I'd definitely drive 5 hours for something I absolutely fell in love with that I felt I would have very little chance of finding elsewhere.

That map kills me!! :D

I've driven a couple hours round trip or so to get the exact model of a piece of furniture I wanted at a great price. I'm cheap and I love the adventure of the hunt ;-)

Do it!! I live on a small island in the middle of the pacific, I don't have that option.

I like everything in my home to have a story... think anytime someone compliments you on those cabinets or you are just enjoying them, you can remember back to the day you drove a full day and then some to pick them up.

I think I would at least contemplate it. If it seems do-able and you love the cabinets then I say go for it.

Not far. I've had people decide to sell something to someone else on Craigslist even when I'd scheduled a pick up a day or two later. So once you get into something like renting a Uhaul, the risk goes up.

I once made the 7 hour drive from NYC to Rochester to pick up 2 reclining chairs (from eBay, not Craig's) -- but it was a good excuse to spend the night at a friend's house nearby who I get to see far too infrequently!

And, I love the chairs -- they can be seen in my apt:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2006-entries/small-cool-extras-franks-midcentury-madness--008853

Those sound like original St. Charles Cabinets. You should not only do it, but you should speed. That brand is iconic!

Well, for me, that would be a pretty easy decision to arrive at.

First, cost of gasoline weighed against retail of CL item if bought new, is a simple concept.

But, for me, what's more important, the environmental benefit of reusing the item against release of emissions to collect this reuseable item. 5 hours of driving could be quite a lot of C02 emission @19.5lbs/gal of gas,depending on the Uhaul's MPG...which is likely pretty low. Reusing something is not an automatically greener thing to do.

My driving limit was 4.5 hours to get to NYC for the perfect find AND visit my daughter at the same time. Now she's 7 hours away and of course I'd do that. But nada on anything over 2-3 hours one way. And of course it would have to fit in or on top of my Forester. U-hauls would negate any activity, I'd simply wait or function with something else. It's not all THAT important to me.

ugh I live in Lincoln, Nebraska. If you want anything that isn't a brown leather sofa you have to get used to the idea of driving or paying outrageous shipping for home goods. 5 hours? Done that to Kansas City many times!!

I've gone about 1.5 hours for free or very low cost CL finds (I drove 1.5 hours for a free tub and 1 hour for some $10 pendant lamps) - but both went in my car, and I did it on my non-work time. Sometimes I've seen things that I wanted (like when I was shopping for bath-tubs) that would have required a U-Haul, and I figured it wasn't worth the cost -- and then I found the same thing nearer by.

Be sure you know what you're getting into with metal cabinets in this scenario. Even if they look good from the pictures, they could be messed up in real life. They are difficult and expensive to refinish properly.

I have someone driving an hour to buy my 2 nightstands this week.
I once drove to Philladelphia from northern NJ to pick up some chairs...but I can't imagine driving 5 hours especially with a 3 yr old...so 2 hours max for me.

You are going to tell us what you decide, aren't you? And post a picture of the cabinets if you do get them?

Because I live in the middle of nowhere, everywhere is a long drive. However, the adventure aspect must be factored in. Is it somewhere I want to visit anyway? Are there other places along the way that are interesting?

When I lived overseas, I had to take a 4 hour bus ride each way to Shanghai just to get IKEA crap.

Worth it if there's absolutely no alternatives in your area.

If you're trying to save money then get there on public transit and rent the uhaul there.

Or if the locale is in Michigan you could buy empty cans at 5¢ a pop and redeem them in Michigan for 10¢. Fill up the truck and bring them there to recoup the costs. I think you can google the method.

@mdanger I forget that KC really isn't THAT far from LNK. I think it is time to expand my Craigslist searching.

