Long trip in a old car..

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
What do you say BITOG does a older car make for a more interesting trip?


We took the '66 from central Texas to Durango CO and back a few years ago. It was a blast, although it took me a few hundred miles to relax and convince myself that I really had put it all together right. About halfway through the trip I took our (then) little girl to see 'Cars,' and the whole image of folks travelling cross-country on Route 66 in the 50s made me think just how much less likely I was to have trouble in the 2000s in a 60s car with modern brakes and tires, so I put my foot that much deeper into it and *really* enjoyed the rest of the trip.

 

[unDummy]

I drove my '81 and '91 cross country a few years back.

The '81 needed a few repairs in the 'autozone', 'checkers', and 'advance auto' parking lots. Surprisingly, all parts are available that I could possibly ever need for the '81.

'91 was and still is uneventful.

The '08 just give you a false sense of security like any new car does. It can break and it would be more difficult to repair.

I guess it all depends on how picky you are with maintenance, and whether you know the difference between a wrench and screwdriver.

 

[OVERKILL]

I drove the Lincoln to New Brunswick and back a few years ago. 1,528Km each way, plus driving around there. No issues at all. The car has made the trip probably 30 times over the course of its life with us.

She would have had a bit over 300,000Km (186,000 miles) on it at the time.

 

[garlicbreadman]

i'm taking my 10 year old integra on a 15-17hr(1000 mile) drive from California to Vancouver. I dont see why you would be concerned if you take care of your car well.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: garlicbreadman
i'm taking my 10 year old integra on a 15-17hr(1000 mile) drive from California to Vancouver. I dont see why you would be concerned if you take care of your car well.


This Integra is a different catigory of old car. Thirty/fourty something years ago, many cars were problems right out of the factory. You would have to pray before taking a long trip. And a 4-5 yr old car often had much ware on it and the parts on the vehicle were marginal at best. 100K miles was often considered junk. Rubber such as belts, hoses and tires were a different thing in those days also. Today, 10 year old car to me is still new. I remember when vehicles had rust holes in it by 5 years and by 10 years, it was a cancer case.

 

[wander2039]

Originally Posted By: unDummy


The '08 just give you a false sense of security like any new car does. It can break and it would be more difficult to repair.


This is what I worry about with our Escape! Even though it's been reliable to the point it should be a sin. Compared to my cars where I could practically rebuild the engine along the road I'd have to take it somewhere just for a CEL.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Originally Posted By: garlicbreadman
i'm taking my 10 year old integra on a 15-17hr(1000 mile) drive from California to Vancouver. I dont see why you would be concerned if you take care of your car well.


This Integra is a different catigory of old car. Thirty/fourty something years ago, many cars were problems right out of the factory. You would have to pray before taking a long trip. And a 4-5 yr old car often had much ware on it and the parts on the vehicle were marginal at best. 100K miles was often considered junk. Rubber such as belts, hoses and tires were a
different thing in those days also. Today, 10 year old car to me is still new. I remember when vehicles had rust holes in it by 5 years and by 10 years, it was a cancer case.



Bull. Feathers.

Every car that's passed through my family since 1949 has passed WELL beyond 100k miles and most beyond 10 years. The shortest-life car I can remember was a 78 Horizon, sold at 120k. The 54 Chrysler was kept to almost 200k, a 62 Olds past 150k, 63 Valiant past 200k, 68 Ranchero 180k. The list goes on for years, not counting the 2 in my sig.

People always judge cars from past decades by the clapped-out examples they see 20 years later, and it just perpetuates a myth.

 

[CharBaby]

440 Mag, you'r right!

Were your vehicles always in Texas?
Here in the North, we(our family) just couldn't do it and dad was the mechanic(it was his living). Winters are the killer!

Grant it, we had some nice cars too but, couldn't seem to keep'em very long before they were too problematic to keep any longer.

Dad was also a Chrysler man as well. They were probably the better vehicles at the time. Many had issues from new. "This was our experience". But I don't want to start debating the quality/reliability of older iron.


Two cars of dad's that I wish I still owned was, the '56 Chevy and '60 DeSoto

 

[G-MAN]

Long trip in an old car:

 

[CharBaby]

Love those older 300's!

 

[Craig in Canada]

Yeah, and I'm loving the "this video contains content from Sony Music Entertainment, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."

The Internet, and life in general, just keeps getting better and better...

