What am I missing?

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 22:13:19 +0200, "gixer" > wrote:

>I can't believe you guys,
>
>Its a long way sure but if you take your time, book some extra days and
>break the trip up, call it a holiday and drive it mate.
>
>We have done, Uk to Greece, and back twice now, each time taking different
>routes through Europe, or the old Eastern block, every time has been
>fantastic.
>If you break down, you get it fixed, you take a can of Foam tyre repair in
>case you get a puncture.(we took out the spare to free up more room)
>
>We took a tent and camped most nights to save money, but had to buy a boot
>rack for the extra kit that goes with camping.
>I'm sure if you look at the map you can find some nice twisty lines
>somewhere that break the freeway monotony.
>I've got a custom made system with just 1 silencer, and no Cat, we had the
>top down all the time except for one rainy day in France, (the shelf between
>the wind blocker and the boot was a fantastic extra storage spot) and we
>never noticed the exhaust noise in the slightest except through the Mont
>Blanc tunnel, and that was only because we turned down the stereo
>
>I bought a MX-5 so I could experience driving, rather than a tool that gets
>me from A to B, and to me this sounds like a experience and a half,
>I don't think it's fair to compare a trip like that in an open top sports
>car, to a SUV.
>
>Go for it mate, even if you don't fancy it id be tempted to fly over and
>drive it for you
>
>
>
>BTW how many miles is that?

P.S. Athens to London is about half as long as California to Florida.

Randy,

I'm close to your age and have taken extended trips in the Miata with my
wife and all her "stuff" but always with the idea of not being in a
hurry and avoiding the interstates as much as humanly possible. The
drive down the east coast using coastal highways is a pure joy. Having
said that, if I had to drive across country and was time limited, the
Miata is not the car I would pick. $600.00 is dirt cheap for shipping.
I looked into having a 92 Sunburst shipped from Arizona to Va. a year
or so ago and the best price I found was about $1100.00 on a car
carrier. Just make sure they are not going to hook it up behind the
trailer and tow it - I've seen moving vans with cars in tow versus on a
car carrier or trailer. If you do decide to do the drive, earplugs are
a Miata owners best friend on extended drives. They will deaden the
drone but not shut out other important information. Enjoy Florida when
you get there but be careful about driving your Miata on the beaches -
nothing like a little soft spot in the sand to strand a low slung car
while the tide comes in.

Tom
92 Red (gone but not forgotten)
05 Vette (red, but of course)

Randy Maheux wrote:
> In 5 weeks I will be moving from San Diego to the Daytona Beach area. My
> problem is getting my Miata back east. I could drive it in 4 - 12 hour days
> or pay Mayflower to haul it with my furniture. Nine years ago I was a
> zombie after driving a Ford Ranger from Tampa to San Diego in 4 days. Now,
> at age 60, I am really tempted to let the movers do it. Using Mayflower
> adds $600 to the cost but the thought of 45 hours in a car that I can't take
> a nap in seems daunting. I might even come to hate my dual exhaust by the
> time I got there!
>
> My thinking seems stuck on weighing the cost against the discomfort.
> Perhaps, someone in the group can give me other factors to consider or
> things to look out for if I decide to ship the car. I could really use some
> group wisdom on this....
>
>
>

"Randy Maheux" > wrote in message
news:Wt%Sd.137540$6u.74566@fed1read02...
> In 5 weeks I will be moving from San Diego to the Daytona Beach area. My
> problem is getting my Miata back east. I could drive it in 4 - 12 hour
days
> or pay Mayflower to haul it with my furniture. Nine years ago I was a

Side note: Don't use Mayflower if you can avoid them. Recently had a bad
experience--sloppy from start to finish, forgot to bring packing materials,
didn't protect carpet, driver argued to death about a damaged item that was
marked good at loading, plus their insurance sucks and they don't explain it
before you pay for it. They are being sued on RICO grounds as well.

Terrible customer service overall.

Next time...someone else...

-John

wrote:

> Take the Hoover Dam tour. Narly curvy roads round lake mead.
> On to the Grand Canyon - a religious experience...
> Momunemt Valley, The Painted Desert, See the Pueblo...
> Choose El Paso and a quick run to San Antonio...
> Hurricane at Pat O'Briens, dinner at Commander's Palace ...
>
> It's a beautiful country...

Yes it is! Thanks for a great post!

Hi Natman,

When I left school a group of us decided to ride from New York to San
Francisco on push bikes, if memory serves it took us about 8 months off and
on, as we had to stop occasionally to earn some money to complete the rest
of the trip, we got into major problems with immigration and to be
completely truthful we did not ride all the way, as we occasionally hitched
or jumped on trains, but most of us managed to do around 80% of the riding.
We camped probably 95% of the time, the only real problems that really come
to mind was carrying all that bloody water around, and spending 10 days at
San Francisco airport getting lectures from immigration.

