JayAre

A few weeks ago. (2 days before I left for my wedding in Costa Rica!) I decided to pull this trigger on this (Hopefully wonderful!) 2001 996.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-911-...m=321816325250

Next week I fly out to Aspen, CO to pick her up and drive her back to MD. This will be my first time getting to drive through the Rockies in a nice car. All the other times I drove through the mountains was in a E-350 15 passenger van & trailer with the band I was in at the time. Cruising at sweet 25Mph on the inclines.

So... I'm thinking this experience is going to be a little more enjoyable!

Needless to say I'm extremely excited and a little bit nervous. This if the first car I've purchased without performing a thorough inspection and test drive. Plus, it's my first Porsche. The owners were great with their communication, sent me a ton more pictures, and it sounds like they have really cared for this car. So I'm hoping for the best and spending some of my Carma (see what I did there?) points for this road trip.

I look forward to telling you all about my 1900 Mile adventure!

These next 7 days are going to take FOREVER!!

notaircooled

I remember seeing that car when I was doing my search a few months ago. Beautiful color combo. However, I never contacted the owner because I couldn't find anywhere close to get a PPI. Did you have one done? That looks like a good price, though, considering the low mileage and that the ims has been taken care of. I'm pretty sure he had it listed a few k higher back in June.

I did the pick up, drive home thing with my 996 as well. Although I had a PPI done, I was still a bit nervous and my drive wasn't anywhere near as long as yours. Funny story - since the dealer I bought it from drove it out of the showroom, the first time I started it myself to drive off was after i filled with gas an hour later. So I didn't know about the spoiler warning light (it stays on until you drive a tiny bit). It's an ominous-looking red light that freaked me out and prompted a quick engine shutdown and internet search before proceeding.

That Rockies drive is beautiful, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

JayAre

No PPI done. I know.. I know.. it's not the smartest thing to do, I'm taking a leap of faith on this one! Albeit an expensive one. I have faith in the car gods!

Thanks for the heads up on the spoiler warning light! I'm definitely going to have a lengthy conversation with the owners about any thing to look for or any other quirks with the 911 before I take off.

We get in around noon, so we'll have plenty of daylight left to cruise the twisties. We'll be in no hurry either, we're staying in Denver that evening. Then we'll beeline across the Midwest, stopping outside of St. Louis. Next leg will be towards / through the Shenandoah valley, then home!

notaircooled

Yeah it's a risk but not a terrible one. It's only a 20k car. The guy who did my ppi is very reputable, but he didn't notice the 2nd gear synchro was failing (neither did I for a few 100 miles). I don't blame him, maybe it wasn't apparent at all even to a trained tech at that point. So a ppi is no guarantee that you won't have an expensive repair in your future.

Here's a tip - stop west St. Louis. East of the river in E. St. Louis is pretty sketchy.

JayAre

Definitely stopping west of St. Louis. Probably in the Westport area. Looks like a nice suburb.

alpine003

Congrats and nice color combo.

Just don't lug the engine through any mountain passes and try to keep the rpms higher than lower. Make sure your spare is working and properly inflated before heading back.

Costa Rica is nice but I think more so for single guys.

dporto

Good luck with 'er! Safe trip home...

gnat

Take the pass rather than the tunnel and follow alpine's advice and you'll be in love with a very happy car before you make it to Denver.

Congrats on the car and marriage and good luck on the road trip.

JayAre

Thanks y'all! Great idea on the pass, gnat. I'm going to ask the (former!) owners for some cool "locals" routes through the mountains. Not sure when I'll get another chance to drive a Porsche through the Rockies, so we're gonna make the most of it.

Dennis C

Congrats! I agree with the comments on taking the pass instead of the tunnel. If you exit in Frisco on Hwy 9, you can take three passes in a short distance. First: Swan Mountain Road from Hwy 9 to Hwy 6, then take Hwy 6 towards Arapahoe Basin up over the second: Loveland Pass, then back onto I-70 for a short run to Hwy 103 in Idaho Springs. From there, drive up over the third: Squaw pass to Hwy 74 and then back to I-70. That would be a fun drive!

JayAre

Great advice on the route Dennis. We'll be starting our trip from Carbondale.

Cuda911

Congrats! Looks like you got a great deal on the car!!

JayAre

Test.. I can't seem to delete this post..

5CHN3LL

You can't delete on Rennlist - just edit.

Nice car. I'd schedule an oil change at a dealership or indie before the drive back, just so they can eyeball any leaks, low fluids, brakes in dire need of attention, or other hazards before you jump in a new car for a multi-state drive.

Congrats on being willing to jump in and drive your car. As Alpy suggested, wind the engine up - it makes the most power, especially at altitude, when the tach is pointing skyward.

Dennis C

No problem! If you do the three passes, let me know and I'll meet you for a beer when you come down off of Squaw Pass. That's quite close to my house.