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.