Wondering if my 2002 Subaru Forester can make a long drive/trip?

laurenquesada786_193257
Fri, 28 Mar 2025 05:19:51 +0000
General Discussion

I’m planning a trip with some friends and I’m worried my car isn’t up for the drive. Looking for advice or reassurance on whether we should look into renting a car instead.

For reference, Flattest Route says my daily commute is an elevation change of 630 feet in 10 miles, with a max grade of 135%.

It says the trip route is an elevation change of 5000 feet in 200 miles, with a max grade of 20%.

My drive here from WA to CO was an elevation change of 117000 feet in 1300 miles, with a max grade of 10%.

I’m not sure how accurate these values are either…

Some background: I purchased a 2002 Subaru forester from our small town mechanic (friend of a friend) three years ago. It was a salvage title, but he’d rebuilt the car. It had no cosmetic damage from what I could tell, he’d replaced the head gasket, and it had less than 100k miles on it. In total, it was $5500.

I then loaded the car up with me, my dog, some small furniture and all my belongings, and drove it from WA to CO. It really struggled on the passes, which is something I hadn’t been expecting. I drove through them emergency lights on with the rest of the semis in the far right lane, but it was stressful.

I’ve now had the car for three years. Mechanic says it’s built like a tank every time I take it in. I’ve never had any problems with it other than

-the shocks are leaking and need to be replaced, but I don’t mind it enough to invest half the worth of the car in fixing them
-the car shakes when I slow down quickly (and again, I don’t mind it)
-the brakes squeak a lot (I’ve had them checked, even the drums in the back, and they got the all clear)

And, I drive it everyday from Denver to Golden–it does fine on 58 at the elevation change.

So, do you think my car can make the trip?

14 posts - 10 participants