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The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

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  • The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

    Figured I should Introduce myself. been around for some time but more in the VW side of things until last October.

    Back in the summer I started looking for an A3. Specifically the 3.2, now in Canada land those are few and far between, I think in all of Canada there were 2 or 3 for sale. All of which were high mileage. Now currently owning an 04' Gti cresting 215k it was time for something newer and less driven. So I broaden my search to the US of A. Selection improves greatly! I find one - 2007 with 10,700 Miles, seems a little to good to be true ( still on the fence in some regards ) in Miami. I hum and haw over it, to the point where I eventually ignore it. Month later, same car still up for sale. Ok time to get the internet on my side, post up a wtf kinda thread to see what the deal is. Review's came in mixed, but did have a few nice gents down in Florida pipe up about their own experiences and deals, one even offers to take a look at it! Well this is good news for me, having a 3rd party check out the car is a huge plus. Report comes back good, car looks as described and seems to be in fact a good deal. (Car Fax also came up clean)

    Time to contact and deal, see what I can find out and what price I would be looking at. After a little bit of back and fourth the deal is struck and all of a sudden I own a car that is 5300km (3300mi) away from me. Shiiiit, what have I done? ok ok no big deal, lets ship it up. Buddy did it from Texas for roughly a grand. Start looking into it, prices are coming in higher... Well Eff it lets see what flights are. Holy cheap batman! I can't fly to a near by city for that price half the time. Alright book a flight for me and the girlfriend. (We had only been dating for 2 months, might have been suicide with a 5300km drive looming ahead of us together lol) She was pretty excited I was taking her to Miami with me. I well wanted the company and didn't think driving such a distance alone would be fun or wise.



    The time comes to fly down and pick the beauty up, I am nervous as all get up... What if i get there and the car is gone, or a pos, or who knows what else?! Flight was delayed, cab was slow it felt like it was taking forever to get to the dealership! Dealership closes at 8... its quarter after 7 and I have no idea how much further I have to go. Reallly don't want to lose a day as we were on a very tight schedule (only had 5 days before we had to be back to Edmonton)

    Well we made it. There the car sat, fresh rain drops beading on the freshly waxed body.



    Finish the last bit of paper work and toss our gear in the car and we are ready to roll! First stop - Orlando!



    Arrive there around midnight after 4 hours of driving and a few near heart attacks in Miami... Man alive talk about some crazy drivers, doesn't anyone know how to signal? Or you know let someone in? Thank goodness for the instant torque of the VR!



    Day 2 we spent at Disney World



    Oh right... Already had to stop at what would be the first of many gas stations.



    then shopping followed by a stop off at a Forum members house for a quick scan before hitting the road yet again. Car checks out minus a few codes which would likely be from a dead battery (and later a non working heated seat, but who in Miami needs a heated seat right?)

    Twins basil!!



    Made it later that night to Jacksonville (Again around midnight)

    The following morning came quickly, up and on the road by 5 am. The girlfriend seemingly alright, well she woke up, trudged to the car and fell back asleep within 10 minutes (Man these seats are comfy!! Thankfully!!)

    So now that the fun is done its time to make some miles!



    They start to fly by quickly and before we know it we have left Florida and are on to the next state! Next stop Atlanta, can't really remember what time we got there but it was daylight.



    Hmm no zombies anywhere! I am disappoint.



    We didn't stay long, just enough to get our bearings, more fuel of course and some food and back on the road. Making good time, we hope to hit Nashville in time for lunch with an old family friend who is now a country singer ( And well quite hot... But shhh don't tell my gf that!) Well we were making good time... Until Chattanooga, all lanes of traffic slowly come to a hault. Traffic jam. fffuuu. Then low coolant... DOUBLE FFFUUUUU. Ok time to find a dealership (Cringe) Luckily it was only about 3 miles away, so dipped off the interstate as soon as I could (2 hours later...)
    Get to the dealership go in to buy some coolant. They are all very friendly, and offer to give the car a once over and fill up the coolant for me! Hmm alright, well I am sure this is gonna cost me but whatever rather have it done then have my car die before I even make it home. 25 minutes later my car is back around, they give me my jug of coolant and send me on my way. Free of Charge?! wtf that never happens up here. Bonus!

    Another stop at a gas station...



