The Regal made it "home"

[trinacriabob]

I was a little on edge Thursday, as I would be taking the Regal, with some 236,000 miles on it, up to Portland OR to park it in Mom's garage as I go to Europe and then come back to relocate/job hunt. I had a sensor and a tie rod end replaced the week prior, so I had spent some money on it.

The tie rod cured the slight shimmy, but there was still a road drone which was atypical and it changed with the movement of the steering wheel. I said "WTF, I'm setting out on the 600 mile journey." As I got past Mt. Shasta, it got a little louder. About 20 miles south of Eugene OR, it started sounding like a helicopter and it was 8 pm.

I proceeded at 50 to 55 mph, with the trucks, and it made it. Yahoo! But the next day, I got a wheel bearing assembly replaced and the car is quiet again.

Incidentally, I got 29.36 mpg on the first tank and 30.23 mpg on the second tank. Unbelievable. That's what it got when it was NEW. That tells me that freaking engine is still tight!

Have you ever ventured far from home in a high mileage vehicle? Made it? Problems?

Edited June 4, 2007 by trinacriabob

[Flybrian]

I will in about a month and a half, and more high-age than high-mileage.

[ocnblu]

I drove my Corvair a few times to Annapolis (about an 80 mile round trip at the time, not including cruising the city) and to Lancaster once (about a 200 mile round trip, again not including short hops while here). It did fine.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I drove to Plano, Tex-Ass (that's where I grew up since I was 10) and back two years ago in my 1969 Pontiac Custom-S, at that time she had 98,000 miles on her. I had promised my wife that if anything went wrong I would leave the car and get a rental and push on to Tex-Ass, wouldn't you know it, right oustside of Knoxville, TN, on I-81 I lost my rear wheel bearing. So we pull into Knoxville and I swear we get this mechanic who all he has to do is is put his hand on the car to tell what's wrong with it. Praise the Lord is what he would say when he touched my car! OMFG!

We leave and register for the night at a local Hotel. So my wife says, when do we get the rental car? I say have you lost your mind, I would leave you before I leave that car! This was Saturday, I got my car back from the Lord's Mechanic and found a AAA mechanic who fixed it on Monday. For those that don't know, in the South most businesses are closed on Sunday, so we waited a day.

I didn't leave my car and my wife didn't leave me, so it ended well for all of us.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Hollingsworth]

right oustside of Knoxville, TN, on I-81 I lost my rear wheel bearing. So we pull into Knoxville and I swaer we get this mechanic who all he has to do is is put his hand on the car to tell whats wrong with it. Praise the Lord is what he would say when he touched my car! OMFG!

Welcome to East Tennessee!

What town were you in, BTW? 'Cause I-81 turns into 40 quite a few miles east of Knoxville, right around Dandridge.

We took the Passat to Boston this Christmas. 1,600 miles round trip. 139,000 miles on the odometer. No problems whatsoever.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Hollingsworth

[Oracle of Delphi]

Welcome to East Tennessee!

What town were you in, BTW? 'Cause I-81 turns into 40 quite a few miles east of Knoxville, right around Dandridge.

We took the Passat to Boston this Christmas. 1,600 miles round trip. 139,000 miles on the odometer. No problems whatsoever.

I lost my wheel bearing on I-81 and limped along at 20 MPH until I got to Knoxville off of I-40. It wasn't so bad, my nephew goes to U of T Knoxville, go Vols, and I always loved Dollywood!

Edited June 4, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Hollingsworth]

I went to UT for one semester, then transferred to South Carolina. But I still supported Tennessee (and still do). There's no better sound than "TOUCHDOWN TENNESSEE!", followed by Rocky Top.

Yeah, my blood runs orange.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Hollingsworth

[Oracle of Delphi]

I'm attracted to states whos names start with T or D (Touch Down). Living in Delaware I'm close enough to attend many Naval Academy games in Maryland. It also helps to have a brother who works for the CIA, but I never get use to them saluting me when I drive through the gate.

[Z-06]

I took my 1998 Chevy Lumina from Orlando to Pikeville, Ky to Ripley, WV and back in Dec 2006. The car had 138,xxx and when I came back it had 141,xxx. Overall the average fuel economy was 27.4, that included in town driving. The best tank I got was about 31, and the worst was 24 in the mountain driving in Eastern Ky.

[Farkas]

I went to UT for one semester, then transferred to South Carolina. But I still supported Tennessee (and still do). There's no better sound than "TOUCHDOWN TENNESSEE!", followed by Rocky Top.

Yeah, my blood runs orange.

I was just at UT like 2 weeks ago for the Destination Imagination Global Finals. Amazing campus. I would love to go to college there.

