I have drive from Miami to Richmond, VA because I got a new job (yay me!) The only worry is that I have to make the drive in my old beater. It’s a great car–Ford Mustang LX–but it’s 14 years old and has 156 K on it. Even though I haven’t had any problems with it since I’ve had it for the past two years (besides alternator/battery issues), I’m kind of scared about the drive.
What’s the longest trip you’ve taken in an old car? I need to be assured that everything will be alright.
My parents gave us their 1981 Chevy Caprice Classic when they got a new car back around 1984. It made the trip from California to Western PA in 1991 and then back again 6 years later. We drove it for several more years after that, too.
Last summer we took two trips in our ~230K-mile 1993 Dodge Caravan (had a major engine overhaul around 200K): One from WI to NY and back, and one from WI to VA and back. They were about a month apart; just before the first trip we took it in for an oil change and mentioned to our regular mechanic that we were going on these trips, and would he just give it a look-see for any concerns.
He gave the van the green light, and we had no problems at all. I loves me my van and I’ll be sad if/when it ever dies.
(I thought I was gonna get to come in here and brag about our trip to Colorado in my 50-mpg car, but I see you’re talking about a different kind of mileage.)
In 2003, I drove a 1993 Subaru Legacy wagon from Albany, NY to Tampa Bay, FL in a straight shot, stopping only for gas, restrooms, and food. The engine was running for almost 24 straight hours, with never more than thirty minutes of rest every few hours. It did the same thing on the way back (actually, the way back was a couple more hours, because we were coming from Naples, FL.) It had over 120,000 miles on it when I left, and it did just fine.
Last summer I also went on a decent sized road trip. I went from VT to ME, from ME to Albany, then from Albany to Blacksburg, VA. VA to SC, then from SC all th way back to VT. Granted, this was a newer car (1997 Subaru Legacy GT,) but had more miles on it (around 145,000 when I started.)
I don’t think Miami to Richmond will be asking too much of the car at all, as long as it runs fine. Just make sure to get the oil changed, and everything at least checked out, if not tuned up.
I rode in a mini-van 600 miles to my grandmother’s place, a few hundred miles around in the area, and then 600 miles back to my parents in a mini-van which had in the vicinity of 200,000 miles. I think it crossed that milestone somewhere on the trip–if not shortly beforehand. The mini-van in question was 10 and a half years old, when we got rid of it, later that same year. Biggest problem*–loss of rearview mirror at some point on our journey, or just after it. I remember driving my mom across town to get the glue to replace the mirror, because she didn’t feel safe driving the mini-van minus the mirror. But I’m not sure when the mirror actually fell off–seems like Dad would have tried to get the supplies to replace it if it had happened while we were still at Grandma’s.
*We replaced the minivan because it was needing more and more expensive “routine maintenance”, some of which was quite expensive. But that didn’t take place on our last vacation in it.
I drove a Ford Tempo with 97K on it from New York To San Diego. The fuel pump went in Kentucky. Then, on the return trip, the engine gave in southwestern Arizona. We spent a whole week in the great metropolis of Tacna, AZ while awaiting the engine’s repair/replacement. Then the radiator went in Virginia on the continued way home.
Never again will I do that with a high-mileage car.
1,000 miles in a beater, with a toddler, in a rain storm, at which time the wipers took a dirt-nap. No idea what the mileage was, but it was all I had and I was moving. It was pretty awful, but I made it.
In 1997, I moved from Wisconsin to Miami with a 1983 Buick LeSabre that had about 160K miles on it. Two years later, I moved from Miami to Maine with that same car. After about three years in Maine, I traded in the car. It had nearly 200K miles on it.
I loved that car. It didn’t leak or burn any oil. I never had a problem with it. I nearly cried when I got rid of that car.
My 1990 Toyota 4Runner has a quarter-million miles on it. Last summer I drove it to Yellowstone and back. Mapquest says just over 1000 miles round trip and we must’ve done 300 or 400 miles easily all over that area for the week.
So - call it 1400 miles in a car with 255,000 miles.
I drove to Canada from Santa Barbara last fall in my '84 4Runner. That was probably over 5000 miles. But then, my truck only had about 128,000 miles on it so I don’t consider it a beater. Runs like a top, just a very very slow top.
Took my '64 F100 out West to the large square states.
But I have had mucho preventive maintenance done - engine, tires, shocks, brakes, bearings, driveshaft, etc. It’s not the mileage nor the age that counts, just the condition of the components.
I drove from Anchorage, Alaska to Redlands, California in a Nissan pickup with 157K miles on it, towing a trailer.
Probably the trip we took from (essentially) St. Paul, MN to Columbia, MO in my dad’s '82 Lincoln Town Car.
In 2002 I threw the kids and camping gear in my '95 Caravan with 158,661 miles on it and headed for Seattle. 6,208 miles, fourteen days, and one smacked deer later, I pulled back into our drive. We’ve still got the car with over 230k on it.
New Haven CT to Chicago … via Corning NY a little more than 900 miles
in a '94 Honda Civic with 235,000 miles on it.
and I’m going to do it again in about a week.
It’s a great little car, hasn’t had any repairs*
I do take it in for frequent oil changes and other maintenance as required.
If it’s a 2.3L 4 cyl that is a sturdy little engine. Think in terms of parts wear. The only parts to really worry about are wear items like the battery timing belt, hoses and accessory belts.
Modern batteries are sneaky. they are twices as powerful and half the size of batteries from the 70’s. They accomplish this by stacking the cell plates closer together. They don’t fade away slowly like the old ones, they short out in the middle of an engine start. If your battery is older than 4 years and you plan on keeping the car then buy a new one now.
A high-mileage car isn’t too likely to leave you stranded. The only part that really screws up due to mileage is the transmission.
It’s older cars that tend to have show-stopping problems… leaky radiators, or electrical problems. 2/3rds of the no-start situations I’ve had in my life were electrical snafus.
In my experience, cars have improved so much over the last fifteen or twenty years, that driving an high-mileage beater now will be a more reliable proposition than driving one fifteen years ago.
In 1990, I had a 1975 Chrysler wagon. I did a few long distance runs in it, and a lot of city driving too, and whatever could go wrong with it, did. I had engine trouble, brake trouble, steering trouble, electrical trouble, transmission trouble, radiator trouble, the works. In the intervening seventeen years, I drove a range of vehicles old and new, and now I’ve acquired a 1991 Camry. The Camry is a year older now than the 70s Chrysler was when I had it. It has a slight radiator leak which will need repairing, but other than that, it drives like new. No oil leaks, nuthin’.
Ft Collins, Colorado to McAllen, Texas (and back via a detour to Houston) in a 14 yr old Subaru GL 4WD Wagon with over 200K on it.
Ft Collins, CO to Houston, TX in a 10 yr old Ford Mustang 5.0 with about 130K on it.
Not a worry enterred my pointy little head either time, as these were both well maintained cars that served me and the previous (one only) owners quite well. Sold them each for more than I paid for them.
We just returned from a 6,000+ mile trip from Southern Utah to Boston and back, with stops in New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.
Our car is a 1997 Mercury Tracer (2.2l 4cyl, 5spd manual) which, when we left had 98,000 miles on it. Ran like a top the whole trip, no problems whatsoever. And averaged 38MPG to boot.
Turned over 100,000 in southern New York.