Wife is traveling 1400 miles in a 02 4runner. Rental Car? AAA?

My wife is heading with the 2 girls and her sister on a 700 mile each way excursion to Illinois this weekend. I found a rental car for 180 bucks for the 4 days, but she'd rather take her car.

In the next couple of months I'll be getting her something with less miles, but her current car is a 2002 4runner with 210k on the dial. Newish tires, recentish timing belt, water pump. We've really never had a single issue in the 90k she's put on the thing. But to me, its alot of miles on the car, and her being that far away makes me nervous.

My 2nd thought would be the triple A, but since our insurance covers towing, the only thing it would be used for is a flat tire.

Thoughts? recommendations?

The rental car will also probably save 70-100 bucks in gas. May not be as spacious.

I dunno any reason the 4runner should be suspect of not making it though.

28 hours in a car versus 5 in a plain? Ok I can see the $$$$$ side of it but at some point tossing a bit of cash at something will make things exponentially better.

Unless she is haling a trailer or lost of stuff in one direction this does not seem to make sense.

On a side note I ALWAYS rented when we went to summit point or out to Ohio. I always splurged on a big car / van with unlimited millage. Yes it cost me $$$$$ but if it broke down it was there problem worth the extra $$$$$ and also was worth not putting the ware and tear on my vehicles.

I would suggest AAA.

I have read on another thread where someone's claim history was affected by getting towing done through their insurance.

AAA. Peace of mind.

AAA just in case. FWIW, I'd trust a 3.4 4Runner with new timing belt/WP with 210,000 miles over a new rental.

I'd put my wife in a new rental if it were me. I've had a few high mileage Toyotas and E36 M3 happens to them just like any other car.

Rental, the fuel savings will pay for the car. Plus it will be quieter and have bluetooth to keep the kids entertained.

dean1484 wrote: 28 hours in a car versus 5 in a plain? Ok I can see the $$$$$ side of it but at some point tossing a bit of cash at something will make things exponentially better. Unless she is haling a trailer or lost of stuff in one direction this does not seem to make sense.

Sometimes flights take a lot longer than expected. for example, I dunno where the OP is in terms of drive time to closest airport, but:

• 1 hour, drive to airport (could be much more).
• 2 hours, get to the airport before flight, park, check in, security, etc.
• 2 hours, flight
• 2 hours, land, get bags, get rental car, drive to wherever you are actually going.

Door to door equals 7 hours, and thats a direct flight - tack on 2-3 more hours for a connection. To just drive is 12ish. 200 gas vs. 800 for 4 plane tickets means the 5 hour difference is $600 more. or, $120 per hour.

For one person, flying is great, but I also prefer to drive solo if the drive is anywhere less than about 6-7 hours. Just because flying always seems to take that much time anyway. Just another way to look at it.

I'd much prefer her to fly, but at 300 bucks a ticket, plus she needs a rental car for the same time, it's not something we can do yet.

Illinois is also 2-1/2 hours from airport, plus dealing with 2 car seats, pack and play, a 3 year old, and a 1 year old. it can be alot to handle.

so I went from "okay 4runner is fine, just get AAA", to "maybe I should convince her of the rental car".

Renting a car is going to be cheaper, if you compare the rental cost + gas to the mileage you'd put on your own car (at 57.5 cents per mile.) On the other hand, if the 4Runner has been reliable there's no reason it shouldn't make the trip without any problems.

Whatever she prefers to do is the main thing. It's not like she's driving to Timbuktu. I do agree with having AAA coverage, if for some reason she does have a breakdown it can greatly ease the pain.

OHHHH Did not realize that they kids are 1 & 3 DRIVE!!!!! Much easier

I don't get owning a car if you can't drive it. Of course it's not unusual for me to do 1000 miles in a normal week so a 1400 mile trip equals a couple of weeks of driving. If I have a car that can't go two weeks without breaking down it gets fixed or sold.

parker wrote: I don't get owning a car if you can't drive it. Of course it's not unusual for me to do 1000 miles in a normal week so a 1400 mile trip equals a couple of weeks of driving. If I have a car that can't go two weeks without breaking down it gets fixed or sold.

If I were driving it there would be no post.

when it's your pregnant wife, her 25 year old sister, a 3 year old, and a one year old,

it's a little different.

Then get rid of the car. 1400 miles is nothing. Not even halfway to the old "change the oil at 3000 miles" standard.

parker wrote: Then get rid of the car. 1400 miles is nothing. Not even halfway to the old "change the oil at 3000 miles" standard.

ok. ill put an ad up now. thanks for the advice.

I'd just use the 4runner. You've maintained it, it's a good car. There should be no problems with the drive.

If there is a breakdown it's not the end of the world and while inconvenient, only a small hiccup to the trip and will make for a good story later.

In may, I took my 1998 4Runner on a 700-mile (round trip) journey to the Porsche Club annual swap meet near Harrisburg, PA. Said 4runner is over-maintained, but still has 191k miles. I did a radiator, water pump, timing belt and a transmission service before embarking on my journey. 4Runner gave me no trouble at all but only averaged 13MPG (Towing a trailer full of Porsche parts). That said, after 200 miles or so, its church pew hard seats began to give me low back pain. The hard seats were the only pain in the ass my old Runner gave me. If you aren't towing anything, the rental car gets my vote.

For what its worth I would rent her a minivan or something big. I wouldn't want to take that trip in a any corolla rental.

Just keep in mind that AAA will not be active for three days or so. If you go that route, sign up today.

I'm with the rental crowd, simply because as others have said if it breaks it isn't your problem. Also, if you're thinking of selling the 4Runner, you can try to rent a car you might be interested in buying, though I suspect that was just sarcasm about selling it.

That said, make sure to post the 4Runner in the 20xx classifieds so I can curse that it is too far away if you do sell it.

Sounds like renting a minivan would put your mind at ease and make her trip easier. You may have trouble getting her back into the 4 Runner when she returns though.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

You are correct about the sarcasm, though I have no intention of selling it. As I said, we will be purchasing a Sienna in the next couple of months, after an inheritance check comes in. This trip was too last minute to allow me to find a replacement.

I was hoping to rent a minivan, but the 99 bucks a day vs 18 for a standard car makes it not worth it. how they charge 5x as much for a vehicle that costs 1.2x as much, i dont understand.

I would kick myself for ever getting rid of the 4runner. its been an absolute tank. the mazda6 however, I will kick myself every day for buying it in the first place. that will probably end up in the 2015 category at the rate things keep failing on it.

I would suggest to spend some time going over the 4Runner - for some reason most of the cars I rented recently with the exception of Switzerland were rather dirty, didn't give off the vibe of being overly maintained and had a fair few (presumably hard) miles on them.

A few years ago, when the rental was three months old and had 6000 miles on it, I'd favour the rental. These days, with the rental being 12+ months old with 30k-50k on it, nah, take your own car.