Do it! Somehow mauishopgirl's response above reminded me of the couples that fight against the system and wait patiently to adopt children from other countries. If it makes you happy and it's worth it to you... go for it! Recalling the story with new people on how that piece joined your home (and family) is precious :)

@KerryNM

But what about the embodied energy of new cabinets factored into the "green" argument? Especially ones that could be purchased for anywhere near the cost of these vintage/reclaimed ones? Most inexpensive, pre-fab cabinetry is not at ALL green when you consider the shipping and the materials it is built from. I think a little CO2 from a round trip within 5 hours is balanced out by the HUGE amount of CO2 involved in shipping materials and cabinet boxes all over the country (and/or world, depending where they're manufactured), plus the formaldehyde and plastics that go into the production of MDF, plywood, melamine, laminate, etc...

now, if we were talking custom cabinets made from local, sustainably harvested wood by a craftsman in his backyard workshop that happens to be located next door to your house so he can just carry them over when they're done... that would be greener... but I have a sneaking suspicion that is NOT what we're talking about.
;)

I would make the trip as long as they were guaranteed to be there.

I picked up a card catalog in San Francisco a few years ago - I live in Phoenix. 14 hour drive for that one, and worth every minute of it.

As someone who checks craigslist 24/7, I've earned that it may take awhile, but just when you think you've found the perfect item, something else pops up later that tops it. So, for me, not very far.

I've done it before in a heartbeat. You've already gotten a great story out of it, and you love them, so why not? PLEASE post pictures!

I have to show this to my husband, who thinks I'm a tad bit irrational about my Craig's List Travels: he accuses me of being in it for the thrill of the hunt. Just because my breath quickens, my heart races, and my eyes gleam...He even gave me a Garmin Nuvi for Christmas to help cut down on the amount of time I wander lost in the suburbs in search of my quarry. I don't know what he's talking about.

@mdanger You forgot that you can also get things that are super fugly or were worn out in the 80s. Those are also available in the lincoln area. :)

I just made my husband do a 120 mile round trip from Crockett, CA to San Jose TWICE for a pair of amazing chinoiserie china cabinets. I would do such hauls in a heart beat, but he wanted to stab me in the head (affectionately). I wish I had the brawn to do it myself and not have to torture friends and family.

I hire delivery companies to do my far-reaching Craigslist fetching and gathering - It's been worth every penny.

I would definitely drive. Just drive faster and you might make it there in 4.45 hours. It's not a lot but it's 15 minutes more time you spend with your kitchen cupboards.
Good luck from London

I guess I'm suspicious and old. I wouldn't go further than the next town for anything second hand, and I'd decide when I laid eyes upon it whether or not it was worth it to me. Five hours for something seen only in a photo? No way! But that's me, not you, so it really doesn't matter!

The husband and I once drove 4 hours to pick up a mid-century stereo console in Asheville that we got on eBay. Totally worth the trip.

We've driven 24 hours round trip for an antique leather chesterfield sofa. Totally worth it!

Check out the movie, The Puffy Chair, by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass. On the surface, it's about a couple driving a long ways to get a chair. But it's about more than just that.

I once drove 90 minutes each way, and had to hire help, but it was worth it.

Why? The item in question was an industrial patternmaking table in good used condition. New ones can cost thousands of dollars, and used ones aren't easy to find. This table was $75, plus the cost of having it picked up and assembled. Taking gas mileage into consideration, the total cost was still under $300. Not bad, considering that's a fraction of the cost of full retail + delivery, AND considering that I use it for everything. (I am a fashion designer by training and always have several creative projects in progress.)

If it were anything else, though, I'd probably cap it at an hour, but I'm lucky enough to not live in the boondocks.

I try and stay within an hours drive. Having said that I've driven through many blizzards to pick up that one special item.

If you want to have a seller hold something, consider paying by paypal. Most people have accounts these days, and you can just transfer over the money.

I have to agree with leith and other posters - there are far too many flaky people on Craigslist (at least I feel in SoCal, anyway) for me to justify even an hour's drive out of the way... although of course, it depends on the ratio between the advertised price and retail price, and the availability as well.

15 hours with a rented uhaul to pick up vintage Togo sofas from Ligne Roset. We stopped for the night at a nice beach and had a great diner, and the sofas as just perfect. I cost us 1000 euros for three sofas; that's a fraction of the price we would have paid for the smaller one. The upholstery is brand new and in a unique color we love. So my advice is: go for it ! Now !

Two weeks ago we rented a van and drove from Nashville to Detroit for a CL find - it was 9 hours each way, but totally worth it...

