Hi all,

I have a '96 Maxima at 208k. I know it's old and gone through a lot. I'll leave the country in 1.5 months, and I will have one month to travel. I'm thinking of a nationwide road trip.

I have two options, I can sell the car for like $1500 if I'm lucky. Fly to west coast and rent a car there. Skip all the mid US. It'll cost around $1000 for flight for 2, plus $500-600 for renting the car. Or I can drive as far as I can go. If the car breaks down, sell it to a local mechanic for $400 (maybe?). And rent a car, fly, etc.

Which one makes more sense? We need to drive 10-12 hours a day at some days. Can my old one take it? Would it be dangerous to drive with it?

Thanks

 

Sounds like you'll be tight on money either way...

 

Took the red car (99 5mt) on 750mi+ Road trips 4x a year back in College.

Got insane MPG, but my car was "modded"

Taking my I35 up to Milwaulkee for the 4th of July, so maybe we'll run into each other.

 

Well, I want to get the most of it. It will be a frugal trip. I don't want to spend thousands on a month and go back home penniless. I have other trips in mind


Good to know that What do you mean by modded? My car is well taken care of and have no problems currently. But you know, all of a sudden a part may get broken and you gotta fix it.

We'll go south from New Jersey, visiting Tennessee, Texas, Arizona and California. If the car is still up, then Route 66 to Chicago. We haven't decided yet, but that's the rough plan.

 

I used to have 98 GXE auto and took it on a trip 1000 miles each way. The car took me there and back safely with no problems as it was well maintained and only had 300k miles on the clock

 

I say do the road trip thats just me i love to see the open road.
Change your coolant and heater hoes if you haven't already. Oil change,and all fluids checked changed. Change belts if you haven't.

Don't drive it like a race car.

 

do it, you'll be fine, the car is bullet proof, you'll have fun, keep an eye on fluid levels along the way and have some spare oil and coolant in the trunk, also carry electrical tape, basic set of screw drivers and wrenches

I love my A32

 

Ehh, long story, not the point of the thread.

Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Iowa, Milwaulkee, Chicago, Peoria, St Louis, KC, Tulsa, Dallas, Home is the rough iterneriary for me.


Autos should get 28-30mpg, Manuals 27 on the highway. If they're getting any less, maintenance is needed.

 

why not? if youre leaving the country soon go for it, if the car makes it or not its gonna make one hell of a story. just check everything over, bring spare fluids, make sure you have a full size spare tire, air compressor, and full size jack and jackstands with you

ive driven old vehicles to Las Vegas from here in Canada pulling 10-12 hour days, no problems

 

It all comes down to how well you have maintained the car. A well maintained maxima with 200k miles should be able to do that trip without issues. A car that has not been maintained could break down if it has less than 100k miles on it.

Belts, hoses, radiators are most likely to cause problems. Generally at the top of Bad *** Pass when it is 100 degrees in August, when you are on vacation. If the car was maintained, the same mountain pass can be crossed with the air conditioning on high.

 

It probably should, but does it have any leaks or anything like that? If there's been any recent problems I'd probably have it checked out first, but if you haven't had any issues and engine runs good I'd say you'd be fine. Mines almost at 210k and after I fix a couple things I would trust it to make the trip.

 

hell, at 271,000 i'd trust the car to go anywhere even with p 0140 and p 0400 codes showing. she's been a reliable car for over 10 years and always starts.

 

Wow, it's really nice to see all these comments. Thanks guys. Car leaks steering wheel and transmission oil. My mechanic said it's no big deal and just adds up more oil everytime I go there. For the long journey, maybe hoses should be replaced.

I'm more like a computer guy and lack all mechanical skills so having a full set of screw divers won't help me I do have AAA with 200 miles towing. Worst case, they'll help me out.

 

they'll help you. my cousin drove from here to Las Vegas as well one time, transferbox on his truck blew in Utah and AAA took care of everything including finding a garage to put in a new xferbox etc

minor power steering and trans leak i wouldnt worry about, just take a couple litres of ATF with you. then you can top off the trans and power steering but i doubt you would need to