Would you drive your older vehicle 1300 miles for vacation?

[wdwfan16]

We do it all the time.

 

[SandrA9810]

I just did a cross country trip with my aunt. From Dallas, to Indiana, to Florida, and back to Dallas. It's an 01 Accord with 90 something thousand miles on it. She's never had any major repairs done to it, and just took it in to the shop for a check up a day before we left. I did almost all of the driving (besides from florida to texas again), and never had an issue with it.

I've driven round trip from Orlando to Miami twice in one week (that's about 800-900 miles) on a 01 Ranger with well over 100,000 miles. It now has 160,000 on it. And I'd drive the van that has 211,000 miles on it.

AAA is a life saver, and can be a major help. If you're that concerned, you can take your car to the Car Care Center outside of the TTC and have them do a once over on the car before you head back out on the road. If you take it early in the morning, it shouldn't take them any time at all. And they're always helpful in taking people to the TTC, so you can get on Disney transportation and come back in the afternoon.
You'll just wind up getting an oil change in about a month rather than 3 months later.

 

[f.chadw]

I have a 2003 Montana Mini Van with 108,000 miles on it. We are planning on taking it to WDW from Minnesota in December. No hesitations what so ever.

 

[HunnyPots]

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

Because that is what a car is for.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

We are also looking at this, our current car is a 2005 with about 75K miles on it, but we can rent a car for 16 days for $420 rather than putting 2800 miles on ours.. Looks like we would save about $80 on gas, so the net cost is only about $340...

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Back in 2006, I drove my 1994 Honda Accord from NJ to Florida and back. When I left the car had 196,000 miles, and came back with well over 198,000. So I drove an almost 200,000 mile car on a 2200 mile round trip, and I traveled all alone, too. Had no problems at all.

I still have that car, now with 247,000 miles. I do have a newer car (a Honda Civic) which I use on the longer trips nowadays.

 

[3boymthr]

The ability for a car to break down is definitely NOT dictated by the age or mileage on a car.

We've driven older cars long distances and had no problems.

OTH we drove our then still under warranty van across country and back and the brakes went on the way home - and it had had the brakes replaced 3 weeks before we left. So you just can't tell.

And can I tell you most garages will really work with you if you tell them you need it back quickly because you're on vacation. We drove so many miles on that trip that we had to stop and get an oil change and both for that and the brake repair we were in the garage and out quickly compared to repairs/maintenance when we're home and they had to do extensive work to fix the van (brakes, rotors and brake line). They worked really hard to help us quickly because they knew we had a long way to go.

 

[DISdreamin']

I'm in the "I'd rent a car" category. Why put the wear and tear on your vehicle when you can put them mileage on a super-cheap rental car. I can usually find really good weekly rates around here by doing the non-airport locations. Since DH and I currently share a car, all my long trips are done this way. It's nice to have a new-ish vehicle with no worries for the drive. And FWIW, I've driven rental cars from state to state all the time - NY to MA, KY, NC, and from Seattle to San Diego and back. It's sort of fun to watch their faces when returning car after two weeks with about 4K miles on it.

 

[Kies99]

If the vehicle is in good condition, I wouldn't particularly worry about it.

horseshowmom said it all.

If you've kept up with maintenance then you should have no problem making the trip. Just definitely have it checked out prior to each trip and I don't see any issues.

 

[Taylors6]

Thank you all for your replies. I think I am just a big chicken! We have never had a bit of problem from my van- and have kept up with maintenance. Actually we just put all new tires on a few months ago too! We would have to have a van to accomodate us all and our stuff- rentals would run around $500-$600 for the time we would be gone. I guess I will just have to decide if that amount of money is worth it to me?

You would never believe that I jumped in my crappy vehicle at the age of 18 and drove cross country just me and my best friend and we didn't even know how to read a map! 18 years later I am a nervous nettie!

 

[Ka' eo]

Are you trying to find an excuse for a new vehicle?

If your cars are dependable, take them. Make sure you have AAA or at least that your ins company will cover towing and a rental.

My SIL and BIL have taken their 250k Honda all over the country many times. They still are driving it this year and taking numerous trips 14-20 hours away.

Go for it!

 

[livie1205]

My van has 50,000 on it and I do not drive it on vacation,I always rent.I have no problems with it I just have a fear of breaking down a long way from home and some out of town shop ripping me off lol It happened to my parents a few years ago.It costs me around 159.00 to rent for a week so I think it is worth it.

 

[daughtersrus]

not only did we drive from illinois to disney in our 9yo van with well over 100k miles on it, we pulled our 30ft trailer! we didn't have any problems but dh is also an auto tech

 

[Tink9295]

We have driven our 99 Suburban to Florida from CT many times. This summer we are doing it again. It has 160,000+ miles on it. It is a great ride. We have had only minor issues with it and am pretty confident it will make the trip with no issues. If you take care of your vehicle it should be fine. Cars these days are in for the long haul and are made to run well over 100,000 miles on them.

We have no intention on selling our Suburban any time soon and hope it will make many more trips to DW.

 

[Golf4food]

Any decently maintained vehicle made in the last 15-20 years should have ZERO problem getting to 200,000 miles or more if you just keep up with the routine maintenance - they are machines, they need new parts sometimes: belts, hoses, wires, plugs, tires, brakes, etc. Major repairs should be fairly rare. If you have at all taken care of your 90,000 vehicle a 1,300 mile trip is nothing.

 

[JB2K]

Absolutely -- so long as scheduled maintenance is being followed and the vehicle in question has no history of mechanical malfunctions.

My 2003 SUV has 90K+ miles on it and we took it to WDW last September with absolutely no problems!

As my tag says, that's a thousand miles away.

And we plan on doing another road trip, this summer -- this time, we are headed north to New England...

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would rather put the miles on my car to get to and from work rather than on a vacation. Save the wear and tear on my own car and put the miles on a rental. I need my car to get to and from work. Why shorten the life of my car by adding a lot of miles and wear and tear on my personal car. It will make my car last longer and repair/maintenance be far and few between. Makes my investment last longer.

Because that is what a car is for.

 

[Disney Doll]

I have a 1998 Ford Explorer with 97000 miles on it that I owuld not hesitate to drive to Florida if the occasion arose for me to have to drive to Flroida.

I have maintained it well, it has never given me any trouble and I have roadside assistance in the event of an emergency.

 

[labdogs42]

I'd look into renting a car to save the wear and tear on your vehicles. My stepdad does that a lot when he goes on a long car trip. Most rental cars come with unlimited mileage.

 

[DOOM1001]

I had a 1999 VW Jetta that I bought new and put over 300,000 miles on.I used to do theme park trips to Disney and other parks as often as once every 2-3 weeks which is a 450-500 mile round trip for me.I still go with my current car a lot but not as often and when I go I stay longer.That Jetta however was the best car ever,it never left me stranded and I only spent over $400 one time at the mechanic.I changed the oil religiously every 5-6,000 miles and just kept an eye on it.When it was newer I took it on several trips of 1,000 plus miles, but once it got close to 200,000 miles I would definitely think about it if I should do those longer trips which eventually I decided was probably not the best idea,I would still do some 500 mile round trips to Orlando but I wasn't going to take it to Ohio or New York.So my response is as long as the car is in good shape and well maintained I would have no issue taking it on long trips with as many as 200,000 miles,after that just make sure you have good road service just in case.That Jetta's transmission went out about a year ago,but having the car about 10 years putting an average of 30,000 miles a year is a definite win.