Long distance drives

[subyj]

I guess this is a good place to post this but my question is what is the longest trip, furthest distance anyone has driven their legacy? I plan on driving down to Georgia from Ohio in two weeks and am just wondering if ill make it there with no issues. The car has never broken down just over heated once or twice, i was thinking of replacing the thermostat to be safe.

[harrymaneuvers]

I have driven from Seattle to San Luis Obispo in one shot which was just over 1000 miles one way.

No issues at all.

Just give yourself a fresh oil/filter change. That is assuming that you dont have any issues like overheating, clutch issues ect.

How long has it been since it last overheated. What was the cause of it?

[rkrenicki]

I drove my 93 L from Connecticut to Washington State via several cities in Canada. Other than one brake giving out halfway due to its age, I had no issues on my 3600 mile trip.

[Odycee]

For long trips, I always replace new oil and coolant because sitting on the side of the road in middle of nowhere is NOT fun. Drove my 95 wagon 2.2L from SF to Portland OR round trip with no issues.

[harrymaneuvers]

Put together a roadside emergency bag/kit. The most common reasons for being stranded on a long trip are likely due to cracked hoses, broken belts, ect.

[subyj]

I just did an oil change so I'm good on that but I'm not sure what causes the overheating, it does it about every 6 months out of the blue so I just figured the thermostat was sticking. I'll start getting some stuff together for an emergency roadside kit, the car has spent it's whole life in ne ohio except for when I took it to Michigan last summer and I didn't have any problems

[Wiscon_Mark]

When I was a kid, my parents and I took my old Outback out to NY several times. That's a 1000 mile journey, easy. It was younger back then, but made every single journey with no issues.

[98legwag]

I drove mine from MD to UT and back. It was about 4,600 miles. No issues at all.

[iampetro]

it totally depends on the car/ engine

you can't compare your 2.5L to Harry's 2.2L because everyone knows they are stronger

97-99 2.5 dohc's had problems and so did the 2000-2004's 2.5L sohc engine

if I had a car that was overheating now and then but driving fine 99.9% of the time I'd worry about pressing my luck with an unusually long drive.

I know around here you can rent a car for $30 a day unlimited milage. If your not staying long then throwing down a little $$ to beat on a rental will be cheaper than an engine overhaul and getting stranded far far from home.

But you'll never know if you dont try

[subyj]

I'm going to try to get the thermostat replaced this week, and I'm taking it to a car show so renting a car wouldn't work but I'm under 25 year's old so I couldn't rent a car if I wanted to

[Odycee]

My gut feeling is you have a marginal HG leak, not sticky thermostat. Let's hope I'm wrong so you won't be stranded on side of the road. Knock on wood!

[rougeben83]

Longest in one stint was MI to MA via NY (about 750-800 miles each way) but I usually did the MI-NY roundtrip (600+miles each way) about 3-4 times a year when I was in med school...in a swapped car no less. In addition to the mechanical items and basic tool kit, just make sure your spare tire is in good shape and proper tools to change a tire and a small air compressor to pump it up if you have to. Tire blowout happened twice on the minivan, not on the Legacy (knock on wood).

[fireman2101]

I would suggest getting AAA or another service through your insurance if possible. A free tow can at least get you to somewhere to fix your car if you need to. It's saved my butt a few times. Got towed 300 miles in Colorado and didn't cost me as much as it should have.

They also just towed my 91 that blew up.

I drove a 93 wagon from Colorado to pa a few times. 1700miles one way.

[subyj]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the input, and I do have AAA and for the spare tire my after market wheels are a different size so that's useless

[subyj]

i've decided not to take the car, the day before the trip i started getting a strong vibration in the steering wheel and didn't have time to look into it

[Odycee]

Good decision! Don't ruin a trip due to car trouble.