Being a born opportunist, I always wanted to try something new or take part in something that others wouldn’t necessarily want to take or do. In the spring of 2016, I served as a Sales Consultant/Internet Lead position with a Hyundai dealership in Chester, Virginia. For those who are unaware, 2016 marked the launch of the Genesis brand for Hyundai. They re-badged and re-branded the Genesis product as a separate luxury entity from Hyundai, even though the vehicles, parts and designs were still under the Hyundai parent company. The body style didn’t change on the on the original Genesis, but they did reposition the brand as the new contemporary luxury brand rivaling the likes of Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Audi. Around the first or second Week of June, my general sales manager came into our internet office and approached me with an opportunity to complete a deal and deliver a brand new 2017 Genesis G80 to a client who lived in Queens, New York. After thinking about it for a little bit, I decided that this will be a great opportunity to do something I’ve never done before and travel up to New York City. The only catch was I had to deliver the vehicle to the client’s home during the week by 6am, before he had to go into work. This presented a whole new challenge as I would have to travel overnight and make sure I get to his location before any traffic would hit and delay the delivery time.
I decided that I was definitely up for the challenge and wanted to see what it would be like to drive overnight, especially up to New York City. The day before the delivery was to take place, I went into my finance manager’s office and made sure we had all the paperwork and reviewed all the signature areas where the client needed to sign and complete. I plated the vehicle (put license plates on) and then filled up the gas tank, then I proceeded to drive the Genesis to my home and rest up until it was time to hit the road. Now for years, I’ve always been a night owl, so it was hard for me to get myself in the bed at 5:30 in the afternoon only to wake up several hours later to get on the road, but somehow, I managed to sleep due to taking some night-time tea and eating a decently large meal that gave me the “Itis”.
11:30 PM, my alarm rang out. I quickly jumped up, threw my clothes on, and made sure I had everything I needed and then proceeded to hit the highway right at Midnight. As I was getting some distance on the road, I remember approaching Alexandria, Virginia feeling a little tired and decided to pull over to a Shell station and see what I could snack on that would keep me up. Enter my first experience with Five-Hour Energy shots. I grabbed the blue raspberry flavor, along with a slim Jim and orange juice, then jumped back in the car and started sipping on the energy shot. Within about 5 to 10 minutes, I began bumping my head to the music, singing along to everything that I could sing to and smiled so hard to the point where I felt like I was high as a kite! Man, I’m glad I was traveling by myself because if anyone had been sitting in the car with me, they would’ve thought I would’ve gone straight crazy lol. Once I got past Pennsylvania, I realized I was making really good time, and not to my surprise, this Genesis was true to form in being the smoothest, most comfortable riding sedan I’ve ever driven. The client had purchased the 3.8L V6 AWD HTRAC model. It had wonderful pick up, not to mention all the creature comforts that anyone would desire in a vehicle, and let me tell you, I used every one of those safety alert options like Adaptive Cruise, Land Departure, Blind Spot Monitor and Heads-Up Display. The Apple CarPlay integrated seamlessly with my iPhone, displaying my navigation clearly and concisely on the main screen. After I passed through New Jersey and crossed into New York, I remember approaching the Verrazano Bridge from a distance, it looked really, really narrow and old. But when I got to the toll booth, not only did I get to see that it was a pretty decent bridge, but it gave the most beautiful skyline view of the city. Man, I thought I was the luckiest man in the world to witness such a beautiful view of the city skyline in all its splendor, totally uninterrupted from the hustle and bustle of the demanding traffic just before dawn.
I arrived at the clients’ house at around 5:45 in the morning. He was already up, expecting me thankfully, because I certainly was feeling a little uneasy about knocking on somebody’s door at such an early hour. He brought me into his kitchen area where we sat down at the table and proceeded to do the paperwork. I was thankful that he offered me something to snack on and something to drink, but I was really concerned about making sure all the documents were complete in time for me to get back on the road and well ahead of the impending traffic that was about to hit. Now the biggest piece of this puzzle was the clients’ trade in. He was selling us as a part of the deal an older BMW 3-series, 4-door automatic, white exterior with beige leather. My job was to make sure the vehicle was in good condition for the trip down and also confirm the value that we gave him for it. Fortunately for me everything worked out well. Our used car manager back at the dealership confirmed the vehicle’s condition through pictures as well as a VIN check through Carfax. With the signed paperwork in hand, I proceeded to inspect and take possession of his BMW and prepared to get back on the road. The client led me to a gas station where I filled up the tank and got on the highway at 6:15am.
As I looked back in my rearview mirror getting on the highway, I saw all these cars flooding behind me, likely on their way completing their regular commutes through this busy metropolis. I said to myself, Thank God I got out of there in decent time to beat all this traffic. Now as wonderful, smooth and delightful the Genesis experience was, the BMW 3-series did not deliver on that same promise. The one thing I always loved about BMWs are that they provide the “Ultimate Driving Experience”. As far as a “feel-of-the-road”, precise handling, extremely tight/firm suspension for cornering and driving at almost G-Force levels, this bad boy was ready for any race track. The client had also modified the suspension by lowering the springs, which gave it that “Slammed” look and feel, befitting the style loosely set for racetrack driving. But the New York and “Up North” highways do not even closely resemble any smooth race tracks. I felt every bump, hole, rock and pebble which really wore me out pretty bad. The Audubon style of driving was not to be heading back to Virginia on those pothole-riddled roads with an extremely firm drivers’ seat. I remember pulling off of the highway and parking at a motel parking lot outside of Pittsburg. closing my eyes for about an hour and a half to two hours to rest and recoup for the drive back.
Sometime after 5pm, I made it back to the dealership and turned in the trade-in. My sales manager looked me in my eyes and said, “Go straight home”. I couldn’t even disagree with him on that because I was bone-tired. Thankfully, our dealer exchange driver drove me home with a chase car behind us so that he could ride back to the dealership. As soon as I put my key into my front door, I went straight to my bedroom and collapsed and called it a day.
As I was falling asleep, I was thinking to myself, the best part about this whole experience was the late-night driving. Seeing all the landscape and the various buildings from the highway really made it special, especially void of all the traffic that you would normally encounter during peak hours. From this experience, the allure and love for distance driving came to fruition and I can definitely say it was all worth it, specifically now that I get to share it with my Car Guys and Gals…
Car Guy’s Car Tip
Any overnight or long-distance driving should warrant multiple safety precautions that include alerting and communicating with someone while traveling. Always maintain contact throughout your journey and should you have to pull over and rest, make sure you go to a safe, well-lit area or overnight facility. Enjoying these beautiful roads and landscapes requires us to be smart and careful at the same time…