Hello,
We are planning a family trip to TN. My van is an older vehicle...a Mazda '03. We've never had any trouble with it and it's running fine, but my hubby is worried about driving it on vacation. We are getting a tune up/tire rotation done before we go, but after speaking to his Mom and sister, he's thinking that he'd rather rent a van for the trip. I hadn't planned for that expense, though we could swing it. He's found a deal through a friend for $600 for the whole trip. The vacation is already costing us a bit more than I'd like, but we've not gone on a real vacation since before my youngest was born. So we are splurging a bit, but again I wasn't planning on the extra expense.
He's asking me what I want to do. I don't really see the need to rent a van, the extra space would be nice (ours is smaller than most minivans), but I'm not really worried about our car making it. He is worried, and I'm wondering if it would just be better to bite the $600 dollar bullet for his (and in turn my) peace of mind. I'll never hear the end of it if our car "dies" on this trip!!!!
Soooo, if you were me, what would you do? Go for the rental, take the older van...or go buy a new van real quick (kidding) Any tips on really good deals...he's got a friend that works for the rental agency, so I'm thinking that's the best deal we'll get but ya never know.
I love it when he springs this stuff on me days before we have to leave!!!! I need a vacation from my vacation!!! :)
Thanks in advance ladies, its nice to have different perspectives...
We went in the van. We had it serviced and checked closely to look for any issues. They found the water pump was pretty worked over and replaced that.
The van made,it no issues!! Thanks for the advice ladies. i appreciate the perspective. If we go again next year and have the same van, I will probably rent. it's a good van, but I dont' want to push my luck tooo far!! LOL!
My parents rent a van every time they drive from MN to visit me in IL. Their reasoning is that if they break down, the rental car company has the responsibility to fix the car. We've had too many breakdowns between Chicago and MN over the years.
You have to prioritize safety and health vs $600 vs trusting your Mazda.
Truthfully, if your 03 Mazda has never given you any issues and you have kept it properly maintained it should be fine. Mazda tends to have decent products.
That said... we rent cars a lot. We have never had one of our personal cars break down and we keep them in tip top shape (Mercedes)
BUT.... Hubby has been stranded more than once when he has flown to a town and headed out in a rental to make sales calls. He has had to wait on the rental car company to get a new car to him due to tire issues, engine issues, etc. This in the end cost us more money because it takes him away from working. That said, the car companies he has used and been stranded with have all been very good with follow up and perks afterwards but it is not worth it for the 2-3 hours he has lost in time and forced to reschedule appointments and flights.
He has also taken a car back to the airport to get a new one due to issues as well.
Bottom line... there are no guarantees either way that your car or a rental won't break down.
If you go with the rental, make sure you read the fine print and have unlimited miles and have "permission" to take it across state lines if you are planning on that. If you were to decided to drop it off at another location, there are fees for that as well that add up fast! Just read carefully.
Enjoy your trip!
I have a '99 Rav4 and would not hesitate to drive it on vacation. It runs great and I love driving it.
Cars break down even the best kept ones break down from time to time. As long as you have it serviced and know that the breaks, hoses, tires, and other things like power steering pump are in good working order why add the extra expense? You are going to be driving on unfamilar roads why drive an unfamilar car?
We have older cars, and have chosen to rent a vehicle for our rare trips..... (most of the time).
For us, however, we are also going from a minivan to a smaller, more economical car. We did a very quick (4 day) trip to Kansas and back for a funeral (just hubby and I), and rented a Toyota Corolla for about $140 for the 4 days..... so the savings on gas paid for the rental, plus we had good air conditioning! We felt that the mini-van would make it just fine, but didn't think we needed to add 1500 miles to the car (2000 Dodge Caravan).
Last year, however, we got the transmission rebuilt right before a trip to Colorado, so we felt it would do just fine for the trip.... unfortunately, the AC wasn't working properly most of the trip.
As far as getting a deal, call around... see if you can find any deals online. Some places of employment offer perks in the way of discounts for stuff like this.
I was in your shoes at the end of June . . . we drove our 2004 Honda Odyssey from southeast Florida to northeast TN/southwest VA (14 hour trip). When we left we had 113,000+ miles. I was nervous too and thought about renting a vehicle. Husband talked me out of it. While we were there we went up to the NC mountains and went up and down a mountain about 20 times LOL!
I would check the Kelly Blue Book value for your van in its current condition and mileage, and see if the estimated added mileage makes any difference in the value. If it's significant it makes more sense to rent. If not, it doesn't, at least from a financial sense.
If your husband will be with you, and the car dies, at least you guys are together to figure out what to do next. I drove my trip by myself with the kids and dog (husband WAS there for the return trip).
Good luck on your decision!!
PS: We went in for maintenance before the trip, and have always maintained our van well.
If the van has been kept in good condition with regular maintence and you plan to get it tuned up and checked out before you leave I would most certainly use the van you have instead of renting another one. There is no guarentee that the rental car will be any safer than yours. I have had friends rent cars that die on them in only a couple days. They do not take as good care of their cars as they want you to believe. My husbad has gotten some clunkers on business trips.
I like to take my own car on trips because then my kids can help me drive. They are too young to put on a rental agreement. Otherwise I would rent for longer trips. The wear and tear on your own vehicle costs money, too. Plus, with an older vehicle, the chances of needing a repair on the road is higher. That takes time from your precious vacation days and finding a reputable repair shop away from home is difficult. Enjoy the rental van!
We were in the exact same spot last year, we have '03 Honda, and we were going to TN as well. I talked my husband into just driving our van after it was tuned up, oil changed, etc. Well we just started heading home from TN when we blew the transmission, cost us $4500 to get it fixed, had to take 3 extra vacation days from work to wait for it to get fixed, and its only worth about what the new transmission cost us. Listen to your husband and rent a vehicle!!
We're going to Colorado in a few days and we're renting a minivan. When I was a kid and my family traveled, we NEVER rented vehicles. But as an adult, all the times I've traveled more than 4 or 5 hours away, I've rented. My thought is kind of along the same lines as QueenoftheCastle's parents. If we break down, we can get another car from the rental agency and we're not out of our personal vehicle and don't have to spend our vacation trying to figure out a good place to get it fixed! Good luck and have a fun, safe trip!
