My R Journey

VOODOO 6G said:

Thank You Tom, you are a huge asset to the car community.

Click to expand...

I try, but often fail, and then have to deal with the mess.

Tomster said:

I try, but often fail, and then have to deal with the mess.

Click to expand...

I see no fail in you! You go out of your way to help and it’s greatly appreciated.

VOODOO 6G said:

I’m planning to try to be on site when my car arrives. I don’t know how realistic that is......

Click to expand...

That was the challenge I was facing, too. I have a fairly flexible job, but still had to make a bunch of plans that include a rental diesel pickup, a borrowed enclosed trailer (my 4Runner and tiny soft-top covered trailer aren't sufficient for the GT350), and a co-driver. I lined everything up early in the process, but still had to sweat it out until it was on the rail car and nearing it's destination. Even so, the wild-card is that it can sit for a day or weeks at the rail yard, with very short notice as to when it's going to be trucked to the dealership. Since I'm hauling H2614 there for a trade-in, I'd have to keep everything loaded up and ready to go - as well as clear my calendar and my co-driver's, too - in order to be ready to go at a moment's notice in order to make the two day drive. Even then, I figured that I'd miss delivery by a day or so. The only sure way would have been to head there as soon as I heard it hit the rail yard and then just wait it out until it arrived, but as mentioned, that could be days or weeks, so not realistic.

Tom's offer of getting there ASAP was the closest I could get and, since he wasn't flying when it made it to the store, he dropped everything and ran over there as soon as we heard it had arrived. I can't thank him enough for all he's done in this process - from the lead on the allocation to helping me throughout this process and being my local guy on the ground who continues to work with the dealer to make this a great buying experience.

Guaranteed I'm heading south with a bunch of local Wisconsin beers from just over the border from my place here in the finally-thawed northern tundra and will make sure some finds its way to him.

And a couple more pics......

Like it says on the side of the Flat Rock Assembly Plant..... This place is also a power plant!



And here's a WitSec pic of the infamous Tomster taking a pic of my car...

Muligan said:

That was the challenge I was facing, too. I have a fairly flexible job, but still had to make a bunch of plans that include a rental diesel pickup, a borrowed enclosed trailer (my 4Runner and tiny soft-top covered trailer aren't sufficient for the GT350), and a co-driver. I lined everything up early in the process, but still had to sweat it out until it was on the rail car and nearing it's destination. Even so, the wild-card is that it can sit for a day or weeks at the rail yard, with very short notice as to when it's going to be trucked to the dealership. Since I'm hauling H2614 there for a trade-in, I'd have to keep everything loaded up and ready to go - as well as clear my calendar and my co-driver's, too - in order to be ready to go at a moment's notice in order to make the two day drive. Even then, I figured that I'd miss delivery by a day or so. The only sure way would have been to head there as soon as I heard it hit the rail yard and then just wait it out until it arrived, but as mentioned, that could be days or weeks, so not realistic.

Tom's offer of getting there ASAP was the closest I could get and, since he wasn't flying when it made it to the store, he dropped everything and ran over there as soon as we heard it had arrived. I can't thank him enough for all he's done in this process - from the lead on the allocation to helping me throughout this process and being my local guy on the ground who continues to work with the dealer to make this a great buying experience.

Guaranteed I'm heading south with a bunch of local Wisconsin beers from just over the border from my place here in the finally-thawed northern tundra and will make sure some finds its way to him.

Click to expand...

I hear ya, everything you mention is basically my situation as well besides that I have my own truck. In the end, knowing Tom is there and will help if he’s available will help to ease my mind. Tom is awesome and I appreciate everything he has done and continues to do. Just curious, how close to your Cotus delivery date was the actual date?

Two days earlier than COTUS predicted.

Muligan said:

Two days earlier than COTUS predicted.

Click to expand...

Gotcha... Thank You.

So when will you be down? Need an excuse to cruise to the ford dealer - mini car show anyone?

Same here, for what it’s worth...... :ford:

[Beverly hillbillies song] So he loaded up the truck to go pickup his new R [/Beverly hillbillies song]



The day is finally here. I hope your travels are going well!

(check out Jed in the right seat riding shotgun) :lol:

Congratulations on the safe journey home.

