The not-so-trusty Breeze near Moab.
For today’s tip I will refer you to this thread from the Mountain Project forums. The original poster is driving a couple thousand miles from Portland to Joshua Tree and back and wondered whether it’s better to drive his own car or to rent one in order to save wear and tear on his. Now, I can relate to this. I’ve got a 1996 Plymouth Breeze with low miles (bought from an old lady who never drove anywhere), but it has had a shocking number of mechanical problems. Serious problems. Like the wheels almost coming off because of some cracked ball joint or something (I’m not well-versed in car lingo) and the break lines cracking. So I do still road trip in it?
What most people say in response to the post on MP, and what I generally agree with, is that it’s best to drive your own car unless there’s a good chance that your car will mechanically not be up to the challenge. If you think your car won’t make it, make a friend drive 
Here and here are two more forum posts from road trip (not climbing) forums that discuss the subject in a bit more detail.
One thing to take into consideration is the type of mileage you’re covering. I”ve driven my not-so-mechanically-sound car up to about 400 miles in a day (to Moab and back) but I don’t know if I’d want to do much more than that, and I don’t feel super comfortable taking it out to the middle of nowhere on dirt roads where I’m screwed if it breaks down.
So there you have it. Lots of things to consider: the state of your car, the type of terrain you’ll be covering, the consequences of your car’s failure. What do you guys think? What have your experiences been? Anybody out there that knows more than me about cars and can lend some credence to this discussion?
