not my car or me driving, trip was around 375 miles total. for a $5 machine, that looked like someone took a hammer to it, or was drop from a 10 story building. object was to get the $375 hook / bobbin case out of it .. driving time was less than 5 hrs annnnd >> $80 in gas.

I'll never ride in a car again with that guy driving. the car is a 400+ hp honda, The kind that doesn't run well under 100 mph.

My son has a couple of those Hondas (we're a Honda family) so I know exactly what you mean.

I've taken two trips that were over two hours driving one way. The first one was north, to pick up 6 machines. The second trip was south to give someone a machine, and he surprised me with a machine he gave me.

Cari

Well, I'd offer to pick something up in Redding, but very seldom does anything good show up here. Which is why I lurk on CL for other towns, (including Bay Area!!). Which is why I drove to Klamath Falls to get the Singer 12, then across to Medford for the 319.

Actually, the patient hubby drove, and the two machines were an anniversary present. He was planning to take me out to buy me a gift, and I said I already had one picked out, we just had to drive to Oregon to get it. It took a little longer to convince him that a loop over to Medford was much nicer than just up and back, but he agreed.

After we stepped into the house that the 319 came from, he may have rued that decision. After we spent 5 minutes getting the machine out of its crappy homemade cabinet, but about 45 minutes trying to get the spring lifty thing, he may have been sorry he even met me. But he did it, we did it, and finally got back home. An 11 hour day. We had a long ride, and I am happy with my "gifts," and neither one of us lost our patience or got crabby. So, it looks like we're probably good for another 10 years... depending on how many more machines and road trips I propose!

My longest road trip was probably 7 years ago, a 30 to 45 min to pick up a little (plastic) Brother because I wanted ZZ. The seller had received the machine from her husband "because she loves to CROCHET" LOL She had no use for the sewing machine..... (I don't either, now that I have metal ZZ ones :-) )

My shortest trip was across the street to get the 1918 red eye treadle, that I didn't want but the neighbor insisted that I take it - it was his grandmother's.
After picking up the Bel Air Bantam at a thrift store and fixing it up, I remembered the RedEye in my husband's studio and we brought it down to the house. It was gummed up pretty bad. When I removed the tire for the bobbin winder it simply broke into several pieces! I truly enjoyed making it run smoothly again and to restore its good looks.

Ha. I think the closest I've gone after a machine was across the street to pick the trash.

Lol, these are all great stories. I don't think I have one to top any. I have convinced my hubs to drive 2.5 hours one way for a mint 301 for $30 and loads of acc. But generally I stay within 1.5 hrs and go myself.

The longest round trip for me was 7 hours. It was a beautiful day for a road trip so I made arrangements with a couple to pick up a VSM, nice find

Well, I briefly CONSIDERED taking a day off work and driving from Portland, OR to Tacoma, WA to buy a Borletti machine through an online Goodwill auction. The evil Tacoma Goodwill not
only gets great machines...and DOES NOT SHIP, it also only allows pickup in the middle of the day (no weekends!) to further
minimize their sales to non-local, employed customers!

I did the math on lost wages, vehicle miles and gas for my guzzler and decided to pass. And lo and behold, I stumbled on a better Borletti machine a few months later, 4 miles from home!

I went from Minnesota to Arizona to get a Feather Weight with Table. I also included a visit with my brother who was nice enough to pick up the machine for me. I shipped the table home and carried the sewing machine on the plane.
HelenAnn

Springfield, IL to Ft Wayne, IN. Not sure of the miles but it's a bout 8 hours or so the way my wife drives it.
She's got a sister there so that is also factored in.


Joe