jegyed

I have a 01 GS430 , well now my daughters. She has taken a summer job in Aspen and wants to drive the car out. I am a little worried about it. However I have always kept the maintenance up and the timing belt, tensioner, plugs, coolant, tranny fluid, brake and power steering fluid are all up to date. Replaced motor mounts and lower control arm ( bushings gone), power steering pump and alternator two years ago. It drives well, but does get the dreaded vibration at about 75 miles an hour. When I drive the car around town it feels super solid. She has taken it to school before, about 1000 miles each way with no issues. This trip is 1300 miles each way. Probably do it over two days. I was thinking of new ball joints as they are original ( they do not make any noise) and maybe the main radiator hoses even though they feel pretty good.

Am I missing anything, having an issue in the middle of Kansas would not be fun.
Thanks

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

There's nothing stopping a well maintained high-mileage car from doing that trip easily. But don't just guess at what needs servicing. You could replace things that were fine and miss things that should be fine but aren't. Either inspect it yourself or have a shop inspect it and you'll know for certain if it's sound enough for a trip of that length. We can't do that for you over the Internet.

throttlejo

I got 261k and going to do about 3.5k in a trip and I would say it's fine. You did your homework. It's not a chevy. It will make it. Only thing left that would kill it would be the fuel pump. But I have two toyotas over 230k and no fuel pump failures yet.

TrueGS300

Just insure there are no coolant leaks, fresh oil, good battery and safe tires/brakes etc. good tire pressure. Change transmission fluid if its due. Maybe have the wheels balanced and the car aligned if its a pain at higher speeds, charge the a/c if its not blowing cold for her comfort. Put in a clean air filter for fuel economy if needed. Those are the kinds of things I'd look at before a long haul.

MOAWINGS

It's a waste of time if you've already got everything ready, or think you do, but this verifies it can actually take it. Take a pleasant couple hour drive to another town/city, or just drive around aimlessly in your town. I used this to discover some stuff I was unaware of because I seldom drove my car 2+ hours, which showed absolutely no symptoms on shorter drives. Small coolant leak that I somehow missed. Mind you, I have a AAA membership so it wasn't exactly painful, I just sat around eating roasted peanuts for an hour and a half on the side of the road. Or you could just take it to a shop. Better safe then sorry for stuff like this, right?

jegyed

Good point I rarely drive the car taking it out for a longer drive would be smart.

captainva

iTrader: (1)

If the ball joints are original I would put that on the must list. Failure of one would be the end of the car most likely in the cost of body damage. If you've taken care of the car though I don't see why it wouldn't make it

BHustle84

As long as you kept it up and running why not, it's a Toyota!!

eicca

I would personally do ball joints and radiator as preventative. They’re easy enough and you’ll have the peace of mind.

In my GS400, I keep a bag with four spare ignition coils, a fuel pump, VVTi control valves, and a serpentine belt. Those are the things that are both super easy to change out (maybe minus the fuel pump) that are likely to leave the car suddenly stranded at that age.

AJT123

What's this all about? Is this a common issue?

Per your OP, I wouldn't think twice about sending her with that car.

sbagdon

If the vehicle is properly maintained... and the trick is knowing how to properly maintain a 21yo+ vehicle, with all of the known issues.

When someone asks... can I drive X miles after the car has Y miles... the answer is always... depends. Our '00 Camry has 302k miles, yet we'd get in it right now, and drive to any corner of the US... it depends on your awareness of maintenance, for that vehicle, and how maintained the vehicle is.

DKinATL

From your OP, you seem more than capable of keeping up with the preventative maintenance for these fine machines. I wouldn't think twice. Yes.