Road Trip - Drive My Own Car or Rent?

[The Critic]

Next week, I am taking a trip to Southern CA. Round Trip is about 800 miles.

I am debating between taking my own car or renting one. The concern is reliability.

My car is a 2011 Prius with 182k. I have done the 180K service, cleaned the EGR circuit, replaced the electric engine water pump and installed 4 new Michelin's. The 12V battery is 3 years old and tested fine. To date, the car has never left me stranded. In fact, the only repair I had was a MAF sensor at 154K.

The bad news is that it has the original hybrid battery (it was reconditioned 6 months ago for preventative maintenance), the original inverter water pump and the original fuel pump (they do sometimes fail w/o warning on these cars at high mileage).

I can rent a full-size car for $167/week OTD.

Thoughts?

 

[skyactiv]

Rent

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Rent. If there are any mechanical problems, they replace the vehicle. Removes all worry.

 

[zorobabel]

I try to rent only when I fly.
I drove my Maxima to Montana and Alberta 4 months ago; it ran for 28 hours with just gas stops. Of course, 2 months ago, an injector o-ring failed. Thanks Trav for servicing the injectors!
Drive the Prius, be adventurous!

 

[Andrew1972]

Drive it.

Your should see what I took into another country (Canada) doing well over 900 miles with family of 5. AC froze up and errant check oil level lights on a 2007 MDX with 186k miles.

Those issues seem benign. Also you are beyond capable.

The chances of anything happening are pretty low and you'll save the $170.

 

[mrsilv04]

For $167... rent. That's cheap. That's about what I'd pay for a full size.

If it was twice that, my answer would then be no.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I would fly; Southwest had some cheap flights recently.
If you are gonna drive, it is always fun to try something new.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
I would fly; Southwest had some cheap flights recently.

I will still need a car once I am at my destination.

Want to loan me something from your fleet?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Take the Tesla. All yours.
Of course, you hafta ask Sue...

 

[RooflessVW]

If you had a proper road-trip car...

I say rent. Pick up a Challenger from Enterprise.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Rent a car you may be interested in buying next. Sounds like you may be buying something else soon.

 

[cjcride]

Rent

 

[andyd]

I used to take my first 528e on 1500-2K mile road trips. Just kept oil topped off. It had over 300K miles on when my son and I drove it from Ellijay GA to Hartford CT with a 2" sheet metal screw holding the hood shut.

 

[fdcg27]

Only 800 miles?
Seriously?
You own one of the best vehicles Toyota has ever built and you're a professional tech.
Drive the thing to Florida if you'd like. You'd have no problems,
A rental makes no sense unless you can rent something you'd really like to try, which is usually not on offer.
It's not as though you're trying to keep miles off some leased car.

 

[02SE]

I would sell any car I owned that I didn't trust to make it 800 miles.

 

[gman2304]

Drive!

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by 02SE
I would sell any car I owned that I didn't trust to make it 800 miles.


Yes, that's very true. Plus, there's no guarantee a rental car will make it 800 miles without a repair.

 

[simple_gifts]

I guess I should've worried more about the 1040 mile round trip I made last week in my 16 year old prius.

 

[StevieC]

In that case I would rent.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by fdcg27
Only 800 miles?
Seriously?
You own one of the best vehicles Toyota has ever built and you're a professional tech.
Drive the thing to Florida if you'd like. You'd have no problems,
A rental makes no sense unless you can rent something you'd really like to try, which is usually not on offer.
It's not as though you're trying to keep miles off some leased car.

Originally Posted by 02SE
I would sell any car I owned that I didn't trust to make it 800 miles.

It is also a question of risk. Sure, it is one of the better Toyota's you can buy. But in theory, any car with 182K miles has a greater likelihood of mechanical breakdown than one with 30K (or less). When you are traveling thru deserted areas with no services, this is a consideration.