That was a lot of driving.

This has bitten me a few times so I've become very particular about pics and info  before I make the drive, and will usually turn the trip into a day or weekend away with Mrs. P.

So worst case, at least we had a nice day or two away.

bobzilla said:

thats the problem for us midwesterners. We have to drive 1000 miles one way to try and find rust free

 

So true.....

I remember going to look at a Civic Wagovan. The ad had no mention of rust and when I first saw it seemed nice. Turned out to be good looking from afar but far from good looking. Rust everywhere. It was too rough to fix up and too rare to make into a winter beater.

Gotta love the "you drove all this way, are you really going to go home with an empty trailer?" attitude.

Just watch...

As someone who routinely goes 500-2500 miles one way for cars and/or parts, I have a couple of things that I keep in mind that usually make the trips more enjoyable.

1)  Always talk on the phone to the seller before committing to the trip (Unless you are already in the middle of the trip when you find it- see also #2)

2)  The trip IS the destination.

Around 1978, I had my heart set on a 1964 Volvo P1800.  Found one in a newspaper (!) and called the number.  "New paint, new suspension, new brakes, and great interior. No rust."  The car was in LA, so it was very possible that all of those things were true.  I got on an airplane and flew the 800 miles to the other end of the state, cash in my pocket. 

When I got there, the car looked amazing.  Body was straight.  Paint was shiny.  Interior looked like new.  Opened up the trunk and lifted the carpet... There was at least a quart of bondo squeezing through the lace at the bottom of both rear quarters.  God knows what else was hidden under that shiny paint.

The guy was pissed that I wasted his time when I walked away.

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

I drove about 300 miles one way to buy a car that ended up having torch heated and pulled back structure in the whole engine bay from a nasty front collision.  Said no thank you and turned back home.  I should have known not to buy the dump truck from the guy's dad the next year. 

Aww...

I thought you were going to tell the chevelle story. 

My longest drive for pointless was 4 hours each way. 

I've only  done it once. A forum member responded when I mentioned I was looking for a replacement Astro and offered up her van. I asked for pictures and got an email with well over 100 pictures of every square inch of the underside of the van, so off we went to North Carolina from Michigan. My son asks me if we might be wasting a trip and was I sure I was bringing it home. My response was "If it starts it's coming home", and that was what happened. We ran it for another 150K miles before I traded it for my new truck. The whole trip and purchase was great.

Learning when to walk away was one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned. Especially with desperate sellers who can make it hard. 

Too many times I've watched myself handing over money and wondered why in the world I'm not stopping myself.