I have a 2002 Kia Sedona min van with 143,000. It runs really well, I have had new belts put on it back in June, there are no issues with how it is running. a new starter and crank shaft sensor have been put on in the past year. It doesn’t burn oil or any other issues. I bought the van back last Aug with 134,000 miles on it but have only driven it around town. I am thinking about driving over to cincy from Indy which round trip is about 225 miles. Should there be anything I should be worried about or such or should I not even attempt?
These days 143K miles isn’t a lot. 225 miles is nothing. All you need is a good, trustworthy, local mechanic to help you look after the car’s basics. New belts are good. How is the rest of the maintenance (plugs, wires, filters, fluids)? How about tires? Brakes? Hoses? etc. Ignore the age/mileage and just make sure the basics are taken care of. Then drive it anywhere you like. A shop I often use does what they call a “trip check” for about $60. Don’t take it to big-box corporate chain auto servicing places.
I don’t care what someone travels in. You could go buy a brand new car, try to drive it from Indy to cincy and have it break down on you. Any car can have trouble at any time. Some kind of roadside assistance is handy for anyone no matter what kind of travel you do.
Tires in good shape? Should do fine.
For a decently maintained vehicle you shouldn’t worry at all about a trip like this, even on a car with 100K or 200K miles. To ease your mind you should get a AAA membership. If you have problems they can provide towing services and recommend garages in the area to fix the problem.
Most on a trip problems are caused by old belts that break, radiator and heater hoses that spring a leak, and flat tires. Check the car over before the trip. Make sure you have the proper air pressure in the tires, check your oil level, coolant level, and look at the brake fluid level in the “see through” bottle. Once all the fluids are up to level or topped off you are good to go. In the winter filling up the washer fluid bottle is a good idea.
I don’t mean to pick on you, but it’s interesting what people define as a long trip. I can’t count the number of times I’ve driven that far in an evening just to catch a hockey game or a jazz concert!
I would do it. About once a month I take my 13 year old car with 209,000 miles on the odometer on a 520 mile (round) trip. Why own a car if you are afraid to drive it?
Go for it. I think nothing of jumping in my '04 4Runner with 135,000 miles, and driving 2300 miles from TX to NH (in fact, I even towed a ~3000lb trailer back just last month). As above, maintain it properly, repair what needs repairing, and have AAA or similar (is there anything else here in the US?), and enjoy your trip.
I’d have no concerns whatsoever. Carry a AAA card, a cellphone, and a credit card (for emergencies), as one always should when on a trip, and you’ll have a great time.
PS: I’ve got over 163,000 miles on my own car and I often drive further than that on a nice summer’s weekend in a single daytrip.
If it’s driving well and it’s been well maintained…then Drive away.
Two hours out, two hours back? Hardly a long trip. I agree with everyone else. Go for it!
As long as the car has been well maintained there probably won’t be a problem. This is like asking yourself if you think the car is going to break down on you within the next 225 miles of local driving. If you think it is don’t drive it on the trip, if you don’t think it will drive it. The highway driving will actually be less stressful for the car than 225 miles of local/city driving. Less than a year ago I moved from NC-KY and one of my cars which had over 510K miles on it at the time was driven from NC to our new home in KY. That trip was about 500 miles and the car never missed a beat. You are the best one to answer your own question. You know the background and reliability of you car better than anyone. When I moved our cars from NC-KY I felt better about driving the one with 500K miles on the trip than I did about driving one that had about 180K miles on it, because I knew the history of the one with 510K miles (been my daily driver since '93 with 146K miles), but had only driven the one with 180K miles about 15K miles. I drove my car that now has 517K miles on it on round trips of 1K+ miles until it was between 300-400K miles and even today I don’t think anything about getting in it to go on a 200-300 mile round trip.
I am a AAA member, 3 of the tires I would say are in great shape, 1 in good shape. Fluids are all good, in fact did a oil and transmission fluid change about 2500 miles ago so that is good. I will be putting in a new air filter this weekend. The drive will be all freeway. I know the brakes are good becuase they got a very good test this morning when the person in front of me decided to come to a dead stop and I had to slam on the brakes and was able to stop quickly from about 40 mph. Not sure when plugs have been changed, not while I have had it, but starts and runs without issue.
If your van has a timing belt and it hasn’t been replaced, or you don’t know if it’s ever been replaced, I’d consider getting that done before your trip. Other than that I wouldn’t worry about it.
I’ve driven older cars with more miles on them on much longer trips, on some of them I didn’t even know the maintenance history. And I don’t have triple A.
As long as it has decent tires, brakes, and has recently been to a shop and received a clean bill of health, there should be no issues. You also have not indicated that the vehicle has been problematic to you, which bodes well for your trip. I’ve driven much older, much higher mileage junk much farther distances than what you intend to do, and have never been broken down far from home. I have even driven some of my old beaters halfway across the country without incident, which was amusing considering some of the responses I got from others, like “you’re going to drive THAT 1k miles in a day???”
That looks like a trip on level ground. You can drive that one with any car. You should be happy to know that I don’t plan to be driving anywhere near there.
The van is running very well with no issues. In the year I have owned it I have replaced the starter, crank shaft sensor, all the belts, done 2 oil changes and 1 transmission fluid change. right now on average during the week I drive about 140 miles a week to work and back. The upcoming drive I am looking at will be around 200+ all on interstate freeway and back.