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You don't need to buy a new car to drive 850 miles.
You've gotten the reassurance of your mechanic (let's assume he's a good one) and hopefully you perform regular maintenance.
My daily commuter is about 10 years old with almost 200,000 miles on it. I drive it 500+ miles a week, and this is the car we take on all major trips. Still purrs like a kitten and I don't worry about travelling in it as I know it's reliably maintained.
I wouldn't recommend using this short trip as an excuse to buy a newer car, particularly if you'd be buying a newer used car. Just because a car is newer doesn't mean it won't or can't break down.
Just this week a mechanic told me that he had a nearly new $65,000 car in the shop needing $$$$ worth of repairs because the owner never maintained it and the neglect finally caught up with him.
If I were you I'd keep driving your car until it really needs to be replaced. No sense wasting money!
You all just don't know how much it means to us to get this wonderful outlook on things. It's always good to hear what some people with experience in the area in which we are seeking advice has to say about the situation.
You could ask the same question & add ALL the information about the car & trip in the new thread. Only MODS can move threads not us little people...hehehe
Thanks Smokey..I know she will get better answers here!!
Phoe...Smokey is 1 of our many MODS they have the Gold Stars by their names...they are the Big People....hehehhe
I have driven vehicles that were well over 20 years old across country. I am talking ACROSS country, not a short 800 or 900 mile trip, but the big 2500 mile one way trips. One of them started the trip with 235,000 miles on the odometer. As long as they are in decent shape and they are not giving you problems in short trips around home, they shouldn't give you problem on a road trip. I have a 1500 mile trip coming up in the next few weeks that I will be making with a 19 year old truck that has 172,000 miles on it, and will be pulling a camper with it on the trip. No worries at all in my mind. I know the vehicle and it runs better than the day it left the factory (looks like hell, but runs like a top ).
Thanks Smokey..I know she will get better answers here!!
Phoe...Smokey is 1 of our many MODS they have the Gold Stars by their names...they are the Big People....hehehhe
You are welcome. Mmmm, big people...... I won't take it personally. I hope the OP gets lots of automotive answers here about her trip. All the best.
Have you had an experience were you drove one of your older model vehicles out of town? We had the vehicle looked at on yesterday and the mechanic said everything was fine and that he would not have a problem driving the vehicle out of town. I just feel safer driving a newer model to go for a longer trip. Any insight on that?
Why would you feel unsafe if the mechanic pronounced the car safe?
Do you NOT trust the mechanic?
Do you think the mechanic had something to GAIN by lying to you??
Don't waste your money increasing your carbon footprint upon the earth with a newer vehicle that you don't need!! And new cars can break down anytime, anywhere. Since your car has been inspected and approved, make sure you have a fairly recent lube-oil-and-filter job, full liquids (brake fluid, transmission fluid, windshield washing liquid), and off you go.
In 1983 I drove a 1970 Ford Econoline van from Seattle through western Washington, western Oregon, the Siskyou Mountains, western California then eastern California, into Arizona and up the mountains to Flagstaff, where I lived with the van for a while. All was well, because I made sure everything was in the best condition possible before I started.
During the mid and late 1990s I drove frequently for some years from western Washington over the mountains into eastern Washington to desert and unpaved roads in an area that is extremely sparsely populated, to do photography. Never a problem. I drove my 1982 Toyota Cressida, not your usual "rugged country" vehicle, but the car loved the adventures and so did I.
Last summer, 2007, I drove my 1993 Toyota Corolla to islands in the San Juan Strait of the Pacific Ocean, spending days away from home. Just fine. Then I spent over a week driving all around the Olympic Peninsula, which has vast areas that are completely unpopulated except by bears and elk herds, and has huge temperature differences between daytime and night. Never a problem. Happy car, happy me.
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All Good!
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