cwerdna

I'm going to be moving from the Seattle area back to San Jose in ~1.5 months. I've got two cars that will need to move with me. I'll be driving my Prius down but am on the fence about my Z. (I've driven my Prius from San Jose to the Seattle area and done other 330-500 mile, one way road trips with it.)

I got a quote from Plycar who shipped my car last time to ship it for $1000. It was less when they shipped it before in the opposite direction, but gas prices were much lower then.

I could fly back to the Seattle area and drive the Z down too. It would be WAY less than $1000 for airplane ticket, gas and hotels. My only concern is serious back pain. It's 860 miles one way so that's likely at least 13 hours.

Anyone done this route in an 03 or 04 (not 04.5) Z w/stock suspension? I'd heard the 04.5 and beyond w/"Euro spec" suspension having a better ride and being less bouncy but have never been in one.

I've (intentionally) never taken my Z on long road trips before. It was always my Prius or my former 02 Maxima (very smooth ride). Z is by far the roughest riding and bounciest car I've ever driven. I've also done the Seattle <-> San Jose drive w/help in a 93 Dodge Caravan round trip 2x ~15 years ago. Its ride was MUCH smoother than a Z.

I recall I had back pain (coordinated w/the bouncing) in my Z after an afternoon of driving twisties in the Bay Area and then heading back on 280 south. I'm guessing I'd been on the road ~4+ hours continuously, at that point.

Ship or drive it? Will my back be killing me?

winchman

I'd ship the Prius loaded with everything that'll fit into it. Enjoy the trip in the Z.

Flick Montana

I had my Z shipped from Oregon to Indiana for $675. I wouldn't have driven my Z because that would have been too much mileage to put on it and I probably would have had to get new tires (needed to get new front ones about 3/4 of the way for the Accord I drove). Besides, I had to bring my wife and 2 dogs so it wouldn't have been an option anyways.

I'm not sure what kind of impact gas prices have had on shipping costs, nor am I sure how many miles that route is, but it's significantly higher than what I paid to ship my Z.

If driving it is an option, I'd say go for it. It's probably going to be a beautiful drive. Especially if you take the 101. I was on that highway many times and it is amazing in southern Oregon/northern Cali.

Enjoy the drive!

Dr. Venture

iTrader: (19)

drive the z...i am sure that drive is awesome...and for the pain you can always stop and stretch every few hours or so.

SSNOS

iTrader: (9)

My 04 is a pita literally around town and in the city. On the highway where its much smoother, it's a pleasure to drive and no back aches either.

diablox1

iTrader: (7)

i myself, would make a little road trip with the Z. make some stops along small coastal towns in Oregon, NorCal (Yreka, etc.). Take a couple/few days. Take pics, meet locals. That way you're nut stuck in the relative tightness of the Z for 13 hours straight and on the contrary, you would enjoy the few hours/day of driving you would do before stopping at the next town for the night.

That said, shipping it would just eliminate all of that and just simply get your car there, if you're not at all interested in making a cool road trip out of it.

For the record, I'm from cali and have done many road trips along the western region of the US, including SF to Seattle.

henwhee

^ agreed
either you turn this ride into a pleasant roadtrip, or just have it shipped.
nothing is more brutal than a 13 hour uncomfortable ride where you're just dying to get to the destination. However, if you plan out a pleasant route (with nice places to stop by and such), then that 13 hour ride will be much more fun (especially since you're in a sport car)

it really comes down to your mood or viewpoint on the ride. if you're optimistic and looking forward to it, you'll love it, even if your back hurts

scotts300

iTrader: (46)

Drive it - no problem. I drove our 04' ZR 1200 miles each way from the Bay Area to MT and back. We've also driven it multiple times to SoCal (900 miles RT).

I have a buddy in Seattle that drives his 72' 240Z down and back to join us for track events. That car is no more comfortable than your "pre-04.5" Z33. See ya when you get down here.

Z04

iTrader: (15)

is this thread a joke?

Duckeee

iTrader: (7)

lol really dude?

its not as bad as you make it seem, but definitely get quotes from different shipping companies. I got my car shipped from socal to portland for $600...

i drove a long Uhaul with no cruise control or CD player from socal to washington without any problems.

I'll be driving my Z to socal next month and im on coilovers.

whats there to worry about?

zhdrummer

I just drove a 2003 350Z Touring from Albuquerque to LA and then up HWY 1and 101 to Portland Oregon (don't miss the Avenue of the Giants!) and I have had two back surgeries. I did not trust any shipping company to avoid damaging the HRE wheels.
Crap, I remember doing similiar drives in a 68 bug and needing tissues to wipe off the fog from inside the windows and extra jackets to overcome the heater inabilities. Besides, didn't you buy it to drive it?

