Which car should we drive?

[Lmans77]

We are driving to WDW in August for 8 days at the parks. 3rd family trip, 2nd time driving. We live in the Houston Metro area so its about ~1000 miles each way. My concern is that my trusty Toyota Sienna is getting up there in mileage. She is a 2010 CE and currently has 141,000 miles. She's been to Florida 3x, Kansas City and all over the state of Texas. I drive a lot, and commute a long way. But through all that, no other trouble. Just standard maintenance and things like batteries, tires and brakes. Other than that, zero problems.

DH just got a new 2015 Honda Accord last December. It is tempting to take the Accord but it would definitely be a squeeze with all of our stuff. DS is 5 and DD will be turning 8 on the trip. They both use large Graco Nautilus car seats...DS is harnassed, DD in seat belt booster mode.

We are planning to stop in Pensacola overnight to catch an afternoon at the beach on the way there, but planning on taking minimal beach stuff.

But we'd like to have our small cooler because we're also going to both Typhoon Lagoon and Bilzzard Beach while at WDW.

So the only reason I'd take the Accord is just peace of mind since it's new. But my Toyota is so trusty, and with the back seats folded, I can fit everything and the kitchen sink in there. I will have AAA but if anything did happen, it would be such a PITA. The Accord would be such a squeeze. And my kids are normal kids, so they do bicker and fight. It's nice in the minivan, because there is that much more space in between them, and between us.

Maybe I should just go buy that brand new Odyssey I've been lusting after. J/K...I'm too cheap for that.

thoughts?

 

[nacho113]

New doesn't necessarily equal trustworthy and since you have only had the NEW car since December, it's possible any little or big issues haven't surfaced yet.
If you decide to take the Sienna, I would take it in to your local mechanic and have him give it the once over to stave off any impending disasters.

Here's our story as to why NEW is not necessarily better:
We purchased a new Jeep Wrangler in 2012, it seemed like a great vehicle went through the winter great. We decided to take it on a 1000 mile vacation in July. When we came off the highway for our first gas stop (350 miles from home), it wouldn't start up again. After calling the road side assistance number and the tow truck arriving 1/2 hour later the vehicle started up and ran fine. Thinking it was just a glitch because it was a hot day, we decided to continue on. Unfortunately, for the whole rest of the trip every time we shut the vehicle off after coming off the highway, it wouldn't start again for 30-45 minutes. It was fine for short trips around town, but on the long stretches we had issues. Upon returning home, the dealership spent weeks tracking down the problem and replaced just about every electronic component in the vehicle. Thinking it was fixed we went to visit the relatives for Thanksgiving, surprise, surprise same issue.
We now drive a Chevy

 

[kirstenb1]

I'd totally take the Sienna. We tend to keep cars til 200k or over. Last April we drove our 04 Camry with just under 200k to Cocoa Beach. We're also about 1000 miles to Central Fl. It did just fine. Great advice about about taking it to a mechanic before you go.

 

[maurene]

Sienna - its only 5-6 yrs old which isn't that old to me.

 

[sam_gordon]

Sienna - its only 5-6 yrs old which isn't that old to me.

Age doesn't matter as much as mileage to me, but 141K on a Toyota isn't that bad.

What the difference in gas mileage?

OP, I'd lean toward the Sienna, but agree with PP who said have a mechanic check it out.

 

[BigTigger]

Like the PP said, have the Sienna checked out, but take it if all is fine. Make sure your mechanic gives it the usual tires, brakes, fluids checks plus if you have not changed the belts, hoses, transmission fluid, radiator fluids, etc. since new or in the last 50K miles then by all means do them before a trip of this length (the hoses you can just have inspected, but have them inspected for soft spots). You are also going to be running the AC for a trip in the southern tier, so have the AC serviced as well. It sounds like you keep vehicles a long time, so by doing those fluid checks now you'll get the Sienna setup to go over 200K.

Enjoy the trip and safe travels!!