I trust your judgement that the straight route from Athens to UK would be
around half that from California to Florida,
But firstly, we have never done the straight route, we have done the trip
via Bucharest and Gdansk, another time we took the ferry from Plymouth to
Bilbao and drove down to Madrid, took in the GP at Valencia and drove back
via the coast.
And secondly apart from the first trip which was from the UK where I bought
my car to Greece where I now live, we have always had to go back to Greece
again which doubles the distance.

Everyone has different circumstances, goals and opinions, and I can
understand why someone would save their own time by shipping the car, but if
it was me I would want to drive it.
I think it would be an extremely memorable adventure, and what is life if
its not an Adventure?

Cheers Mark.


"Natman" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 22:13:19 +0200, "gixer" > wrote:
>
>>I can't believe you guys,
>>
>>Its a long way sure but if you take your time, book some extra days and
>>break the trip up, call it a holiday and drive it mate.
>>
>>We have done, Uk to Greece, and back twice now, each time taking different
>>routes through Europe, or the old Eastern block, every time has been
>>fantastic.
>>If you break down, you get it fixed, you take a can of Foam tyre repair in
>>case you get a puncture.(we took out the spare to free up more room)
>>
>>We took a tent and camped most nights to save money, but had to buy a boot
>>rack for the extra kit that goes with camping.
>>I'm sure if you look at the map you can find some nice twisty lines
>>somewhere that break the freeway monotony.
>>I've got a custom made system with just 1 silencer, and no Cat, we had the
>>top down all the time except for one rainy day in France, (the shelf
>>between
>>the wind blocker and the boot was a fantastic extra storage spot) and we
>>never noticed the exhaust noise in the slightest except through the Mont
>>Blanc tunnel, and that was only because we turned down the stereo
>>
>>I bought a MX-5 so I could experience driving, rather than a tool that
>>gets
>>me from A to B, and to me this sounds like a experience and a half,
>>I don't think it's fair to compare a trip like that in an open top sports
>>car, to a SUV.
>>
>>Go for it mate, even if you don't fancy it id be tempted to fly over and
>>drive it for you
>>
>>
>>
>>BTW how many miles is that?
>>
> I'm going to guess that you have never driven across the US. It's
> quite different from driving from the UK to Greece! (Which is a trip
> I'd love to take in a Miata.)
>
> San Diego to Florida is almost 3,000 miles (4,800 Km). There are LONG
> stretches where there isn't a windy road within a 100-mile radius.
>
> There are certainly some points of interest along the way, such as the
> Grand Canyon and New Orleans, but if you start touristing, you'll turn
> a 3,000 mile 4 day trip into a 5,000 mile 2 week trip in short order.
>
> "I bought a MX-5 so I could experience driving, rather than a tool
> that gets me from A to B"
>
> Me too. Unfortunately, this is very much an A to B trip. It's about 48
> hours of continuous driving, split into four 12 hour days. Or eight 6
> hour days.
>
>

Thanks to your input, I am going to ship the car. I don't have the luxury
of taking the scenic route and 4 - 12 hour days is just too much!

The $600 is the extra it will cost to ship vs. drive ($1200 total just to
ship the car).

Does anyone know about insurance? What if the Moving van is wrecked or the
car damaged in transit? Will I need special coverage? What are the pros
and cons of using a auto transporter vs. the moving company?


"Randy Maheux" > wrote in message
news:Wt%Sd.137540$6u.74566@fed1read02...
> In 5 weeks I will be moving from San Diego to the Daytona Beach area. My
> problem is getting my Miata back east. I could drive it in 4 - 12 hour
days
> or pay Mayflower to haul it with my furniture. Nine years ago I was a
> zombie after driving a Ford Ranger from Tampa to San Diego in 4 days.
Now,
> at age 60, I am really tempted to let the movers do it. Using Mayflower
> adds $600 to the cost but the thought of 45 hours in a car that I can't
take
> a nap in seems daunting. I might even come to hate my dual exhaust by the
> time I got there!
>
> My thinking seems stuck on weighing the cost against the discomfort.
> Perhaps, someone in the group can give me other factors to consider or
> things to look out for if I decide to ship the car. I could really use
some
> group wisdom on this....
>
>
>

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 12:45:01 +0200, "gixer" > wrote:

