Budgeting for a fly and drive?

I've always wanted to do a fly and drive, and now that a suitable car has come up for sale on this forum, I want to try it out. I'm young, have some work vacation days, and want the adventure. I've got a few questions first on how this will go, what are potential snags, unaccounted for costs, etc.

I'm flying down to Tampa from NJ. I'll be driving back up to Delaware. Trip will be ~1000 miles and 15 hours.

The costs I have calculated so far: $114 for the flight ~$150 in gas ~$50 extra in tolls and food/drinks

15 hours doesn't sound so bad, but after being on a plane for 3 hours and buying the car, I won't have enough hours in the day to make it in 1 day. So for the experienced, what do you guys do to prep for the trip, what tools can you bring along, and should I stop or power through the drive? Is it legal to sleep/nap at a rest stop? I can't get temp tags in NJ, I'm not a DE resident so I can't get them in DE, should I bother with the FL DMV or just ask to use the seller's plates at that point?

Sorry for the wall of text, not sure how else to format it as I just have a bunch of questions.

I've slept at rest stops many times. That's all I've got for ya. Good luck!

For tools, it'll likely be cheaper to just pick up a cheap set from harbor freight than it will to pay a baggage fee. And possibly more convenient.

Don't forget to budget for a flight home if the car sucks

mr2peak wrote: Don't forget to budget for a flight home if the car sucks

Well, that better not happen. I'll be asking for more and more photos over time to see if it's worth it. Right now the main issue is a missing title, which is fine since I can't really fly out in April to get it. The paperwork delay will work in my favor!

There's no way in hell I'd ever sleep in a rest area. Even if it wasn't risky, I'd never be able to get to sleep: too paranoid.

Any cheap hotel is safer than overnighting in a vehicle in a rest area.

You can call me paranoid but it won't ever change my mind.

And yeah, look to buy a tool bag and some tools local to the vehicle. I'll always say AAA, a cell phone charger and Fix-A-Flat.

Download a few apps like hotels.com or jetsetter, and start to find a motel about an hour before you're too tired to keep driving. I'd much rather do that than sleep in a rest area. Definitely figure out what you need to do to legally drive the car back - that very well may be driving it home with no plates and complete paperwork. I second the HF/Wal-mart cheap toolkit. You won't need it - unless you don't buy it. Then something is guaranteed to break.

mr2peak wrote: Don't forget to budget for a flight home if the car sucks

This x 1000.

Budget for a hotel for one night, sleeping in a car is never a good nights sleep.

Last time I did a fly and drive I wanted to make it home in two days but ended up with a 4 hour flight delay and that started me off slow.

Have triple A for road repairs don't count on your own ingenuity to fix things. It is better to drive with no plates than the wrong plates. Make sure to have a proper insurance card, bill of sale, and title in your possession.

Lastly don't forget a car charger for your phone or external battery pack.

I'm an overaly positive person when it comes to this type of experience. Had a friend a few weeks ago ask if it was a bad idea to do a fly and drive on a 1967 Volvo. I said "the worst that could happen is that it catches fire and burns to the ground on the side of the road." After thinking a little more I changed my opinion to, "that is probably one of the best scenarios. In no way would you ever be able to replicate a story like that for the rest of your life and I bet insurance will cover the loss. Really, I can't think of a bad scenario." He told me I have lost my mind but that happened years ago and involved a fiero.

I like the idea of the hotels.com app in case I get tired. Are last minute hotel reservations super expensive, or the opposite as the hotel just wants to rent out the room? I'm thinking if it winds down to me getting a hotel, I may go out of my way and do the Dragon. It adds 300 miles to the trip and will make each day a 10hr drive, which is doable.

Noted on getting the tools locally. I have AAA, and was planning on buying plenty of car fluids for the trip. I'll definitely pick up a basic kit from HF and buy food at WalMart too.

Hey, if they car turns out to be a POS, I'll have a nice day trip in Tampa and be able to fly home for another $100

Andy Neuman wrote: Budget for a hotel for one night, sleeping in a car is never a good nights sleep. Last time I did a fly and drive I wanted to make it home in two days but ended up with a 4 hour flight delay and that started me off slow. Have triple A for road repairs don't count on your own ingenuity to fix things. It is better to drive with no plates than the wrong plates. Make sure to have a proper insurance card, bill of sale, and title in your possession. Lastly don't forget a car charger for your phone or external battery pack. I'm an overaly positive person when it comes to this type of experience. Had a friend a few weeks ago ask if it was a bad idea to do a fly and drive on a 1967 Volvo. I said "the worst that could happen is that it catches fire and burns to the ground on the side of the road." After thinking a little more I changed my opinion to, "that is probably one of the best scenarios. In no way would you ever be able to replicate a story like that for the rest of your life and I bet insurance will cover the loss. Really, I can't think of a bad scenario." He told me I have lost my mind but that happened years ago and involved a fiero.

All good advice. I think I'm overly positive on all the cars I've bought too. This will be an E36 and I've had 2 others. My last one was only 5 hours away with a clutch on its last legs, half the gauge cluster out, and the seat stuck in full recline. I throw my phone in the cupholder for a ghetto speaker and a sweatshirt behind me and cruised all the way home.

I plan on doing this trip in May with no A/C on this car. Otherwise I'll have to make sure a few other creature comforts are there on the car so I can comfortably make it home.