    And more miles to be made, sadly we did not make Nashville in time for the lunch so we decided to press on to our next planned stop St. Louis and the Arch! (Figured we might as well see some cool **** on our way)

    But next up more fuel! Thanks to my speeds I think I averaged 20mpg for the entire drive.

    I had already driven a ton and was beat, so time for the girlfriend to take the wheel. She was really nervous after seeing the drivers down in Florida haha, but did awesome.



    Shortly after the delays we did make it to Nashville!



    Quick stop to make sure we were heading in the right direction and we were back on the road to St. Louis, whiich we didn't get there til oh 8 or 9 I think it was.



    The parking for the Arch was pretty cool, basically on some crazy cobblestone right on the bank of the river.



    Stayed there for a bit, walked around took pictures etc. It was pretty cool to see. But we still had more to go that night, needed to get to Kansas City!
    There was a lot of night driving, so needless to say I was in love with having HID's now, man alive talk about making things easier to see!



    Around 10 pm I realized we wouldn't be getting to Kansas city any time soon... So had to tell the gf no hotel that night if we wanted to stay on schedule. Well she handled it well, and improvised.



    I drove through the night and finally arrived in Kansas city somewhere around 4:30am, pulled into a rest stop slept for half an hour and got back on the road. Made it about another 30 minutes of driving and needed another power nap. After that I was good to hit the road to Sioux City!

    Morning did come as well!



    I had to laugh at the billboards you see across the states, either about jesus or strip clubs. And damn trucker discounts?! what a deal!

    However this one made me laugh even more.



    So we pass Sioux city, trade off driving and I fall asleep. Wake up to nothingness! aka South Dakota.



    Man I though Saskatchewan was bad, this is terrible there aren't even any tree's!

    Oh I lied, there was one.



    Along the drive we did manage to stop at nearly every major chain of burger joints Canada doesn't have. Have to say Checkers has the best fries of the lot. Sonic was pretty good too.



    Next stop though would be Mount Rushmore, never though I would actually see it, but low and behold there it is! haha Again, pretty cool.





    Northward bound... which means snow.



    Started running into it a bit into Montana, which is fine and dandy with quattro and all, but not so much with 5 year old 115 degree texas baked stock summer tires. So needless to say it was a little nerve racking. The roads though stayed clear through all of Montana so still managed to make good time!

    Arrived at great falls Sunday morning around 11am or so!



    And more snow after we got through Great falls.



    Including some crazy fog.



    Moment of truth! We have reached the border.



    Time to see if all my paper work arrived and if I would be bringing this baby across into Canada land!

    To be continued...
    2007 A3 3.2vr | S-line | Quattro | Brilliant Black Sold
    2020 Glacier White A4 Allroad
    2013 Allroad Scuba Blue

  • #2
    Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

    Nice work! Always love getting a good deal and a road trip.
    Find me on Instagram @pry4sno

    Candy White 2010 VW Golf Sportwagen TDI 6 speed /// #farmenwagen
    Indigo Pearl Effect 1992 80q 20v /// Eventual AAN'd Winter Sled
    Brilliant Black 1990 Coupe quattro /// Because Racecar

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    • #3
      Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

      Sounds like a fun trip.
      Name: Brent
      His: '04 TDI Golf Mods: None If it's smoken it ain't broken
      Family: '15 Jetta Sportwagon
      Fun car: '92 Blue Karmann Crabby Cabby Mods: Coils, front and rear swaybars, LED interior lights and some other old things.

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      • #4
        Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

        Very cool trip! More pics!
        --
        Rod
        Ex-presidente

        Drive

        2016 VW Golf .:R

        Drove
        2001.5 Audi S4 / Santorin Blue STAGE II+ / JFonz Tuned

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        • #5
          Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

          Awesome! Welcome home, you've got me wanting to do a road trip now!

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          • #6
            Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

            nice write up and pics! very cool trip!
            sigpic

            <<<Ben>>>

            Present:
            His: 2008 Cayenne Turbo
            Hers: 2012 Ibis White Q5
            Past:
            B7 A4 Avant 6MT Black
            B7 A4 Avant 6MT Silver
            2004 .:R32 BMP
            2001.5 Noggy blue s4
            2000 VW GTI 1.8T
            1997 VW Jetta VR6

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            • #7
              Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

              Great stuff! Thanks for sharing!!
              -Mike

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              • #8
                Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                great story!! always love a long road trip after picking up a new car.