[ame]

Enjoying a "moon man" in your honor.

Yes, it truly has landed. Apologies for going dark for a week or so, but I finally got a chance to catch up after a whirl-wind week of travel. Mrs. Muligan and I went to a wedding in Las Vegas last week, which I why I couldn't drop everything and head to Florida to pick up JR265 right when it arrived. Instead, I had to be a good husband and attend the wedding - especially since she was standing up!

Once we were home from a few days in Sin City, it was time to pack everything up (including H2614), load up the truck, and head to Daytona Beach (sorry - not Beverly Hills).

My daily driver is a 4Runner and I have a small soft-top enclosed trailer that will only fit smaller cars, so I rented an F250 diesel from Enterprise and borrowed a 24' enclosed trailer from a friend. With another friend as co-driver, we got ready for a four-day trip from northern Illinois down to Daytona, where JR265 sat at Gary Yeomans Ford.

The trip was great - beautiful weather and we were able to go from early spring to full-on summer in just two days. We did an overnight in Dalton, GA after a long first day on the road (12.5 hours and 700+ miles). The second day was a lighter bit of driving - just over 500 miles - and we were able to get a later start so that we'd miss the morning rush as we skirted around Atlanta.

We arrived at the hotel just across the street from the auto mall around 5:00 pm. Gary Yeomans Ford and the other dealerships are a very impressive sight - thousands of cars.... no wonder those guys are getting so many R allocations. Eric, the sales guy, was a joy to deal with and when I ping'd him to let him know we'd like to unload H2614 and leave the truck and trailer in their lot overnight, he headed right over (even though he had just left and was enjoying a shrimp and grits dinner on the water when I texted).

As soon as we got to the dealership, I was greeted by my first in-person with JR265 and it was love at first sight. Cordoned off in a safe area near the rear of the showroom sat my new baby - looking all badass!!!

Tomster - and the lovely Mrs. Tomster - arrived while we were getting ready to unload H2614 and once I said my good-byes to a worthy steed, we all went out to dinner at a great local restaurant. Tom was right when he recommended the steak, too!!!!

Between the excitement of the new car and the worry of hauling precious cargo for a 2500 mile round-trip, I hadn't slept very well, but I did finally get a good nights rest knowing that H2614 was now safe and would be soon going to a new owner.

We arrived back at the dealership at 9:00 am sharp the next morning and Tom pulled up shortly thereafter with Starbucks for everyone and a screaming yellow R - icing on the cake for my co-driver, who got to drive it while I was taking care of business and getting all the paperwork done. A quick word about that - Gary Yeomans Ford had the easiest process... and this with a trade-in on an Illinois title and paper work to register and pay the taxes on JR265 in Illinois. Lots of things that could have made the process a pain, but instead it went super smooth and we were done in less than 15 minutes.

They pulled JR265 out of the showroom while I readied the trailer and then we spent quite a while getting it loaded and secured for the ride home.

We were on our way before noon on Day 3 and made it back to the same hotel in Dalton, GA that night. We were happy with the parking arrangements there, as we were able to back the trailer into a corner with the side door facing the front of the hotel in a well-lit area.

Day 4 was uneventful as we just plowed through the miles back to the nearly bare trees of the now-thawed Northern Tundra. We made it home around 6:00 pm and were both sufficiently awake to unload and introduce JR265 to its new garage mates.

Thanks to everyone who made this all possible - especially Tomster and PP0001.

Oh - as a post-script, I received a text from Eric at the dealership this morning saying that H2614 was sold and that the new owner was thrilled with the car and all the extras that I included in the trunk.

As for JR265 - I'll spend some time getting to know it in the coming days / weeks as I unpack, unwrap, detail, prep, and Xpel it. More pics to come to close out my R journey soon, but here are a bunch from the trip.

H2614 getting ready for its ride to Florida......



Now that's a truck - our rental for the week......



Saying "goodbye" to a friend as they take H2614 away at Gary Yeomans Ford......



JR265 greets me for the first time......



Ready to load JR265 for the long ride home.......



Nervous???? You bet.......

Tight fit, for sure.......



JR265 home at last - a little dusty, but enjoying making new friends......

That is so awesome! Congrats man! My anticipation grows!!!!

Congrats!! Love the color combo. Enjoy it!