Cross-Country trip get it shipped or drive it out myself?

I see 3Gen 100,000 mile club | Page 4 | PriusChat w/228K miles on his Gen 3 2010.

2 fas 4 u is nearing 170K on his '12 Prius v wagon (Prius v: 100,000 Mile Club | Page 7 | PriusChat). At Lifespan/Operating costs - Prius Wiki, I have a link to his posts of 465K miles on his 09 Prius before he traded it for '12 Prius v wagon.

 

We drove from Tallahassee to California and everywhere in between then drove back. Loved it. Its a car drive it

 

No reason not to drive a Prius long distances, they are ideal for that.
My sister went from Seattle to San Diego, Yuma, Phoenix, San Antonio, Shalimar, Fort Myers, New Orleans, and Greenwood. Today she leaves for Guthrie, then Las Vegas then Tonasket then Seattle. About 8,000 miles.

Have a sedate trip.

 

Well, aren't you the lucky one, having an opportunity to drive across
our country, that is.

I'll make a SWAG that shipping your car could come to $1000-1200
each way.

That said, I'd strongly recommend that you drive, and if time permits, you
consider driving only on "blue roads," that is non-interstate highways.

My wife-to-be and I, did so in the early '70s. We auto-camped in a '69
BMW 2002 from Maryland to SanFran and up Rte 101 along the coast to
Seattle. We took our time taking 30 days in the early summer to visit
college buds and family on the way. We averaged less than 300 miles/day
and had plenty of time to stop at as many sites along the way as we cared
to. (For the first 4 or 5 days I taught my fiance how to drive a stick shift.
That was a little grating at times ;-) , but all worked out well -- we were
still in love and talking to each other in the end.)

That trip was a real eye-opener as to getting an appreciation for the wide
range of conditions that exist acrosss our country and a beginnning of
a better understanding of how they affect and determine the outlook and
lifestyles of the people who live there : weather, topology, geology, scenery,
crops, architecture, history, small town life, state road kill, etc, etc.
(I drove back to the east coast in the late '80s on interstates. It had to be
done quickly, and the passage was made in 3 very long days. How boring.
All that I learned was that I didn't want to do that again.)

The trip changed my life. I can say that it is a high point of all that I've
done so far.

It will be quite easy if you travel two-up. While your Prius will easily
accomodate four pax, you'll have to pack lightly. Weight is one of the
primary determinants of MPG. The prevaling winds will be in your face
going westwards, and its a long, ever so slight uphill from the Mississippi
to the foothihlls of the Rockies. Still, if you can refrain from putting your
foot to the floor and travel at 60-65 MPH you could see average MPGs
approaching 60, at least until you hit the Rockies, Sierras.

I say go for it, it's only a car, and you only live once.

 

I would drive the Prius there and back unless you will be flying home every week or two and need a car back here that you can't claim on your expenses. (I know some employers will pay for a rental at a remote work location, but won't pay for weekend rentals back home if you have your car at the remote work location.)

 

Drive! and make a vacation out of it if you have time. Those kind of miles (highway) won't hurt the car at all.

 

I bought my '12 last Aug and have almost 33k on it already, problem-free (knock on wood) . I'd like to think that yours should have no problems with the trip.I wouldn't hesitate to drive cross-country and I actually might do just that in a hopeful job move from PA to AZ..

Anyway, if you get 50 mpg and its a 3k mile trip, at $3.50 a gallon, it's only $210 to drive it plus hotels. So another $600 for 3 hotel stays and you are into it for $800 - ish. Can you ship and then fly for cheaper?

 

That would equate to about 17k miles per year- that's very average usage for a modern car.
I put about 16-17k miles/year on my car BTW.

If you want to see how much it would cost to ship the Prius from NY to CA go on uship.com and get a bid going- you're not obligated to hire anyone after getting bids. I've shipped a car from TX to NY and a 20' boat from SC to NY both times with drivers from uship.

 

I say drive it! Make a vacation out of it, like others have said. When we moved from Pa. to Fl. (Oct. 2011) we had two cars, and she didn't want to drive Her SC430 that far. We used Reliable (big orange rigs) it cost us about $1200. It was a closed trailer, you didn't have to emtpy out the car, take off the hubcaps, or remove the license plate. Because of where we lived and moved to, they couldn't get their rig into the neigborhood, so they picked up and dropped off at the nearest Walmart. Would do again if we had to. Have made the trip back to Pa. three times since we moved, once flying and twice driving, one straight through.

 

Don't be too concerned about miles added to the car. Much of it, including the traction battery, wear out by the calendar too, which doesn't stop in the garage. Trying to keep the odometer low might be a false economy.

Just go by whatever is a cheaper and better overall fit for this particular venture. Driving the car will cost some fuel and mileage-based maintenance, and food and lodging for the trip, but is a fantastic vacation opportunity that I wouldn't pass up. Which reminds me, we need a new National Parks annual pass.

Leaving the car behind means hiring alternate transportation to, from, and during this venture, but if the increased work availability brings in more income, it may be a better deal. Only you can balance the tradeoffs.