Soon I won't be able to hum a tune without copyright police popping out of somewhere to collect.

 

[sciphi]

The cars up around my corner of the Northeast are either late-model or ancient. The ancient cars universally have some rust damage, sometimes outright rust cancer.

I'd think nothing of taking my Buick cross-country tomorrow. Then again, I've driven it since it had 30k miles on the odometer, and I know the car inside and out.

 

[L_Sludger]

i've taken intra-continental (2200+ mile) trips before in old cars. my best was a 2200 mile trip taken with a '86.5 supra that i bought for $600, then turbocharged. car didn't skip a beat with the 7MGE N/A engine and turbo combination, singing at 4k rpm through I-40 at 80mph for thousands of miles.

 

[CharBaby]

Although it was a BUICK in "RainMan", this video reminds me of the movie...Just a little bit!

Lots of small towns and Highway

 

[ahoier]

The way I look at it, if the car makes you to the mall and back on the weekends, to and from work multiple times during the week (multiple stops, cool downs, and restarts later...)

The car should survive a cross-country trip, provided your tires/wheels, belts, hoses, etc. are in good working condition.

And if you do decide to get mechanics of the vehicle checked over before a trip, consider a "chain store" such as Tire Kingdom, Meineke, Midas, etc....which seem to be all over...so if something does happen on the road, there's hope that their may be one close by on your route/destination

Reasoning why I get my tires at WM, lifetime rotation, balance, and flat/tire repairs for the life of those tires.....at ANY walmart...as long as it's got a TLE.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
440 Mag, you'r right!

Were your vehicles always in Texas?
Here in the North, we(our family) just couldn't do it and dad was the mechanic(it was his living). Winters are the killer!

Grant it, we had some nice cars too but, couldn't seem to keep'em very long before they were too problematic to keep any longer.

Dad was also a Chrysler man as well. They were probably the better vehicles at the time. Many had issues from new. "This was our experience". But I don't want to start debating the quality/reliability of older iron.


Two cars of dad's that I wish I still owned was, the '56 Chevy and '60 DeSoto


Mine were mostly TX cars. Rust up north did kill many an otherwise sound vehicle. That's one area (corrosion protection) where new cars are better.

 

[wander2039]

Originally Posted By: ahoier
The way I look at it, if the car makes you to the mall and back on the weekends, to and from work multiple times during the week (multiple stops, cool downs, and restarts later...)

The car should survive a cross-country trip, provided your tires/wheels, belts, hoses, etc. are in good working condition.

And if you do decide to get mechanics of the vehicle checked over before a trip, consider a "chain store" such as Tire Kingdom, Meineke, Midas, etc....which seem to be all over...so if something does happen on the road, there's hope that their may be one close by on your route/destination

Reasoning why I get my tires at WM, lifetime rotation, balance, and flat/tire repairs for the life of those tires.....at ANY walmart...as long as it's got a TLE.


Shoot if I took my car to one of those chain stores I'd be afraid to drive it any where. Although I know the exact condition my cars are in.. a few things needs to be done but nothing that'll leave us stranded. We also do most of our tires and batteries at Wally for the same reason. Going to replace the valve seals in the Festiva next week then next weekend taking it to Branson. Those hills will be interesting with a 4 banger automatic!

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Originally Posted By: ahoier


And if you do decide to get mechanics of the vehicle checked over before a trip, consider a "chain store" such as Tire Kingdom, Meineke, Midas, etc....which seem to be all over...so if something does happen on the road, there's hope that their may be one close by on your route/destination

Shoot if I took my car to one of those chain stores I'd be afraid to drive it any where.


Eric is 100% correct...I would be afarid to go anywhere if any of those chains did any work on my car!

Everytime I ride by one of those chain stores I give a quick count on how many people are getting ripped off that day.

 

[wander2039]

Not a long trip but did 500+ miles in the Festiva this weekend. Went down to Branson from KC. The only thing I recommend on any car is make sure your exhaust is functioning! The pipe going into the muffler I guess has been working lose over the time I've had it.. figure it would be fine for just this weekend. Boy was I wrong 3500 rpms ouch! The wife and boy slept majority of the way so it didn't bother them. 32mpg down there - 30 around town put some techrone cleaner not a good idea - 34mpg back home. Saved $50 easy enough for 2 meals at least. Personally I loved driving it with all the congestion and packed parking lots. People tend not to want a challenge a 20 year old car!