, 28 hours total driving time. including short stops, but no overnighting.

It would make more sense to fly to the location of the car (if feasible), then drive, or to pay someone to transport or drive it to you. Or just buy a different car and sell the old one. Unless you *really* want to do it for the experience.

I used to cycle a lot, and more than 8 hour days are pushing it for concentration. That would give me around 100 miles per day comfortably. That would make the round trip about a month. Obviously a car can cover more ground in an hour, but you are still looking at a few weeks or a long-ish week and a half. IMO

You can't get a cheap flight instead of bus???

If not, bring some books...

Nah. A smartphone and a tablet are all he needs. Get with the 21st century man!

If it is a car it should cost you around $1200 dealing directly with a car carrier and probably around $1400 using a broker, add $100 if it is a mid-sized SUV.

Bought a car at a distance once and assumed I’d go out to pick it up, but it worked out to be a couple hundred cheaper to have a transporter pick it up. It wasn’t one of those full sized, two tier commercial trucks but a guy with a truck and a flatbed for two cars. It was his line of work, so he knew what he was doing and was insured. I told him what I needed and after a couple of days he worked me into some other jobs he lined up. I can’t remember the website I found him on, but it was far cheaper than the usual people. This wasn’t how you’d ship a show car or anything like that, it wasn’t covered, but no worse than driving. Someone does have to be there to release the car to the transporter for you at pick up.
However, other than the bus ride, I think I’d prefer the road trip if cost works out the same.

I was going to ask this. How many stops at a gas station will you need? You're probably looking at a few hundred dollars in gas. Then add in the extra miles to your car (probably not much of a deal), wear on the tires and whatnot. And I assume you'll have to stop at some cheap hotels and eat on the road, which will factor in another few hundred if it takes 4 or so days. Then factor in you're pretty much giving up a week for it.

$1800 isn't cheap, but almost seems worth it in this case.

Jim, I worry that you may wind up getting in deeper than you think. All it would take is a breakdown and you will be worse off than having it transported. Figure gas, motels, food, etc and the cost adds up. Plus your time.

You really can’t afford a breakdown. Added to the other costs and you will have far exceeded transport cost.

Now, if you are thinking of it as an adventure, that is a completely different thing.

Agree with OG. The potential for a very expensive issue cropping up is statistically high on a trip of that length. Also remember that no matter how good a driver you are, there are many others on that road that are not.

I will be fine. Bus has WiFi and the car is in great shape. Its all the in between crap that will be the toughest. Won`t get much sleep on the bus ride. So that means
my first night heading back will make up for it.

Will keep you informed along the way.

It is more like a big adventure to me anyways, so I might as well let it happen.

What car is it? Still have the Jag?

I’ve driven from here in Oslo to the North Cape, and then on to Kirkenes in the very north east of Norway, right on the border to Russia. 2380 km, or 1480 miles. We did it over several days. As an adventure it was fantastic, as a way to get your car home, I’d seriously consider getting it transported anyway. 1800 miles of gas, hotels and the lot is going to cost you. Getting worn out from driving and suffering from get-home-itis will make everything worse. Now, as an adventure with scenic stops along the way, that’s a different matter!

Its my 2002 Lexus LS430. Sold the Jag before the move.

Mark my words, it WILL be an adventure. Double your time budget and triple your money budget.

My first 4000+ mile road trip was with a brand new vehicle and I still ended up in shops...