In reply to MINIzguy:

Last minute hotel deals are just as good as regular hotel deals unless you wanted to stop in some obscure town that has an event going on that night. I once paid over $200 to stay in a best western in the middle of Colorado because there was an event in town, but that was before smartphones.

the florida dmw will give you a temp tag for $10 if you have insurance on the car.

You need to budget more time into your vacation days off. Why? If something goes wrong, you will have some breathing room. If nothing goes wrong, you'll have an entire (paid) day off to recover from driving forever.

Also wouldn't recommend driving the dragon, unless you're comfortable walking away from the vehicle purchase. It's a road that's hard on a car, no need to destroy it before getting home.

echoechoecho wrote: the florida dmw will give you a temp tag for $10 if you have insurance on the car.

But then he would have to go to the DMV. Bill of Sale and signed over title will do.

Personally:

Prep for the trip: Make sure the car is insured and you actually want to buy it!
Tools: None, hit a Harbor Freight after the vehicle is purchased.
Stop or power through the drive: Depends entirely on you, if I could sleep on the plane I wouldn't hesitate to do 15 hours in one go.
Sleep: You can take a nap at a rest stop, that's what all of the big rigs are doing (or pretending to)
Tags: Use the seller's plates if possible.

Other: Check parts availability for the car on local PepVanceZoneReilly's sites so you have a general idea of what you can/can't fix immediately after purchase. Pick up some extra oil and any other fluid you suspect the thing might be leaking/burning before taking off.

A lot of it depends on how old you are. At 25 sleeping in rest areas for four hours was plenty to recharge me for another day and I was comfortable doing it. At 40 I'm not quite as limber or alert.
Tools is broad and depends on the car. Absolutely a cell phone and a AAA card. If the car is new enough to use OBDII then a code reader that works with your phone is invaluable. If anything actually breaks you fall into two camps:
The fix is simple, I can roll into a parts store and grab the part and a cheap wrench or two and fix it. Or....It's berked and no amount of tools is getting me back on the road. At this point you're looking for a U-Haul and a trailer.
Doing mad dashes across the country is fun, having an extra day to mosey and drive during the day and stop and see things is more fun.

mazdeuce wrote: If anything actually breaks you fall into two camps: The fix is simple, I can roll into a parts store and grab the part and a cheap wrench or two and fix it. Or....It's berked and no amount of tools is getting me back on the road. At this point you're looking for a U-Haul and a trailer.

Or you "pull a Neuman" and flick a match at it as you walk away

Buy a tech manual for the car ahead of time. Try to think of things that could fail, things that will make it stop running: fuel pump, pump relay, ignition, fuses. Where are those things located on the car?

Depending on the age of the car, a code reader?  Digital volt meter, to check charging system.

If you stop to pick up cheap tools, consider a jump battery. If the charging system quits you can run on the car battery for a while, then you will need the jump battery. Or if the car battery is just weak, the trip will be easier with a jump battery.

If it runs badly but keeps running that might be OK. But things that will cause it to quit are what you want to focus on....

Might want to drive during day light, just in case anything goes wrong. It's cold, dark, wait what's that new noise....

Too much planning is going to ruin the adventure. This type of thing is best done on a wing and a prayer.

My only advise is to see if you can meet up with a forum member near your stop over point so you can make a new friend, drink some beer and have dinner and talk about cars.

Either under-prepare and go for it, dealing with what happens when it happens, or over-prepare and have a contingency plan for every event that you and this board can think of.

"Adventures" tend to fall under the first method. I have survived a few of these and while not what you would call "Fun" at the time, met some amazing Samaritans and am here to tell tales.

Minor tools
AAA Premium Plan (100 miles or more of towing)
Cell Phone
$500 available on a Credit Card.
Plan an extra day contingency plan.

If minor fix with your tools and or have the shop it was towed to do the repair.
If major problem, have it towed to shop to assess. If too major, rent a car and drive home. A one way rental will cost you about $80 per day. Leave the car at the shop then, have the car shipped home via Uship. If the car runs well enough to drive onto a trailer then $1 per mile will get it picked up quickly or 50 cents per mile will get it picked up the following week. Double the prices if can not be driven onto the trailer.

This forum is awesome. Got all the information I need!

Looks like I have a good contingency plan if all fails.

Prep: insurance will be had. I'll bring a charger, laptop with BMW software, and my phone. OBD1 car so no scanners

Trip: BoS, title and seller's plates (hopefully). I'll buy water, car fluids and tools at WalMart. It's a BMW so no chance any autoparts store will have spares. At least I have AAA

Route: Still not decided what route yet, but I have 1 month. Doing the Dragon will make one heck of an adventure, and I'm siding towards it.

Sleep: I'll probably stop at a motel. I'm 22, but I'm usually at my limit after 12 hours alone. I can easily do 18 hours with a friend, but I'm not banking on finding one willing to work with my schedule.

No more planning than that for now. I want to make it an adventure. If I steer left instead of right and go towards the Dragon, so be it. I'll make sure to take 1 extra day off for recovery, I was initially planning on doing it over a weekend but I'll take the vacation day.

I noticed you said 22 yrs old.

Check with the car rental companies. Many have policies where they will not rent to people under 25 and if they do, I bet there is a whole second rate structure.

Also check with Uhaul type truck rental companies if you are considering that as contingency for the same reason.

mr2peak wrote: Don't forget to budget for a UHAUL TRUCK AND TRAILER if it sucks.

Fixed. I brought basic handtools common to the platform, and flashlights. Seriously... flashlights and a phillips screw driver were the only thing I used on my 1800+ mile trip.