I'd been looking at 80s and 100s last month when I saw the ad for this:
Now, I already have an 08 FJ Cruiser, but I was instantly smitten, and my first thought was, too bad it's in Michigan (I live in southern New Mexico). When I bought my second FJ40 I'd driven to Vegas and flat towed it home. When I bought my third FJ40 I'd driven to Tucson and flat towed it home, and when I'd bought my first FJ Cruiser I'd driven to Tempe, traded in my BMW Z3 and driven the Cruiser home.
But this would be a feat I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt. My wife and I have a standing policy - no purchase without a hands on inspection and test drive, so I worked through all other options until the only one left I'd be willing to do was to drive a rental car to Michigan, and if a deal was made to buy, make a mighty long shake down cruise all the way home.
Yeah, that's right - no commitment from the seller except to hold it for me until we got there! He did ask if I would be willing to give him a deposit should someone else offer to buy it, and I said sure - that was enough for him and we didn't discuss it after that.
The Readers Digest version of the logistics was: Hertz rental car for 5 days, booked AirB&Bs for 3 travel days of 9-10 hours each, 2 nights in Grand Rapids, then... it better work out!
Turns out, meeting Nate and talking FJ Cruiser talk, the hands on and test drive, the handshake and trip to his bank was the easiest part of the trip. We asked the AirB&B host if we could park in his driveway overnight, and he graciously agreed (thanks again, Andrew!).
Saturday morning we commenced our "shake down cruise, spent the night in a great AirB&B in Hannibal, MO with our new FJ Cruiser! (did I mention it's a Trails Team?)
By the time we arrived home Monday afternoon we'd accumulated over 3,400 miles RT, and except for the fog in Kansas, the mega traffic jam in an interstate overhaul south of Chicago and a hellacious rainstorm in Michigan that forced us to stop till it passed over (finally) and another gully washer downpour in northwest Texas, it was a pretty uneventful cruise!
I'm posting this now, but reserve the right to fill in some blanks (mainly in my memory) later.
Now, I already have an 08 FJ Cruiser, but I was instantly smitten, and my first thought was, too bad it's in Michigan (I live in southern New Mexico). When I bought my second FJ40 I'd driven to Vegas and flat towed it home. When I bought my third FJ40 I'd driven to Tucson and flat towed it home, and when I'd bought my first FJ Cruiser I'd driven to Tempe, traded in my BMW Z3 and driven the Cruiser home.
But this would be a feat I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt. My wife and I have a standing policy - no purchase without a hands on inspection and test drive, so I worked through all other options until the only one left I'd be willing to do was to drive a rental car to Michigan, and if a deal was made to buy, make a mighty long shake down cruise all the way home.
Yeah, that's right - no commitment from the seller except to hold it for me until we got there! He did ask if I would be willing to give him a deposit should someone else offer to buy it, and I said sure - that was enough for him and we didn't discuss it after that.
The Readers Digest version of the logistics was: Hertz rental car for 5 days, booked AirB&Bs for 3 travel days of 9-10 hours each, 2 nights in Grand Rapids, then... it better work out!
Turns out, meeting Nate and talking FJ Cruiser talk, the hands on and test drive, the handshake and trip to his bank was the easiest part of the trip. We asked the AirB&B host if we could park in his driveway overnight, and he graciously agreed (thanks again, Andrew!).
By the time we arrived home Monday afternoon we'd accumulated over 3,400 miles RT, and except for the fog in Kansas, the mega traffic jam in an interstate overhaul south of Chicago and a hellacious rainstorm in Michigan that forced us to stop till it passed over (finally) and another gully washer downpour in northwest Texas, it was a pretty uneventful cruise!
I'm posting this now, but reserve the right to fill in some blanks (mainly in my memory) later.
