We live in San Diego, but my daughter goes to school in Boston. We have a 1999 GS 300 that we bought new, and now has 100K miles on it, still runs great. She has been bugging us about getting a car, which she would drive just a little, since she does use the T in Boston. The question is, do we drive the Lexus cross country, or buy her a used car in Boston?
I think that trip would be a blast,
Buying a used car is a HUGE, HUGE hassle and you can’t be for sure what you’re getting. With the Lexus, you know what you’ve got.
Get any delinquent maintenance caught up and launch. Your owner’s manual will say what needed to be done & when.
You can probably get a reasonably priced plane ticket for BOS - SAN through Southwest or another carrier of your choosing.
Lot’s of GS300 have survived Boston. Starting life in San Diego means your GS300 hasn’t been exposed to any harsh road chemicals so your’s will do fine in Boston. How it will hold up to your daughter? That’s the question.
If you drive cross country you might consider NYC area airports if you can’t get good fares from Boston. My relatives in San Diego fly into and out of Philadelphia on Southwest. Check around, even Buffalo NY has some cheap flights to San Diego. Your daughter can take a train to meet you and pick the car just about anywhere in the NE.
The Lexus will be a great car for your daughter. Have a mechanic check it out and make sure all periodic maintenance is done if they are due. The trip will be a “shakedown” cruise for the GS 300. Think of it as a mini vacation and enjoy yourself.
It’ll do fine, she’ll have the T to ride in bad (snow) weather. I assume she has a reasonable and secure place to park it. I’d get it checked over, and make sure it has really good tires.
My son went to Berklee in Boston.
If I were you, first I’d ask her about parking arrangements. She doesn’t really need a car in Boston and it’ll be a huge headache…and get beat up really quickly.
+1 on the parking. The mechanicals will survive just fine. The traffic and parking will be the issues of merit. One of Money Magazines losers in (iirc) 1975 was a Pinto owner whose insurance was $2500/year…which was more than his car was worth. He slashed his collision to bring it down to $1700 (which was the value of his car). Battle scars on the cabs should be an indication. Where the old school “if you can get your passenger car door in front of them, you can merge/change lanes” is shortened to only requiring the front fender. Much of NuWingland is archaic in traffic regulation …Bastahn being the worst. I came from MA and it takes me a good week or two to get the body language required to drive with anything that could be called a “casual” manner. My old connecting road between Nautahn (Norton) and Attabarah (Attleboro) …Rt OneFahty still sports the 50 year old blinking yellow light at some curve.
Wicked good post. And you make a good point about the insurance. The OP might wahnt to check thaht out.
Agree; Rome in Italy and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia are the only two more scary places I have ever driven than Boston. As one of the oldest cities in the US, the street system is more suitable for ox carts and horse carriages that motor vehicles.
The insurance cost will be punishing, reflecting the driving conditions.
The Lexus will survive but it will pick up an number of battle scars, not necessarily the fault of your daughter.
Aren’t the Car Talk boys from Boston? Get them to be your local mechanic in MA. Don’t they actually have a real garage? Thought it was more than just a radio show and website. So far as the OP’s original question . . . will it survive? Certainly! Would I want a car in Boston? No way. Keep the Lexus in CA and get her to use mass transit until she’'s done with school. Rocketman
Does your daughter live on campus? They may have parking available at reasonable rates. You should also contact your insurer and ask how much it would cost if she took the GS 300 to Boston and became the main driver. Since she won’t us it for commuting, the cost will be reasonable - for Boston.
Thanks for all the replies! Just a quick update - she actually goes to school in Needham, so the car is mainly for driving to the T stop, shopping, etc. Not driving and parking in Boston, as everyone pointed out. Also, our insurer says we can have California rates for a while - not sure how long that might last -