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My daughter and I are getting ready to take a vacation and will be driving about 800 miles each way. I was going to rent a car in case of car trouble because rental cars are generally a year or two old and the rental car company is responsible for any breakdowns and would replace the car.
I am thinking, though, of just driving my own car to save the cost of renting a car and the hassle of picking it up and returning it. The best rates by far in our area are at a huge, busy airport about 40 miles away, which is fairly inconvenient.
I have a 2010 Ford Fusion that has been an absolutely wonderful care from day one when I bought it new. It is a four cylinder and has around 108,000 miles on it. I have always faithfully maintained it and never had any major issues with it, other than replacing the battery and having the transmission fluid flushed and changed last year. The tires are about a year old and in good shape, the brakes are good as far as I can tell.
Would you, as a middle-aged female and college-aged young woman, take off and make this trip in this car? I don't know why, it's probably totally irrational, but I have this fear of my transmission or brakes going out somewhere along the way or while we are at our destination, primarily because the car is almost six years old and these things have never gone bad yet, so I feel like I am probably "due" and I want to be close to home if and when that happens.
What would you do?
Last edited by canudigit; 02-19-2016 at 06:19 PM..
Brakes will give you a fair amount of warning before they are an issue. Nearly every brake pad set has a wear indicator bar that makes a horrible squeal when the brakes are close to being worn out.
Transmissions will also typically show signs well before they fail. Hard shifts, "Clumping" into gear from park, slipping, failure to shift up or down in relation to speed are all warning signs.
I've made trips in far worse. I drove from Boise to Seattle in a 15 year old Buick Skylark a few years ago, and from Northern Idaho to the bay area in a 1989 Chevy Beretta. There's a certain peace of mind with having the AAA Plus membership- long distance towing, preferred repair rates, and hotel discounts.
I wouldn't be worried. If you've had a recent oil change, just make sure everything they check off looks good. If so, nothing to worry about. Check the tire tread. That's about it.
Back in '11 my wife drove her '02 Jetta from Texas to CA with no issues. I drove my 4 year old car with 80k miles from San Antonio to phoenix in one day (900 miles). Again, no issues.
I took a truck with 152,000 miles on a 1500 mile trip without worry. As long as it's maintained your chances of breaking down are pretty small. Your brakes will start squeaking long before they just go out. If you have wheels with spokes you can sometimes shine a flash light at the caliper and you will see the distance between the rotor and the warning clip
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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My wife has made the trip from Seattle to San Francisco many times with the kids when they were young on cars from a 1990 to a 2002 with more miles than that and no issues. The Fusion is know for reliability, and 2010 or newer cars should go far more than 108k without problems. I would have it serviced first, start off with fresh oil, all other fluids, belts, brakes and tires checked.
Considering 2 women on the road alone....take the car to any Ford dealership or to a local ASE shop and explain the trip and have them go over the car. The inspection will probably cost you 40 bucks but if there's anything a MECHANIC can see, you'll know about it. If it's something major, then rent a car. If it's clean, you now have a professional that has put eyes on your car. At your cars age/mileage you should have recently changed the belt, radiator hoses, alternator bearings need inspecting, water pump seal inspected, for your car the engine mounts inspected, radiator flushed and new antifreeze, brake inspection, just to name a few of the maintenance items that are on schedule for your car at 100,000 miles. It might all be fine and it all may be just about to fall apart. Nobody on the internet is going to be able to see that or tell you it's just fine. You need a professional set of eyes on the car or skip it and rent a car.
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