Short Summer Road Trip *cancelled. Thanks Con-Man!

[Vtec?lol]

Hello Gang,

This week I'll be driving from Newark New Jersey to Dallas Texas. I'm very curious to know who's in NJ? More importantly, WHERE'S THE GOOD FOOD!?

I'll be driving starting the 7th and will be crossing the following;
Interstates 78, 81, 40, and 30.
Brooklyn to Newark NJ
Parts of central PA
Baltimore
Roanoke Virginia (slowly)
Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis TN
Little Rock AK

I'll be in me wagon so I'm also interested in finding really good junkyards. I'm looking for e34 stuffs mostly.

Tell me where to go...

[mbonder]

Stop in and see Levent at Guten Parts in Maplewood, just a few minutes off of 78. Well worth a visit, he's always got a couple unique cars in his shop and has just about every part rare part on the planet stashed on his shelves somewhere.

Also, if you're in Newark, go to the Portuguese section of town (known as Ironbound section because of the wrought iron architecture) and have some Brazilian BBQ. You'll never eat so many different types of BBQ meat.

[Vtec?lol]

Stop in and see Levent at Guten Parts in Maplewood, just a few minutes off of 78. Well worth a visit, he's always got a couple unique cars in his shop and has just about every part rare part on the planet stashed on his shelves somewhere.

Also, if you're in Newark, go to the Portuguese section of town (known as Ironbound section because of the wrought iron architecture) and have some Brazilian BBQ. You'll never eat so many different types of BBQ meat.

BBQ IS MY FAV! Thank you.

Also, I will need to do my brakes. I might just stop at GTP and see if he has any cool e34 stuffs too.

[skateimitation]

Like beer? I'm the head brewer at a brewery just 10 minutes off 81 in Waynesboro, VA! You should definitely stop in and grab a bite to eat and maybe something to go? (I figure you may not want to drink if you are driving)

[Vtec?lol]

Like beer? I'm the head brewer at a brewery just 10 minutes off 81 in Waynesboro, VA! You should definitely stop in and grab a bite to eat and maybe something to go? (I figure you may not want to drink if you are driving)

Love beer.
What kind of food do you serve?

[flyboyx]

Hello Gang,

This week I'll be driving from Newark New Jersey to Dallas Texas. I'm very curious to know who's in NJ? More importantly, WHERE'S THE GOOD FOOD!?

I'll be driving starting the 7th and will be crossing the following;
Interstates 78, 81, 40, and 30.
Brooklyn to Newark NJ
Parts of central PA
Baltimore
Roanoke Virginia (slowly)
Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis TN
Little Rock AK

I'll be in me wagon so I'm also interested in finding really good junkyards. I'm looking for e34 stuffs mostly.

Tell me where to go...

pa: stop at gettysburg and check out the civil war park.
baltimore: phillips crab shack for a crab cake.
memphis: blue dog cafe or rendezvous for ribs

skip little rock. from nashville, take the natchez trace parkway all the way to natchez mississippi. it was an old rail road bed that has been turned into a scenic park drive through the wilderness. there are basically no stop signs and the speed limit is like 50 mph. it is amazing but be sure to plan the drive to do it during the day. it is so worth it. watch out for deer and other critters that can jump out and punch your car in the nose.

[skateimitation]

Love beer.
What kind of food do you serve?

More of a pub style menu to keep customers happy since we are off the beaten path. Burgers, smoked pork, and sandwiches. All locally sourced and smoked on site! 16 taps as well.

[Vtec?lol]

pa: stop at gettysburg and check out the civil war park.
baltimore: phillips crab shack for a crab cake.
memphis: blue dog cafe or rendezvous for ribs

skip little rock. from nashville, take the natchez trace parkway all the way to natchez mississippi. it was an old rail road bed that has been turned into a scenic park drive through the wilderness. there are basically no stop signs and the speed limit is like 50 mph. it is amazing but be sure to plan the drive to do it during the day. it is so worth it. watch out for deer and other critters that can jump out and punch your car in the nose.

Sounds like I might need a good camera? I'm googling it but can't find much. I keep getting a walking trail.

More of a pub style menu to keep customers happy since we are off the beaten path. Burgers, smoked pork, and sandwiches. All locally sourced and smoked on site! 16 taps as well.

Sounds good to me!

[jpod999]

Sounds like I might need a good camera? I'm googling it but can't find much. I keep getting a walking trail.





Sounds good to me!

Parkway looks like it technically starts here: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0292...9879446,13.65z

[Vtec?lol]

Hmmm, that adds a good 4hrs. If I were coming to Houston I would definitely do it. That road looks amazing though. Lots of nice turns

[flyboyx]

trust me buddy. its worth it. especially if you have your daughter with you. i don't know how many opportunities you will have to pass through that part of the country, but if you decide to go out of your way, you won't regret it.