My partner and I drove 5+ hours to pick up our dining room table - an rustic wooden 10' number that was a mere $200.

I am sitting at it now. Need I say more?

i'm gonna need to see these cabinets...

I think the bigger question is -- where are you getting gas for only $4??

if you will regret NOT driving the 5 hours later, I would go.

I've had my dad drive with me 3 hours away to pick up a dresser, so 6 hours roundtrip. it was a gorgeous old dresser that he refinished as a wedding present.

if we hadn't taken the 6 hour drive, i probably would've gotten a gift card for my wedding, and those just aren't as sentimental as a trip AND an heirloom piece of furniture.

i say, go for it!

I will drive about 2 hours, maybe a little more or less, but always with my husband along. He won't let me go alone which complicates things since our work schedules conflict but helps since he'll take things apart with or for me. More than half of our things are from the Twin Cities area craigslist so we make it work.

We drove from Chicago to Seattle and back for an old Airstream trailer we just *had* to have several years ago. The enjoyment of the road trip was 10 TIMES as memorable and fun than the trailer itself (which we sold for a different one a few years later).

More recently I've been getting doubly creative with my CL finds: purchasing something the seller is willing to hold (after I PayPal them). And then, I've been able to head over to the seller's local CL "rideshare" section. Finding somebody headed our way is not that uncommon - usually younger people moving with a half empty truck. For a few tanks of gas you can have some *incredible* things delivered right to your door - help somebody else out - and often make a friend in the process.

I did this "buy and deliver" scenario twice last year: first with an antique canoe I had brought to Chicago from New Jersey... and again this past winter when I bought a century-old leather Parisian club chair in San Francisco (100 bucks, folks) and had it brought to my parents' place in Los Angeles in a half empty UHaul for another $75.

There's nothing inherently wrong with CL itself - it's the people who use it, and while I've been stung once big time... I've found more often than not that people are honest, helpful and friendly. Maybe it's the type of things I'm buying.

Can we cross The Border!!

@Jofoto. As part of NAFTA, you don't pay duty on furniture purchased in Mexico or Canada. I bought a cabinet in Vancouver BC and drove it home to Seattle. I did have to bring the receipt into the Customs office at the border, but once they checked their rule book, they waved me away.

@bepsf
That's one of the classic CL scams, though (often in combo with the "here's a money order in excess of the price, please give cash to my delivery person").

I live in Philadelphia. I found a listing for an item (from cb2) I pretty much knew from the past 1.5 years of scanning CL that I would only ever find listed in NY, or maybe north jersey. It comes up rarely enough that I wanted to jump on it. But I first took a look through additional NY listings (I don't normally search them), and I found 2 additional listings that I was fairly certain, barring damage not visible in the photos, that I wanted. I managed to set up appts to see all 3 in the same day. A roadtrip to NY for 1 item, even if I'd been waiting for it forever? Not worth it. A road trip for 3 items? Totally ok!

But I've driven pretty far (various places in north jersey) for other items, too. It's just the tolls and the DRIVING IN NY!?!? that made that trip unprecedented up to that point (not worse than driving in philly, actually).

Really, the most egregious example was for a table in north jersey. I really liked it. It had a clever mechanism—well, it was like this dane decor console/table, although they don't look alike. The problem was that it was being sold as a set with 6 chairs. I did not want the chairs. The seller did not want to break the set. I wait a month, hoping the seller would either break the set or go for a lower price on the set. Neither occurred. I finally decide to buy it anyway. But I was not about to rent a UHaul to make this trip; I would use my car, thanks. My car is a Fit. It can fit a lot, but it was not about to fit 1 table (that could seat 6 if need be) and 6 chairs (approximately as bulky as parsons chairs+armrests) in at the same time (... probably). So I had to make 2 trips. 400 miles total for a table and 6 chairs I did not want that subsequently took me several months to resell (at a slightly lower price than I was hoping for, but oh well). The final price for the table was $325+~1 tank of gas. I saw the Dane Decor in a store in person a few months later, and it was on sale for $800, and I do actually like my table more, so I still feel pretty ok about this.