TheFarmer

iTrader: (19)

For the past six months, I put close to 1000 miles a week on my Z (bay area & back to center nor cal). There was one month (March I believe) I drove so much I had to do two oil changes in one month. You will be just fine. I really enjoy driving the Z, even though 95% of it is on the I-5 with the cruise control on

Duckeee

iTrader: (7)

i cry when i put 2500 miles a month on my car...

how do you handle it?! poor car

TheFarmer

iTrader: (19)

It was really tough at first. My Z was always a garage queen, weekend car kinda thing. The first noticeable paint chip on my front bumper was a real bummer for me. However, it's the only vehicle in my stable to get over 20 MPG lol so I had to use it or fudge over the giant gas bills.

I ended up selling the Volks , got some track wheels with normal street tires to drive on and made sure my suspension was properly aligned to get the best mileage out of the tires.

My front bumper is now f'd with knicks and paint chips, but what the hey; I have a few things in mind once the traveling settles down.

Duckeee

iTrader: (7)

yeah must be a tough choice. save a million or two on gas and drive your queen, or spend a million or two on gas and call it a day.

nowadays i try to tell myself, "YOU BUY IT TO DRIVE IT." so that helps as well. its my only car so I have to DD it ;[

cwerdna

No. I'm dead serious. Thanks for the responses so far!
I'd hate to have the drive lengthened more than it needs to be. I'd already need to do the 860 mile drive once in my Prius, then fly back up and repeat.
What month and year was the $675? Shipping company?

I got a quote from Plycar (they do enclosed shipping and ship for Tesla) and they shipped my Z from San Jose to Seattle for $850 in Sept 09. Now it's $1000 to go the other way from the same company.

Previously, on my earlier Z shipment, I'd gotten some quotes that were higher and some lower (like Dependable Auto Shippers). YMMV with DAS. They did a bit of damage to my Z (on a shipment before Plycar, paid for by my former employer), that they covered. A former coworker had his car totaled by them.

Per the historical diesel prices XLS at http://www.eia.gov/oog/ftparea/wogir...psw18vwall.xls (link at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel.asp), weekly US No. 2 diesel fuel in Sept 09 was $2.65/gal. It's now $4/gal.

Not too interested in making a cool road trip out of it. I spent a day or two sightseeing in/around Portland the last time I did the drive.
Month, year and company you used? Fuel is a likely a lot more now. I'll get a quote from them. Yes, I plan to get quotes from others too.

How does the ride of that U-Haul compare to an 03-04 Z?

The only worry is back pain, possibly severe and future back problems vs. having to really extend out my drive to reduce it/when the pain comes. Again, as I stated originally, I have encountered back pain in my Z before.
Many shippers won't allow belongings in cars being shipped and/or if you do, they won't take responsibility for them. I plan to move some stuff in the Prius I'm driving that the movers won't take or that I don't want them to move (e.g. liquids, batteries, sensitive financial documents). I also will pack the Prius full to cut down on my moving costs, a bit.

Z is barely enough room for what I plan to move in a car, forget trying to even reduce my moving costs. My Z literally gets about 1/2 the mileage of my Prius and needs premium. Doing the above seems the least logical (MUCH higher fuel costs, much less cargo room, much higher road noise, crappier stereo [I have the crap non-Bose], much rougher ride, possible back pain, etc.)

cwerdna

LOL! I hate driving my Z and non-hybrids in the city because of the thought of all the energy being wasted as heat and brake dust while braking along w/the engine uselessly running (needlessly burning up gas) while stopped.

I do like driving my Z on twisties though.

Highway is fine, as long it's not a bad road. When I was last in the Bay Area, about an 8 mile/minute stretch (both north and soundbound) of highway 85 just sucked and bounced me around the whole time in my Z. It was part of my daily commute.

It was hardly noticeable in my former 02 Max and somewhat worse in my Prius.

Duckeee

iTrader: (7)

February 2010. forgot company and gas prices were practically the same last year as it is now, if not, more. I remember it being $4 something down in socal.

How does the Uhaul compare to the Z?... Honestly it was worst. you cant adjust the seating position to your liking, on top of that, NO CRUISE CONTROL. The Z is pretty comfortable to me.

I see that you stress back pain a lot, but i've driven from L.A to Boston with only 1 night of sleep. back pain is not the issue. its foot and leg pain, but that was without cruise control.

you will be fine.

cwerdna

Nope. Per http://www.eia.gov/oog/ftparea/wogir...psw18vwall.xls that I posted earlier, weekly US No. 2 diesel fuel in Feb 2010 averages ranged from $2.76-$2.83/gal. It's now $4/gal.

FWIW, when I drove my Prius from the Bay Area to the Seattle area w/a bunch of sightseeing around Portland (put ~1000 miles on my car in 3 days), I did eventually have some back pain (I even posted about it at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-p...ml#post1159625). I'm not clear if it's from bumps or from poor back support as people have complained about that on my gen of Prius. My previous Prius road trips were ~520 miles each way, tops and I had no back pain.

Flick Montana

It was in August of last year.

I searched my e-mail for the name of the company and I want to say it was Magic Carpet, but honestly I couldn't find my correspondence with the company. I think I also had $50 off for some reason. I shipped on an open truck if that makes any difference. The closed ones were substantially more expensive. I did speak to the driver and got my car on the bottom row near the back where it apparently had the least chance of getting hit by debris.