Going to go visit my daughter and grandkids at Fort Lewis/McCord in Tacoma, WA Sunday. They live on base and it is 315 miles from my house to their place.
Daughter told me that I cannot bring any firearms with me since they live on base and it is not allowed. They don't own a gun. They are leftists. I was tempted to stash a pistol in my vehicle, but I suspect a military base has some sort of scanning technology to detect hidden weapons in a vehicle. Not going to risk it.
So, I have two vehicles to choose from. One, is my main vehicle. A 2019 Toyota 4Runner that is lifted and modified and has 24k miles on it. I did a 3600-mile road trip in it in February. It was fine, but got awful gas mileage. 15.7 mpg.
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The other car is a 2007 Chevy HHR that my dad gave me a couple of months ago after he deemed it worthless. He bought it new and used it to travel all over the US pulling a small Coleman pop-up camper to various rifle matches. It had 209k miles on it and I have been driving it as much as possible and it now has 210k miles. It runs great, the oil still looks like new, tires have 70% tread, and I have got it cleaned up, painted the wheels, and it looks sharp. It gets over 31 mpg.
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However, the tie rods I think are shot since it makes a weird rattling noise on bumps. Dad took it to a mechanic and they replaced all of the struts and shocks and no improvement. I suspect tie rods or ball joints or some other front suspension thing. Still drives fine. Transmission is getting soft. Little lag when shifting, but no major slipping.
I have been driving it for a couple of months and it starts easily, runs good, and no issues other than an engine temp sensor that was having connectivity issues. It resolved itself. I think it would make it there and back easily.
But, driving it rather than a super-reliable SUV on a road trip to a sketchy area completely unarmed makes me nervous.
I would save 650 miles on my nice car, and save about $75 in gas if I take the HHR.
Just on the fence as to which one I will go with.