>Hi Natman,
>
>When I left school a group of us decided to ride from New York to San
>Francisco on push bikes, if memory serves it took us about 8 months off and
>on, as we had to stop occasionally to earn some money to complete the rest
>of the trip, we got into major problems with immigration and to be
>completely truthful we did not ride all the way, as we occasionally hitched
>or jumped on trains, but most of us managed to do around 80% of the riding.
>We camped probably 95% of the time, the only real problems that really come
>to mind was carrying all that bloody water around, and spending 10 days at
>San Francisco airport getting lectures from immigration.
>
>I trust your judgement that the straight route from Athens to UK would be
>around half that from California to Florida,
>But firstly, we have never done the straight route, we have done the trip
>via Bucharest and Gdansk, another time we took the ferry from Plymouth to
>Bilbao and drove down to Madrid, took in the GP at Valencia and drove back
>via the coast.
>And secondly apart from the first trip which was from the UK where I bought
>my car to Greece where I now live, we have always had to go back to Greece
>again which doubles the distance.
>
>Everyone has different circumstances, goals and opinions, and I can
>understand why someone would save their own time by shipping the car, but if
>it was me I would want to drive it.
>I think it would be an extremely memorable adventure, and what is life if
>its not an Adventure?
>
>Cheers Mark.
>
Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not opposed to having a fun road
trip or the spirit of adventure. It's just that California - Florida
is a LONG trip, and if you throw in side trips and sightseeing it will
take two or three weeks easily, which the original poster may not
have, since he's moving, not planning a vacation. If he has the time
and the money for weeks of hotels, great. Trust me, your perspective
on camping out changes between ages 20 and 60.

That said, no matter how you slice it driving across the U.S.A. WILL
involve long stretchs of driving on a road that goes straight ahead
for as far as you can see, and goes straight behind for as far as your
mirror can show. The Miata is highly specialized for good handling.
The tight cockpit, firm ride, lack of luggage space and high RPM at 70
mph don't matter when you are tossing it around on a twisty road.

Challenge: Name a car produced since 1990, with comprable equipment,
that would be LESS suitable for long distance freeway driving than the
Miata.

Geo Metro maybe?

I don't know mate I cannot ever imagine a circumstance that would make me
ship are car as opposed to drive it,
But like I said, we are all different, there is no wrong or right, only what
suits us better.

To be honest I can't think of many cars that are AS suitable as the MX-5,
economical, comfortable, top down arm out the window stereo pumping if its
nice,
AC on top up if its too hot, the same if it's raining and or cold.

We get very different cars over in Europe, the few American cars I have
driven that spring to mind are the
Impala, is it a Chevy? by far the worst car I have ever driven, driving from
Newark ca to San Fran was too much.
I think it was a Maverick, Ford pick up truck, a very close call to the
Impala for worst car.
A Mustang (I think it was a 2003 model), extremely bad car, the interior
looked like an explosion in a plastic factory,
Some Cadillac thing, it was huge sooooo slow, and handled like a Jumbo jet
with Flat tyres on ice.
There were a few others but they were the most memorable,

So my opinion of American Automotive engineering is pretty low, apart from
the guys that developed the Miata of course, but even they copied, whoops
sorry errr were inspired by a British car, and the GT40, err no sorry again
British designed and engineered.
I don't know how the American motor industry can make a 4.0L engine that
feels sooo slow, dull, boring and sooo rough, it is such a feat of under
engineering,
In Europe most non sport model 2L cars will absolutely blitz most American
V8's and the weird thing is they even sound better.

The funny thing is you guys had 1 of best engines ever produced (the Buick
215ci all Aluminium V8), and you gave up on it after only 3 years of
production, and sold it to us Brits, the British's English engineers then
took the motor and gradually improved the casting process and reliability,
and gradually increased the standard 150bhp, to 400bhp+ that it can produce
now (or should I say did produce as it is now out of production), and even
today it is the lightest V8 you can get.

With what I have read about the new C6 it's getting better, but then the New
Mustang GT comes out with a solid rear axle, come on Ford this is 2005 guys.

So the MX-5 for me would be very close to the top of the list to drive long
distance, freeway or not, I would prefer to Drive a car than fall asleep
behind the wheel of a couch with wheels.


Cheers Mark.