[Vtec?lol]

trust me buddy. its worth it. especially if you have your daughter with you. i don't know how many opportunities you will have to pass through that part of the country, but if you decide to go out of your way, you won't regret it.

I'll be alone. :(

But if you insist, then I'm going.

So I basically take Natchez pkwy all the way down to Mississippi? Then take i20 back to Dallas?

[Zeemz]

Go to Deal's Gap and drive the Tail of the Dragon. 318 turns in 11 miles. Roads around there are a blast as well. It is about 1.5 hour detour from Knoxville. Well worth it.

http://tailofthedragon.com/

Depending on how far you are driving, it might be a good place to take a detour and stay the night. We stayed at Fontana Village, when I took my S2000 down with S2ki crew and over 150 other S2000s about 10 years ago. There are tons of bikers and other car clubs there on the regular, so you get to seem some nice cars as well. http://www.killboy.com/ Local photographer/business guy who takes pictures, you should check them out.

Depending on how crazy it is they kind of turn a blind eye to sprinted driving within reason as far as speed limits go. But they will post up and write tickets all day for tires squealing around corners or crossing the double yellow lines, but this keeps everyone safe.

[flyboyx]

I'll be alone. :(

But if you insist, then I'm going.

So I basically take Natchez pkwy all the way down to Mississippi? Then take i20 back to Dallas?

i would say at least take it from nashville to jackson, miss. then take 20 across to dallas. if you can find the time to see natchez, and spend a few hours there wandering through the town(have dinner, have a couple beers, check out a few shops, buy the little wife something nice from there), it is worth the trouble to do so.

on the rare occasion i drive to michigan, i usually go out of my way to drive through there. i have done it 3 or 4 times.

[Vtec?lol]

Well this whole trip was the worst Bimmer experience ever.

Took a chance on a car in Jersey. It was supposed to be a mint Hellrot 530iT with a clean 5spd swap. Sounds amazing right? I had him facetime me and take dozens of detailed photo's. Car looked clean and mint. we spent hrs on the phone going over every little details and personal life. Got to know the seller and decided to jump on it.

He was asking $4500 bottom dollar. He explained he would require half down through paypal. I agreed ASSUMING everything on paypal is protected right? WRONG!

So I sent the phucker $2k and bought my $180 ticket to fly up. Fast fwd 2 weeks later and I show up to the Newark airport. He comes flying in and I can see that amazing Hellrot paint from 400 meters away. I was excited, until he got within 20ft. I was instantly cooked inside. My gut muscles were on full flex and I could taste just a wee bit of vomit in my mouth.

He pulls up and I'm like, "No way? this is it?" he laughs without ever looking me in my face, "Yes haha, this is it my friend!"

I get in anyway because I was so curious to see how this car could possibly be the same from the photo's. While he's driving I whip out my phone and start comparing photo to reality. Nothing was the same. Not the paint. Not the interior. Nothing. He mentioned there was just a couple of regular dings however the paint was excellent. The car looked like it was tossed through years worth of brush and gravel. There wasn't a 2cm area of any panel that you couldn't see primer through. He mentioned there was no rust. The bottom seals of the doors were holding on by something imaginary.

Just a few things he didn't mention,
-dented, rusted gas tank held on with rope and zip ties
-ball joints and control arms so severely worn the steering wheel has an entire half turn worth of play. Yes you have to actively rotate the steering wheel by half turns to keep straight.
-Exhaust was held up by hangar wire
-lol the b!tchclip was not existent. The shifter carrier was secured by zip ties
-the rear hatch did not close. It was held shut with a zip tie
-the selector rod did not have the securing clip in. He warned not to twist the shifter when driving home so it wouldn't fall out.
-the headliner.... What headliner? There was a headliner in the facetime video. Wtf did it go?
-Hood had buckles all over it.
-battery had a huge draw when the car was off. The radio and the cluster did not turn off with the key lol
-Sheet rock screws holding the front door tweeter


He took me back to his place of business where they did vinyl car wraps. This is when everything made sense. There was wrap freshly removed in the dumpster. The exact color of the car in the pics. I asked him about it and he denied everything. I laughed and told him to refund my money. He told me "no, it's illegal to refund deposits in the USA." I laughed even harder and then got aggressive while explaining proper business ethics in America. He called his friends and I called paypal.

This is when my blood pressure went through the roof. Paypal explained they would not cover me as this was for the purchase of a car. I screamed at them for at least 2 hrs and finally a US manager got on the phone and told me to phuck off and good luck.

Called Newark police. They said they couldn't do anything and referred me to the cyber police.

To avoid killing anyone I calmly got an Uber back to the airport and had a few drinks. I just got burned out of $2k. It feels so bad. I'm currently fighting it with my credit card company. Not sure what else to do. I think I'm done with BMW's for now. Taking a break from all this.

/rant