That being said, the longest trip my car has gone on is Saco, ME which is a whopping 160 miles roundtrip

[Hollingsworth]

I'm attracted to states whos names start with T or D (Touch Down). Living in Delaware I'm close enough to attend many Naval Academy games in Maryland. It also helps to have a brother who works for the CIA, but I never get use to them saluting me when I drive through the gate.

My three are UT, Carolina, and Boston U, since I attended all three in the course of my 8 years of college. But as a native East Tennessean, there will always be a special place in my heart for the Vols.

I'm partial to Georgetown and UConn, too, ironically. I have to keep the latter a secret, as my wife would consider my supporting TWO Yankee teams grounds for divorce.

Anyway, back in '96, the College Republicans took a road trip to San Diego for the Republican National Convention. I rode in an old BMW E28 (5 series) with almost 220,000 miles on it. We had to stop every hour and a half, because it would overheat and start smoking. Climate control was non functional. Radio was gone (stolen).

Good times!

Edited June 4, 2007 by Hollingsworth

[aaaantoine]

I frequently took the 1997 Olds Achieva on a 315-miles-each-way road trip when it was still around. It had over 115,000 miles on it when we bought it, which for an Achieva is apparently a lot.

It never really broke down completely on me, but I've had a few experiences with it:

- January, 2003: Blew out a tire, with another 100 or so miles to go before getting home. Turned out the donut spare was... useless. Thank God that the place my tire popped was right near by where one of my cousins lived. Thank Him again that my cousin happens to be married to a mechanic, who found a Subaru wheel at his shop that (almost) fit the Achieva's bolt pattern. After boring out the wheel's center hole, he was able to get it to fit well enough for me to make it the rest of the way home.

- October, 2004: Was making a trip to get home in time for a job interview, when the engine decided to stall out on me ON the George Washington Bridge. Lower Level. Center Lane. Pain in the ass. That car had a stalling problem for awhile, attributed both to cheap gas fill-ups and a coolant problem. I made it off the GWB without major incident, but I couldn't even hear if the starter was working or not because of the noise on the bridge. The engine almost overheated afterwards, because the coolant all leaked out. The Achieva came very close to costing me the interview, but it made it, and I got the job.

Edited June 4, 2007 by aaaantoine

[Intrepidation]

I'm about to set out on a 3700 mile or so journey in a 180k mile car.

[Cory Wolfe]

I've taken my Millenia on more than a few 200+ mile road trips, not to mention that at one time I was putting 2000 miles per month on it. After 14k miles of having it (now at 174k), it's still running strong, albeit with a slight engine miss and nearly bald front tires.

[knightfan26917]

Have you ever ventured far from home in a high mileage vehicle?

*nods*

Indeed I have!

Bought my '87 MC LS in mid-2003 (June/July timeframe). At the time, it had about 105K miles on it. A month or so later (mid-August of that same year), I took it on a road trip through Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee. Had no problems whatsoever. Ran like a champ ... and still does .

Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker

PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"The life I love is making music with my friends" ... Willie Nelson ... 'On The Road Again'

[loki]

drove about 800miles ... last week in the 99 monte 3.1.. it has 142K.... for a ~240mile leg of it i got ~36 mpg...lot of ~55mph driving. from indi past muncie back to terre haught (sp?).. i could get the reciept easily for true numbers.

[trinacriabob]

when the engine decided to stall out on me ON the George Washington Bridge. Lower Level. Center Lane. Pain in the ass.

I made it off the GWB without major incident

My palms sweat just reading that one. My uncle lives 9 or so miles west of the GWB. But, you made it. It could have been worse....you could have stalled on the Cross Bronx Expwy. at Jerome Avenue.

I know that I once drove my first Cutlass Supreme with about 140 K out East and back to Cali with just one flat tire in south Georgia and I took it across the Cross Bronx; in fact, I went quite a ways out on L.I. with it, to the point that it actually got rural there but didn't know where I was, except for the AAA map that was with me. God, there was a diner on the Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream (South Shore) that had a cheesecake and huge portions of food that I still remember.

[the_yellow_dart]

I drove to Florida in a 190,000 km Suburban.

A friend of mine took the 700 km trip to northern Ontario in a 450,000 km '88 Audi 90 Quattro. That car is the definition of s**t-kicked, but it just keeps going.

[Robert Hall]

The longest with an older car was in my Mustang GT which was 10 years old at the time with 45k miles--drove from Ann Arbor to Colorado Springs (about 1200 miles), almost 10 years ago to the day.. since then, I've taken a few road trips of some length, but only with late model/low mileage cars.

I just don't trust higher mileage/older cars not to break, so I probably wouldn't take my Jeep on a long trip now (it is 7 years old, almost 80k miles).