Hi all!
I have a 99 Honda Camry with about 163,000 miles on it. It’s had its transmission fixed within the last 6 months and runs fine when I use it normally for about 40 minutes at a time.
Now, I’m planning on making a trip about 440 miles total in a few weeks, and I’m wondering if it’s safe to push the car to do this.
Thanks!
There are a lot of factors involved. Do you have a roadside assistance? Is the 40 minutes in town or highway? If it is all in town try a highway trip as an experiment, maybe 50 plus miles and see if it goes ok with that. I would guess at this point the most vulnerable components would be belts and hoses, I have had some vehicles I wasn’t sure of in the past and said to myself, it only has to run 10 hours, In conclusion make sure the basics are sound fluids are good and if they are not get it fixed before the trip. Anyone know about timing belt or chain on this model?
WOW! The world’s only Honda Camry.
OK, what is it? A Honda Accord, or a Toyota Camry? It can’t be both.
Be that as it may, you’re making a classic mistake: thinking that a highway trip is hard on a car. The opposite is true. Highway driving is the easiest life a car will ever know.
Assuming you’ve kept up with the car’s maintenance you should have nothing to worry about. You have the added advantage that an Accord or Camry (which is it?) is one of the most reliable vehicles on the planet.
Do yourself a favor. Calculate how long it would take to put 440 miles on your car at the rate you currently drive, then ask yourself, “do I expect the car to last that long?” If you’re answer is “yes,” which I’m sure it is, stop worrying.
Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys are both capable of delivering 250,000 - 300, 000 miles. You have a long way to go before you worry about your car being “worn out.”
But what is it, a Honda or a Toyota?
PS
440 miles is not a “long” trip. 4,400 miles is a long trip.
No, you should not risk it! You apparently have a very rare car, since I have never heard of another Honda Camry!
Seriously, however, whether it is a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord, or a Honda Civic, or…whatever, the most important factor in reliability is whether or not it has been maintained according to the mfr’s maintenance schedule. If it has been maintained correctly, and if “soft” parts like the tires, belts, and hoses are in decent condition, it should be okay for the trip.
Regarding its maintenance–Did you replace the timing belt at around 90k–105k? If you have, and if the rubber parts are okay, then you should be good to go.
On the other hand, if it has not been maintained correctly, then I would not trust it for a drive to the grocery store.
I would have a mechanic give the car an overview, so that any items potentially giving problems are addressed. Typically the mechanic wouldd check the belts, coolant, transmission fluid (to indicate any undude wear), battery condition and brakes. You could do all these things yourself, if you want to.
I once made a 7000 mile, 3 week trip around Western Canada and the Northern states in an 11 year old Buick wagpon, while pulling a tent trailer. The only problem we encountered was a burned spark plug wire replaced at Wal-Mart for $15.
As other point out an AAA membership and a cell phone go a long way to avoid problems that could occur with any car. As the Boy Scouts say, “Be Prepared”.
Have a good trip.
I think Johnny Cash had a song about that kind of a car.
99 isn’t old, 136k isn’t a lot of miles( given the condition of the car that we cannot see from here ). 440 miles is less than two trips to Albuqueque and back for me and that, too, is not much. It sure seems as if you’d have no problems from this angle.
That is about ten days average use for that car. While any car can quit at any time, you would have about the same chance of it going out on the trip as you would in the next ten days of normal use. Take a cell phone and don’t worry.
Like any car you should check every thing out before you go.
Good luck and have fun.
The car is a 99 Honda Accord =P
Spaced out there for a second, heh