I've been given a Volvo 240, how do I get it home.

A friend of mine bought a Volvo 240 for his son to have as a first car. His son didn't much care for it and it's just been sitting for a few years.My friend is a master mechanic for infiniti and has kept the car in great shape.

He contacted me today offering me that car as a gift, because he just wants it to go to a good home. I've wanted a 240 for a few years now so I told him yes, probably.

The car is in Orlando FL, I am in Tacoma WA

I figure there are 6 options for getting it here.

1. Fly and drive
2. Reverse fly and drive
3. Paid auto transport
4. GRM relay

I don't really have a ton of vacation time or excess cash, the CAM-Z is my money sponge at the moment. Normally I'd pass on it becvause it's a volvo, and there are plenty of them around, but I know my friend want someone who would appreciate it to have it and I know it's rust free and in good shape.

What do you guys think? Anyone wanna go on a road trip? Or part of a road trip? How would you go about transporting a car cross country?

Could it be any further away? Your limited time means a banzai drive home with somebody else - but the airfare would hurt.

Shipping hurts too. Put an ad in the paper asking somebody to drive it back for you like in the old days.

Ship it. Unless you want an adventure. Fly n drive will cost almost as much as shipping. More if you count your time (150 airfare, 350 fuel, 200 hotel, 50 meals plus potential breakdowns) shipping is what, 900? $1000 is still a great deal for a 240. You could flip it in Seattle for probably 3500

Hmmm, I've always wanted to drive across the country. Trouble is I'd have to get to FL, drive to WA, then get back home to NY. I have a feeling that in the end this would be an expensive way to go about fulfilling my ambition. Still tempting, though....

I've shipped a car that distance before. From San Diego to detroit about 6 years ago cost me $700. No way could I have driven it that cheaply.

Get some bids on Uship.com and then contact the lowest bidder directly for an even lower price.

In reply to 02Pilot:

I was thinking the same. These never come up when I have vacation time to burn up. Ideally I'd have time to find a clean older pickup to drive back to NY.

you only need to get it to gainesville. Bring a 16v head, 4.38R&P, OE bolt on turbo bits, a line lock and/or limited slip.

The GRM Relay sounds like a great idea. I wonder if we're dispersed regularly enough.

Ok, I have a month to figure this out.

I like the idea of GRM relay but to play it safe, you would need to do a little research on all the drivers to ensure you car made it in one piece. I know some very nice people that treat other peoples stuff very poorly. If it were me, I would fly out and drive it home, trying to hit some cool roads or events on the way to make it any adventure. It is a free car, after all, spending a few dollars on a flight seems well worth it.

In reply to AClockworkGarage:

We have a spare room in MS if you fly & drive.

This sounds very "coals to Newcastle" to me. From everything I have read online, Volvo 240s are cheap and plentiful in the PNW, and here we're looking at ways to get a "free" one shipped there and $1000 is looking like a low figure.

Knurled wrote: From everything I have read online, Volvo 240s are cheap and plentiful in the PNW,

There are currently 6 Volvo 24Xs in my area for less than a grand. None of them run and several of them have serious crash damage.

On the other hand this is a rust free Florida car that I know runs, I know the history of and I've actually driven. If I can figure out how to get it here it's a good deal at twice the price.

In reply to Knurled:

I think they used to be cheap in the PNW and also the SF Bay Area. Ones worth having aren't anymore.