Would you drive your older vehicle 1300 miles for vacation?

[Taylors6]

Our daughter plays competitive travel fastpitch and with this being her last (and most important) year we have some serious travel we are looking at this year for college exposure tournaments.

We have recently paid off DH vehicle (99 GMC Jimmy- about 90,000 miles) and my van (2003 Dodge Grand Caravan currently at 96,000 miles) will be paid off in 4 months! We have been trying really hard lately to pay down debt and the plan was to wait as long as we possibly could before we get any replacement vehicles. Neither of these has cost us much in maintenance- and luckiy the few little things we have had my DH can take care of.

This years schedule has us going to Denver (1100 miles one way) and then a couple months later to Florida (1300 miles one way). As it turns out- if things stay as they have been lately we will be able to save up enough that we could extend our time in FL....and I am sure we can find SOMETHING fun to do there (has 6 letters, starts with D and rhymes with MISNEY!), so I really want to be able to do both trips so that we can have some extra family time.

For some reason though I am very nervous about driving a vehicle with 100,000 miles across country though. The Denver has been planned to be driving with my in-laws in their vehicle, so I have never really worried about it- but we would have to do the FL on our own. The travel expense is not the problem- but I just keep wondering what if the car breaks down?!?!

Do people take their vehicles with that kind of mileage cross country? We would be breaking it up to 2 days driving, because we have other children flying is not an option (that blows the travel expense budget!). I know people keep the cars with high miles- and I am all for that- but I had only planned around town travel. The thought occured that maybe we should just buy something new (well not brand new...) but I really don't wanna do that and take on the payment just because of a trip to FL.

 

[andrews_dad]

I took a Subaru with 130K to Diz World from Pennsylvania one year and then the next year again .. and then the next year again..... It also got me to Canada.

 

[tinker&belle]

Another option that might be cheaper than flying: you could look into a weekly rental car-just check the mile limit.

 

[HunnyPots]

My '99 dodge caravan has close to 140,000 miles on it and I would not hesitate one bit about taking it on a 1300 mile trip. It is well maintained and everything works just like it should, so why wouldn't I? The way we drive our cars, we have at least another 100,000 miles yet to put on this one.

 

[runwad]

Yep we've done it...but it wasn't mileage it was the age of the car. Drove our '85 Chevy Conversion Van (only 70k miles) to Disney from Ohio 2 times. We just got rid of it last fall. We always took it to our mechanic first for an oil change and have him inspect it. Never had a problem.

 

[Pigeon]

I wouldn't drive any vehicle that much. Long car trips are torture for me!

But, I have AAA and if I needed to make the drive, I certainly wouldn't spring for a new car just because of it.

 

[englishteacha]

If I didn't drive "old," or high mileage cars long distances, I'd NEVER go anywhere! I have a 1997 Chevy Malibu. I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a trip. Personally I wouldn't want to drive that far, but I'd do it if it were the only way I could go.

As for breaking down, almost every car trip I took with my parents had a breakdown. We'd get the car fixed and keep going. I can remember 4 times the car breaking down. We drove ancient station wagons, and usually towed a camper. My parents had an emergency fund. The car probably would have broken down if we'd been at home anyway.

If you're concerned, plan in an extra day getting to where you're going, just in case. Stash some money aside in case you break down or need to rent a car. Having AAA probably would be helpful, too.

 

[horseshowmom]

If the vehicle is in good condition, I wouldn't particularly worry about it. I definitely would not buy a car over it. Odds are that both of your vehicles have a lot of good miles left in them. I might consider checking into car rentals with unlimited mileage (might check into Priceline too).

 

[Justsyd2]

My DH certainly would! If I were nervous about it - I'd rent a car for the trips.

 

[FreeTime]

I am in a simlilar position and you are all going to think I am crazy! We have a 2002 with 115K on it. We are making sure that we get the schedule mainteance done on it and just bought new tires because I want to drive it to WDW. Now here is why I am crazy....we just bought a new car in Sept for vacation only. And I don't want to put the miles on it! Talk about buyers remorse!

 

[chobie]

I bought my sister's Suburu Outback with 110,000 miles on it and drove from her home in Mass to mine in south Fla. No problems. The best road trip I've ever had.

 

[dd50]

If the car is running good I don't see any problem with it. I mostly see new cars on the side of the road when on the interstate.

If you can find a good rental price you may want to look into that.

 

[TupperMom7]

If you have kept up on the maintenance and the tires are still good and it hasn't given you any trouble, then I would try it. If you are constantly in the garage with it, it's making funny noises or the tires are bald I would look into renting a car. It's not that expensive and it would be brand new and all yours for however long you are down there.

Have fun and good luck to your daughter!

 

[Brer Shay]

We're doing a similar debate right now. My '99 Venture has 125K on it and we're planning to drive to Disney in August from PA. I've vaguely looked at rental prices - but minivan rentals are crazy and we have to seat six. We're leaning toward doing it in our own vehicle. It's been well cared for and maintained. I'll take it to our regular mechanic later this month for annual inspection and again just before the trip. It's not given me any problems so I'm expecting it to be okay for a while yet. My last two vehicles had over 180K on them before I turned them over to others.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I would have it serviced and checked out before the trip but sure, I would drive it. We drive our cars as long as they will go and never hesitate to travel where-ever. I would consider AAA. Good idea anyway!

 

[Taylors6]

Renting did occur to me but I thought they did not allow you to take the car states away?

 

[PGHDisneyfan]

as a car fanatic and a former mechanic I can tell you 100k on one of todays cars is not 100k on a car from the 70s or 80s. Reliability has improved 10 fold! Have your local garage or handy husband /boyfriend go over all the important stuff that causes breakdowns. Tires, brakes, cooling system, belts and hoses, battery a fresh oil change and airfilter and so on. Its a great time to throw a bottle of injection cleaner in the tank before you leave as well. Make sure you have all the emergency stuff like fix a flat (make sure your spare is up to snuff) flairs, some tape and small tool kit. Bring a good flashlight too. It might be a good time to have your mechanic run a diagnostic as well and make sure everything is aok! I wouldnt think twice about it to be honest. Besides we all have cell phones and GPS's for the most part.

 

[PGHDisneyfan]

Renting did occur to me but I thought they did not allow you to take the car states away?

Not at all, they will usally ask you if you will be going out of state. If not let them know you will be leaving the state.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would not. Why put all those miles on your car?

Think if you did not put all those miles on your car during a trip and you only drive say 1000 over a 6 month period during normal driving at home, you have just saved yourself over 6 months of wear an tear on your car.

I say put the wear and tear on someone elses car. If the car breaks down during your trip and you have taken your own car you have to allow the extra time on your trip to find a good mechanic, shell out the money to get it fixed & wait for the car fixed. Couple could mean adding days to your trip that you did not plan for. If you rent and the car breaks down then they take care of the issue and give you another car. Often times the cars you rent have very few miles on them resulting in a more comfortable ride or economical on gas.
We rented a Budget car here in Cleveland drove it to Toronto and the car only had 10 miles on it. We got 40 mpg on the toyota we rented.

 

[amshowers]

If you are worried, rent a car. Rates are usually include unlimited miles,and a lot cheaper at airport locations.