California road trip/adventure: Car suggestions and advice needed

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4278338582.html

"$$ because the top doesn't go down".

I bet the top goes down once.

Teh E36 M3 wrote: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4282622714.html Boom.

Because it is the "rare" 4 door M3!

In reply to amg_rx7:

May take you up on that. Makes no difference where we start, and the coast route going South has been recommended.

Slippery wrote: I remember being able to rent a car when I was under 21. I am not sure if it was Budget or not, but there is a rental car co. that will rent for an extra fee.

The exotic car rentals specifically will not rent to someone under 25...

I wouldn't risk having an accident with her behind the wheel. I trust her but not other drivers.

How about shipping your FRS and flying to meet it? Should be about $600 each way. Keeps miles off it, posses no problem for her to drive, let's you enjoy your car, shouldn't cost to much more than renting anything nearly as fun as an FRS.

Honestly, I know your daughter would want to drive but man it just sounds like a ROYAL PITA and a heck of a lot of stress to deal with on a vacation.

You can rent a lot of cool cars at SFO ranging from Porsche to name you flavor of mustang (base V6 to GT to Penske Hertz GT #136) To corvette. All kinds of fun toys and Highway 1 is a blast from SFO to LAX.

You should get a car you want to keep. You can relive your awesome journey in the same ride when your more grey and have grandkids.

In reply to midniteson:

I'm thinking a nice E30 325is Convertible. I'd even get an automatic so that it could be a spare car for anyone who is visiting to use.

I need to research E30 automatics. I'm a manual trans guy and would normally avoid a slushbox like the plague...

BoxheadTim wrote:

JohnRW1621 wrote: ack. Edit: may be easier to sell in Vegas and avoid the whole CA emissions thing.

Vegas has emissions, to. Not sure how they compare to CA though as I live in the "emissions free" part of NV - only the Reno and Vegas areas require emissions testing.

Emissions in the "testing" areas of Reno-Vegas are pretty simple...if the gas cap holds pressure, and tailpipe passes the sniffer, and on "new" cars (relatively speaking-OBD2) no codes, you pass......

Compared to the dyno testing CA does, its a walk in the park

The problem I see with the fly in drive sell idea (BTW I love that, and have done it between SoCal and Nevada) is waiting on the damn DMV. Waiting for title to be processed can be a month long procedure-and good luck selling a car with no title.....

In reply to vdubinsd:

Then all the more reason to drive it home!

Rent from someone on this board for a reasonable sum. Most of us are willing to trust each other within reason. If I lived in california I would consider doing that.

I am going to say this and move on. Volkswagen Cabriolet

Great little car in the sun and your daughter can take it home and use it in Florida or sell it.

I've spent a lot of time in the San Diego area on business. One time, I lucked out and got a bright orange Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder as a rental car. I had a day to kill and just drove up the coast with the top down. It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done, even though the 4-cylinder automatic car was a total dog. I still fondly look back on that trip.

So my contribution to this discussion is to get something that's convertible!

Rent. I would think and 18 y.o. could drive with a parent in the car.

In reply to bgkast:

I have called Hertz and even though I'm renting the car, any additional driver has to be 25 for the high end cars and 20 for any of their other vehicles, so renting is out. Is not really a road trip, if she doesn't get the chance to drive those roads.