Cbad Cars, Carlsbad

Cbad Cars is North County San Diego’s weekly Saturday meet. The organizer’s Instagram profile gives the whole schedule: “Cbad Cars is a reoccurring event every Saturday, 7-9am.” The place is “Poinsettia Village, 7130 Avenida Encinas Carlsbad, CA 92011,” the shopping center at Poinsettia Lane and Avenida Encinas near the coast. A second account describing the same meet puts it at the “Corner of Poinsettia and Avenida Encinas” and adds the invitation: “Any car, any age - bring what ya got.”

When to arrive

7am. The window is two hours, and RallyWays, the enthusiast site that has tracked the meet since 2013, puts the finish bluntly: “Strict times – No lingering afterwards.” The center’s tenants open as the cars leave. The last Saturday of the month has historically been the biggest, with the Porsche Club of America’s San Diego Region as the usual featured marque, per the same site.

Where to park

In the center’s lot. The 7130 address resolves to the Starbucks at the corner, and listings place the cars in front of it. Park in a marked space; the lot belongs to the shops, and this meet has lost a lot before.

Three lots since 2005

RallyWays records the meet as “Held weekly since 2005.” For about ten years it ran at the Carlsbad Premium Outlets; a Porsche club forum thread from September 2012 has it “EVERY Saturday from 7am to 9am” at the Carlsbad Company Stores, with “about 100 CBAD Cars” on one morning that month. It then moved to the Costco lot on Palomar Airport Road, until a management change revoked permission, and in late 2016 to 7130 Avenida Encinas, where it is now. Older guides still list the outlets or “The Shoppes at Carlsbad”; the organizer’s profile is the record.

Which cars

Everything. RallyWays’ description: “exotics, European, domestic, muscle cars, hot rods, Japanese tuners, and rare classics.” The organizer’s own line is shorter: any car, any age. One listing republishes a group statement worth keeping in mind: “Cbad Cars is not a formal organization, it consists of individuals patronizing local businesses.” That is the whole arrangement, and the reason to buy a coffee.

Before you go

The organizer’s Instagram account last posted in August 2026; a companion account for the meet was posting in October. Check either on a Friday night. Arrive at 7am, leave at 9am, and do not treat the lot as a hangout after the hour.

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