"Natman" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 12:45:01 +0200, "gixer" > wrote:
>
>>Hi Natman,
>>
>>When I left school a group of us decided to ride from New York to San
>>Francisco on push bikes, if memory serves it took us about 8 months off
>>and
>>on, as we had to stop occasionally to earn some money to complete the rest
>>of the trip, we got into major problems with immigration and to be
>>completely truthful we did not ride all the way, as we occasionally
>>hitched
>>or jumped on trains, but most of us managed to do around 80% of the
>>riding.
>>We camped probably 95% of the time, the only real problems that really
>>come
>>to mind was carrying all that bloody water around, and spending 10 days at
>>San Francisco airport getting lectures from immigration.
>>
>>I trust your judgement that the straight route from Athens to UK would be
>>around half that from California to Florida,
>>But firstly, we have never done the straight route, we have done the trip
>>via Bucharest and Gdansk, another time we took the ferry from Plymouth to
>>Bilbao and drove down to Madrid, took in the GP at Valencia and drove back
>>via the coast.
>>And secondly apart from the first trip which was from the UK where I
>>bought
>>my car to Greece where I now live, we have always had to go back to Greece
>>again which doubles the distance.
>>
>>Everyone has different circumstances, goals and opinions, and I can
>>understand why someone would save their own time by shipping the car, but
>>if
>>it was me I would want to drive it.
>>I think it would be an extremely memorable adventure, and what is life if
>>its not an Adventure?
>>
>>Cheers Mark.
>>
> Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not opposed to having a fun road
> trip or the spirit of adventure. It's just that California - Florida
> is a LONG trip, and if you throw in side trips and sightseeing it will
> take two or three weeks easily, which the original poster may not
> have, since he's moving, not planning a vacation. If he has the time
> and the money for weeks of hotels, great. Trust me, your perspective
> on camping out changes between ages 20 and 60.
>
> That said, no matter how you slice it driving across the U.S.A. WILL
> involve long stretchs of driving on a road that goes straight ahead
> for as far as you can see, and goes straight behind for as far as your
> mirror can show. The Miata is highly specialized for good handling.
> The tight cockpit, firm ride, lack of luggage space and high RPM at 70
> mph don't matter when you are tossing it around on a twisty road.
>
> Challenge: Name a car produced since 1990, with comprable equipment,
> that would be LESS suitable for long distance freeway driving than the
> Miata.
>
> Geo Metro maybe?
>

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 21:12:51 +0200, "gixer" > wrote:
>> Challenge: Name a car produced since 1990, with comprable equipment,
>> that would be LESS suitable for long distance freeway driving than the
>> Miata.
>>
>> Geo Metro maybe?
>>
>
>
>I don't know mate I cannot ever imagine a circumstance that would make me
>ship are car as opposed to drive it,
>But like I said, we are all different, there is no wrong or right, only what
>suits us better.
>
>To be honest I can't think of many cars that are AS suitable as the MX-5,
>economical, comfortable, top down arm out the window stereo pumping if its
>nice,
>AC on top up if its too hot, the same if it's raining and or cold.
>
>We get very different cars over in Europe, the few American cars I have
>driven that spring to mind are the
>Impala, is it a Chevy? by far the worst car I have ever driven, driving from
>Newark ca to San Fran was too much.
>I think it was a Maverick, Ford pick up truck, a very close call to the
>Impala for worst car.
>A Mustang (I think it was a 2003 model), extremely bad car, the interior
>looked like an explosion in a plastic factory,
>Some Cadillac thing, it was huge sooooo slow, and handled like a Jumbo jet
>with Flat tyres on ice.
>There were a few others but they were the most memorable,
>
>So my opinion of American Automotive engineering is pretty low, apart from
>the guys that developed the Miata of course, but even they copied, whoops
>sorry errr were inspired by a British car, and the GT40, err no sorry again
>British designed and engineered.
>I don't know how the American motor industry can make a 4.0L engine that
>feels sooo slow, dull, boring and sooo rough, it is such a feat of under
>engineering,
>In Europe most non sport model 2L cars will absolutely blitz most American
>V8's and the weird thing is they even sound better.
>
>The funny thing is you guys had 1 of best engines ever produced (the Buick
>215ci all Aluminium V8), and you gave up on it after only 3 years of
>production, and sold it to us Brits, the British's English engineers then
>took the motor and gradually improved the casting process and reliability,
>and gradually increased the standard 150bhp, to 400bhp+ that it can produce
>now (or should I say did produce as it is now out of production), and even
>today it is the lightest V8 you can get.
>
>With what I have read about the new C6 it's getting better, but then the New
>Mustang GT comes out with a solid rear axle, come on Ford this is 2005 guys.
>
>So the MX-5 for me would be very close to the top of the list to drive long
>distance, freeway or not, I would prefer to Drive a car than fall asleep
>behind the wheel of a couch with wheels.
>
>
>Cheers Mark.
>
I asked for cars less suited for the *specific* task of extended
freeway cruising than the Miata, not worse cars in general (of which
there are many).

IF the task at hand is four 12 hour days of straight freeway driving
any of the cars mentioned, dogs that they are, would be far more
comfortable than a Miata.

To each their own.

On 2005-02-24, gixer > wrote:

> I don't know mate I cannot ever imagine a circumstance that
> would make me ship are car as opposed to drive it,

You've got 48 hours to get somewhere 5000km away.

You're going to drive?!?!

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! My haircut is totally
at traditional!
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