Road trip from Chicago, IL to San Diego, CA

I recently purchased a used 2006 Hyundai Tuscon that has approximately 156,000 miles on it (I know, lots of miles, but it was only $2000 and I was able to pay in full). I will be leaving for college in August and will be driving approximately 2,050 miles to my university in San Diego. Is this a safe option or does my car have too many miles? I will be using my car out there in California, of course, but not too often since I will be living on campus. The only uses I will most likely get out of it there is for driving 10 minutes away to the beach, grocery shopping, and the occasional concert. I will also be making this drive back to Chicago in late December for winter break, and again when class resumes in January. What are your thoughts/opinions on the safety of such trips?

Welcome to RTA!

I don't see a problem as long as you get it looked over by a GOOD shop and have any and all preventive and reactive maintenance done. Hyundai has developed a reputation for being a very reliable vehicle.

I lived in the Chicago area for 35 years - are you in the city or out in the burbs? If you are in the far western burbs I can recommend an outstanding independent shop that's competent and they are straight shooters.

I'd recommend 2 separate routes to get back and forth - one for good weather and another for winter. Fastest is I-80/I-76/I-70/I-15. This may not be a good choice in snow, then you would want to look at I-55/I-44/I-40/I-15. However, even that is not immune to bad weather.

Don't try to bust your butt - this is really a 4 day drive each way, and can be more in bad winter weather. That's going to cut your time at home pretty short over Christmas break, you may want to consider flying back and forth for that. Southwest usually has some pretty decent fares from SAN to Midway if you buy far enough in advance.

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Originally Posted by glc

Welcome to RTA!

I don't see a problem as long as you get it looked over by a GOOD shop and have any and all preventive and reactive maintenance done. Hyundai has developed a reputation for being a very reliable vehicle.

I lived in the Chicago area for 35 years - are you in the city or out in the burbs? If you are in the far western burbs I can recommend an outstanding independent shop that's competent and they are straight shooters.

I'd recommend 2 separate routes to get back and forth - one for good weather and another for winter. Fastest is I-80/I-76/I-70/I-15. This may not be a good choice in snow, then you would want to look at I-55/I-44/I-40/I-15. However, even that is not immune to bad weather.

Don't try to bust your butt - this is really a 4 day drive each way, and can be more in bad winter weather. That's going to cut your time at home pretty short over Christmas break, you may want to consider flying back and forth for that. Southwest usually has some pretty decent fares from SAN to Midway if you buy far enough in advance.

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Thank you for the welcome!
And of course, thank you for the advice, it has definitely put my mind a lot more at ease. I live in the city :( But would you mind passing the name of that shop along to me anyways?

Thank you for those route suggestions, I will definitely be using those in the future.

Wow, I had no idea it would be a 4 day drive, I figured I would drive for 12 hours for 3 days, but when you factor in rest stops, pumping gas, and eating, it would come out to 4 days.

Again, thank you.

I will send you the shop details via private message.

For a multi-day trip in good weather on Interstates, you should limit yourself to no more than 600 miles a day. That's what professional truck drivers are limited to by law. It takes me 3 days to get from Joplin to San Diego, and Chicago to Joplin is a full day's drive. I've done both many times.

Of course, it will depend on how long your university wjnter break is. (SDSU? UCSD? USD? CSUSM?) My husband and I also regularly drive from San Diego to Missouri, but we'll fly if we have less than 2 weeks vacation, and (as GLC pointed out) that's a 3-day drive. He's right, it's a 4-day drive between Chicago and San Diego. (Columbia MO to my uncle's in the southern suburbs of Chicago is a full day's drive.)

BTW, I think you'll use your vehicle a little more than you think you will around San Diego. Depending on which university you're attending, the public transportation is not extremely great and it may be too far to walk.


Donna in San Diego County