Have you had car trouble on the way to WDW?

[JustHolly]

We are driving/moving to Fla next month. We will be driving at night (I think) for most of the driving.

Both of our cars are 2 years old, and I just got new tires.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with break-downs on the way to WDW and how easily/quickly it was resolved.

 

[DoeWDW]

We've driven from PA to Disney World approximately 6 times in the past 10 years. I hate to even reply to this post for fear of jinxing our next trip but....(knock on wood)....we have never had any type of car trouble.

I hope your trip goes smoothly and good luck with the big move!!

 

[DisneyHumbug]

We blew our transmission on a drive to FLA one year while towing a 26 foot travel trailer. We belong to AAA, so we called them and found a place to have it fixed. We parked our trailer at a campground and rented a car. Turned out to be a very expensive trip!
Thanks for reminding me - another reason why I fly now!!!

 

[BonnieA]

Yes, it was quite a trip. It happened 17 years ago. I was driving with my son (15) to Disney. We lived in southwest VA at the time. When we stopped for the night (at some dive in S.C.), I smelled gasoline. Didn't really think much of it since we had recently gotten gas. The next day we started out and I kept smelling the gas. I was then concerned and decided to stop at a service station in Jacksonville. The guy there looked under the hood and determined that some kind of plug had come off a hose (or something like that). So he put a plug in the hose. That stopped the gasoline smell and he didn't even charge me anything (I would pay later!). We continued on to WDW. That night after driving from the WDW parking lot to our motel the car stalled but luckily we were in our parking spot in the motel. It would not start again that night. I called AAA but they said to try it in the morning and they would come if it didn't start but if it started I should drive it to a service station. I was kind of scared to drive it, fearing it would stall again. Well it did start in the morning and I drove it to the station just in time for it to stall again. They tried to fix it there but couldn't seem to find the problem except that the engine was extremely flooded with gas. They tried to clean out as much gas as possible so I could drive it to a dealer down the road. I was getting more and more scared to drive it, waiting for it to stall. With one foot on the gas and one on the brake we made it to the dealership, again just able to drift into a parking spot before stalling. Of course they couldn't work on it right away but I just rented a car from them and continued my vacation.
The "plug" that the original service station guy put in caused all the problems. Apparently my fuel pump was going out and the plug only complicted matters. It cause fuel to back up into the engine and even into the oil. It was a mess. Took them 5 days to fix it and $500. When I got the car back it still ran bad so I ended up driving 12 hours home in one day without turning the car off. Took it to our own dealer who fixed it again for free after we showed him the receipt from the Florida dealership. But it never ran the same. I've never driven to Florida again.

 

[ncligs]

We always fly just for that reason(and to be there in 2 hours)..........so we never have to worry about or experience car trouble.

 

[dis4me]

We had a tire blow out on the way home from WDW at 2 am. I 95 was deserted. A cop finally came and gave us flares. I was so scared standing outside holding teh flashlight for my husband in 3 degree weather.
Would I do it again. Oh Yes I love to save over $1000 and bring as much luggage as I can fit into the car. Would I prefer to fly though, Of course. 2 hours beats 18 any day.
Just have your car checked before you leave and be cautious and alert while criving.You will be fine.
Good Luck with the move.

 

[buzz5985]

2 years old is very young for a car, unless you don't take care of it. I take very good care of my cars. Oil is changed every 3500 miles, I do all of the scheduled maintenance.

That being said I drove my 1993 Nissan Pathfinder with 125,000 miles on it down to FL Feb 2002. Took it into the dealer 1 month before for a trip inspection, oil change, etc. I just told the mechanic - I'm driving to FL, please look it over very closely. It was really nice having our own car down there. Oh, BTW - still driving the Pathfinder, now with 138,000 miles on it.

 

[DVC-Don]

Friends of ours had their car stolen from a motel in South Carolina on the return trip. It was an Olds Toronado. This was about 12 years ago.