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                • #9
                  Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                  Thank's guys! It was a blast. Little bit of a tight schedule which made for a lot of night driving but in the end totally worth it.

                  Righ back to the story!
                  So got to the border, head on it to see about getting this beauty imported. Head to the desk, first lady - rude short with me about where I parked etc. 'MERICA

                  I go re-park where she told me, come on back in and yay get someone else! This lady is super friendly and much more pleasant. Provide her with my paper work ( Bill of sale, title etc) She asked if I called ahead to ensure all my other documents were there 72 hours prior... Ummm, no? It said specifically not to call. She informs me you should anyways just to confirm they got it all... If they didn't have it I would be waiting at the border for 3 days before I could bring the car across.

                  Few nervous moments while she checks the computer...


                  Yay! We are in luck, all was in order. And actually turns out the car was scheduled to be exported once before - To England? Sale fell through obviously.

                  That concluded the 'Merica side of things, off to Canada land. Head over the border and into the office there for the importing dealio stuff. Short wait in line, quick check of the car by the border officials, a few thousand dollars out of my pocket and we are on our way!!

                  Wooo Alberta!



                  Hey Look mountains!! - Those will have to wait for another day, and some real winter tires!



                  This is about where I stopped taking pictures seeing as I live in Alberta I have seen most of it.

                  The last stretch of the drive was good... Minus the last 100km or so, snowing, icy shitty conditions. I was very nervous and averaged 70kmph. It sucked!! But even with degrading summers we did manage to make it!



                  However it took two attempts to get up the icy driveway. The Tires were that bad!!

                  Next day the car went to my trusty mechanic for an Oil Change and once over. Forgot to tell him how bad the tires were... He was not happy with me!



                  Since I have been home, the car has been amazing. Got winters on, love going sideways and the heat of the VR is amazing!

                  It has definitely been tested and proved it's might!



                  Ill toss up some more current pictures now that I have had it back for a year in a bit here.

                  Went all summer at stock height sadly. Got a bunch of little things on order for the car, and over the winter coil overs, euro led tails and exhaust will be ordered.

                  After that I need to get the Haldex Controller and DSG software from HPA, but not sure when that will happen yet.

                  Cheers,
                  Ponto
                  2007 A3 3.2vr | S-line | Quattro | Brilliant Black Sold
                  2020 Glacier White A4 Allroad
                  2013 Allroad Scuba Blue

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                  • #10
                    Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                    And well after the summer enjoying the open road.



                    And then a small run in with a mini van... stupid mini van the car got a front end once over!










                    Then yesterday before all the snow I gave it a full clay bar and seal





                    Oh and just for fun, my last car - the Gti before I sold it and well returned it back to stock haha.





                    And while we were all down in Leavenworth in 2012





                    So can't wait to get some goodies on the A3!!

                    Cheers.
                    2007 A3 3.2vr | S-line | Quattro | Brilliant Black Sold
                    2020 Glacier White A4 Allroad
                    2013 Allroad Scuba Blue

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                    • #11
                      Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                      Lookin good man!

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                      • #12
                        Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                        im not too sure what to think of the lava grey. under some light i love it, and in others i really don't. but no matter, congrats on the pickup! i love a3's

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                        • #13
                          Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                          Thanks for sharing the journey, got to love what some of us do for a car!!!!
                          Blair
                          Former Cars: '12 Fiat 500, '10 VW GTI, '05 Smart Fortwo, '96 VW Jetta GLX, '02 VW GTI 337.........

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                          • #14
                            Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                            Originally posted by martin13 View Post
                            Lookin good man!
                            Thanks!

                            Originally posted by danaldson View Post
                            im not too sure what to think of the lava grey. under some light i love it, and in others i really don't. but no matter, congrats on the pickup! i love a3's
                            Haha yea the paint changes a lot depending on lighting, but I love it. Different and not just black.

                            Originally posted by Canadian Turbo View Post
                            Thanks for sharing the journey, got to love what some of us do for a car!!!!
                            You bet! It was a blast of a trip, and well no kidding...
                            2007 A3 3.2vr | S-line | Quattro | Brilliant Black Sold
                            2020 Glacier White A4 Allroad
                            2013 Allroad Scuba Blue

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                            • #15
                              Re: The long road home - Intro and an epic road trip all for a car.

                              Great write-up, that's a ton of driving!

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