May 30, 2006
Abstract
My story of buying a low-mileage sports car on eBay. How my daughter and I flew to Ft. Lauderdal, Florida and had an exciting road trip back home to north Alabama.
Florida - Alabama Road Trip in a 986 Porsche
I found this car on eBay in May 2006. After winning the auction, I bought two one-way airline tickets to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Kimberly (my 18 year-old daughter) and I flew out of Huntsville, Alabama at 6:00 a.m. and arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 10:00 a.m. (every commercial flight that originates in Alabama has to stop over in Atlanta, or so it seems). We thought we could take turns driving and be home by midnight, but "Murphy's Law" kicked in and we didn't make it on schedule.
Arrival in Ft. Lauderdale
We exited the airport and hailed a cab and in minutes we were inspecting the car. Within two hours we were turning on to the Florida Turn-Pike North for the road trip home. I pulled over, put the top down and took the passenger seat. Kimberly drove first. We cruised between 75 mph and 95 mph for three hours. Our only interruptions were the toll booths. Kimberly was really aggravated with paying tolls, a new experience for her.
We stopped in Port St. Lucie for fuel and ate at an Italian Restaurant. Our pit stop in Port Saint Lucie was great and we were back on the Florida Turn-Pike North and cruising again with the top down. After passing Kissimmee and Orlando (Disney World) I took the wheel at the next fuel stop and we got back underway on the Florida Turn-Pike North. By now we had the top up.
On the Florida Turn-Pike Just one mile short of the I-10/I-75 interchange and the Georgia state line, "Murphy's Law" kicked in.
We were cruising at 75 mph when the right front tire blew due to under-inflation (tire pressure was one thing that I failed to check during the inspection). LIFE LESSON #142: Always check the tire pressure before a road trip. "It's the little things that can and will get you", Sgt. G always told me to pay attention to details. It was a combination of the Florida heat, heavy traffic on the Florida Turn-Pike, high speed for an extended period of time and the "under inflation" that caused the tire to separate about one inch from the wheel and for the entire circumference of the tire!
At first indication of the blow-out, which was a very loud whining noise, I immediately decelerated without braking and took the emergency lane to the far right and coasted to a stop. When the "whining sound" started and grew louder, Kimberly and I exchanged glances knowing that something was wrong, but the problem wasn't obvious because the new low-profile tires are designed to assist in this scenario. If I had over-reacted and braked hard at the first warning indication, the results could have been disastrous. Braking hard would have resulted in my ruining a wheel in the best case (due to total tire separation and wheel-to-pavement contact), and quite possibly our flipping the car and losing our lives in the worst case.
Wet weather racing tires
I dislike cell phones but, it's times like this when they are a must! I called Triple-A (AAA) from my cell phone. AAA had a roll-back there to rescue us in 45 minutes. If you routinely travel more than 50 miles from home more than three times per year, you should join AAA. I pay for a Gold Membership for all of my employees each year. I think it costs $62 and it is worth every penny if anyone of us have an experience like this. If I had not had AAA, I would have been lost as to who to call in the above situation.
The roll-back driver (who was originally from Ohio as I learned from talking to him on the ten minute trip) took us and the Porsche back to Lake City, Florida, the nearest town. We left the Porsche at Tire Kingdom and the store manager gave Kimberly and I a ride to the Holiday Inn down the street. We had to stay over-night because they didn't have the 17 inch tire in stock and it had to come from another store the following morning.
We checked in, checked out our rooms and I called a taxi to take us to the local Wal-Mart to get over-night items that we had not brought on the trip, like under-wear, tooth brushes, tooth paste, deodorant, hair spray, t-shirts, razors, eye drops, a couple of hair brushes and a travel bag to put all of this stuff in for the trip home. The taxi driver was originally from Michigan. The funny thing about these people that we met was the fact that they had northern accents. Here we were in Florida, further south than Alabama and we were meeting people with Yankee accents! The exception was the taxi cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale. I still haven't decided what language he spoke, but it wasn't English.
After spending the night at the Holiday Inn in Lake City, the next day we were back on the road and made it home safe and sound.
