Strongly considering a visit to San Diego in the next few months, and I'm really, really, mixed on how to do it.

Living in Oklahoma, do I drive, or fly

Advantages of driving is that I drive my G35, and have a nice navigation system for driving in a large city I've never been to. Avoiding the airlines. Not having to do a rental.

Disadvantage, of course, is 3000 or so miles on my car. Also an extra few days of travel time. Risk of damage from rocks, etc.

Of course, the last 3 times I've been away from home by plane since I've purchased the car I've wished I had it.

I'm well under average mileage wise on the car, so the extra 3000 miles wouldn't really hurt the value of the car that much. Especially since I'm planning on keeping it 6 or more years. 17500 miles, so far, in 23 months.

 

can you spare the time it is going to take to drive? I think it would take much longer to complete the trip than it would be to wade through airport security.

Unles you are going to carry some weed or something with you that you do not want the airport security to take from you I say fly the time you save can be used site seeing in SD, CA.

 

I would fly then rent an econobox (with navigation).

There is much to do in San Diego and everything is so close once you get there. What sorts of things do you want to do/see?

 

My advice? Forget San Diego. Book a flight to BKK and head straight here http://www.flbbar.com/ You will never forget it, but you could become an addict, so be careful.

 

What The Hell Is This Place??? It's An Heaven On Earth!!!

 

Where the hell is BKK??

 

If you decide to drive, rent something decent for the long drive. Like you said, if you drive the G35 it will get a lot of miles (depreciated value) and probably get some rock chips or nasty bug stains. A rental should give you a little more peace of mind knowing you don't have to worry about the car.

 

I have relation I haven't seen in years in San Diego. Driving would require taking a few days of additional vacation.

About a week ago, I checked a couple rental car web sites. It appeared that the navi is a rented Nextel phone that can provide instructions to addresses for at least 1 site.

If I drove, it would give me the chance to drive back via southern Colorado.

 

I always have trouble fitting everything for a week trip into luggage for the plane.

Last summer, flying to Nevada, I thought I would just buy a cheap cooler for water and soda. Cheap, was right. I noticed after a couple days an odor in the car. Turned out that water was leaking through the cooler. Had to buy a more expensive cooler, and leave the windows open a few days to dry out the floor in the back seat.

I have kind of had my fill of planes this year. Fly to Fort Wayne Indiana in June, and in April a LONG flight to Hawaii.

 

BKK is the airport code for Bangkok, Thailand. FLB is in Pattaya on Walking St. About 70 miles south of BKK on the bay.

 

I've seen that Hertz does offer a more usable, to me, GPS navi system for only about $140 rental more than my normal company. (+$69 for the actual navi, the rest is just a higher rate).

I can live with a Taurus, since I drove a 95 for 8 years before I bought the G35. It just isn't as much fun.

 

The best argument in favor of driving is that between Phoenix and San Diego you can really see what your G is made of...I hit 125 on I-8 coming home from San Diego last March (it's mostly straight, flat and lightly traveled). Be careful in NM and CA as they do enforce the speed limit. In AZ highway patrol is few and far between and you're fine as long as you have a radar detector.

 

There are only 2 questions here, in my humble opinion:

1) Do you like to drive?
2) Do you have the time?

The G35 is an excellent road car for high speed, long distance travel. I've only run from the East Bay area of San Francisco to Boise, Idaho on a long trip in my G (with several runs up the Sierra's to Lake Tahoe, carving up Highway 88 and leaving the Acura TL's scratching and clawing frantically with their Wrong Wheel Drive ), and it was great! Running at 85 - 100 MPH across the Nevada desert and high desert, through the canyons, blasting down the Interstate - this car runs .

I bought a "driver's car" to drive , so when the opportunity presents itself for a long run - I'm there! I wouldn't worrry about the miles you'll put on it, they are the miles you're gonna remember the most when about your "G", when you're old and gray .

By the way - I ran from my home in the east bay to Ennis, Texas (50 Mi. below Dallas) in less than 2 days, running 14 hours straight, getting a room for about 12 hours, then running 12 hours straight again 2 years ago in the wife's Accord, running 80-85 MPH all the way (G35 on order ). Distances and route are comparable, just for an FYI.

You've already listed your personal pros and cons, so if you like to drive and you have the time - take the "G" !!

My $0.02

 

Fly and rent. There is too much cool stuff to do and see in SoCal ... tire yourself out in San Diego, not getting there and back. Plus, with the price of gas these days ...

 

Fly and rent when you get there. SD is awesome, you wont have to worry about some other tourist door dinging your car at Sea World either. I hate driving the highway, too boring here in Central Indiana, I prefer something with some scenery and twists, I once drove from Vegas to SD and that ride was boring.
Spend the extra money and get a convertable.