I guess its a matter of preferrence. I for one am looking forward to my road trip from Queens, NY to Orlando, Fl at the end of this month.
I could worry myself and think of the negative things that can happen which is realistic but I'd rather not think of those things and just get in and take a nice long road trip with the family.

 

3500 miles in 7 days - better to rent. I would take the X for lower mileage and/or longer duration trips.

 

No matter what anyone says it will be your decision to make.

For me I would take the MDX. Odds are it will be safer, more comfortable, handle better, and have more room, than what you will rent.

One of the reasons I bought the MDX was for long trips. I never could get comfortable in our last vehicle (Volvo) on long trips. With the MDX I am very comfortable in both the driver and passenger seats.

 

I must agree with BaldEagle.......I bought the X with long trips in mind and after putting close to 3K on in the last month on three different trips I can't say enough about how much I enjoy the X. I wouldn't worry about depreciation unless you are restricted on miles from a lease. Plus I figured if something happened on any of these trips it would a good opportunity to test out the TLC program.

 

Take the X, enjoy it.....that is why you bought it of course!

 

This is always the problem with buying a big new and expensive vehicle! It doesn't make sense to use them just for 'local' short distance drives, and it makes a lot of financial sense to rent a vehicle if one is going to put a lot of miles over a fairly short time!

In other words, our expensive car purchases are best considered as a discretionary entertainment expense - not a rational economic decision! Just my thoughts after shelling out $40K of hard-earned dollars on a new MDX. (no regrets)

 

Take the X, enjoy it.....that is why you bought it of course!

I couldn't agree more, if the fear of something bad happening is a concern, why even take it out of the garage? As we have always been told most accidents happen near home anyway, so just get out of the city fast and you should be OK. :2:

Seriously, I would take the X, mechanically it will be fine, as far as some freak accident, not likely. Of course like saying "I never had a flat tire", you may have jinxed yourself by starting this thread.

Good luck, have a safe trip.

 

Agree with my fellow members, take the X and enjoy it! Life is too short.

 

7 x $40/per day - depreciation of 3500 miles on the X (+ optional 7x$15 for extra insurance if your credit card does not provide that).

Is it still worth it to drive the X? By looking at the number, it makes more sense to rent.

the spirit of the question was financial. From a pure financial perspective, it doesn't make sense to put 3500 miles on a 40K vehicle in 7 days (plus the extra gas cost of an SUV over a car).

Of course, if depreciation of the vehicle is irrelevant for you, then its really an irrelevant question - of course, take the X!!

A friend of mine puts 40K miles on his car every year. He doesn't want to buy an expensive car (sticks to camry or accord), because he figures he kills the car in 5-6 years, so the extra depreciation is too much.

Depends on how rich you are.

 

If you don't want to put a lot of miles on the car then perhaps you should lease....

I plan on road tripping with my X but I hope to find a local source for stoneguard or clearbra first.

Maybe I'll just put some saranwrap on the car and peel it off when we get there

 

I'm not so sure you'll benefit financially by renting a car instead of driving the X. You may be putting 3500 miles on the car in 7 days but you'll be safer and more comfortable in the X.
I think that far outways any standard base model minivan. Even if your getting the mini-van for free you have to think of your family.
You can always try to put less miles on your X once you get back to bring it to a somewhat normal miles per year.

hey whynotmdx you think that saran wrap thing will work? LOL

 

3500 miles in 7 days, that in average of 500 miles per day or 8~10 hours of driving.

For me, I would take X on this type of trip. X is very comfort in the long trips. I had done few 500+ miles one day trip with my X and feel it is the best car for it so far. (Compared with any other car I have for long trips) I am planning to have few long trips with X in the coming months (September and October), but still wondering if I want to go North (Boston, Montreal?) or South (North or South Carolina) in addition of one day trip to NYC in mid-September.

 

Hi Alphaforcex:

___I have to agree with most of the above posters also ...

___After 2000 miles in the last 2-1/2 days, there is no other way to travel other than to use what you purchased the X for initially. Size, comfort, safety, luxury, appointments, features, options, or whatever other reason you decided to purchase the X for. If you are worried about a break down, how much more reliable is a rental car from whoever of whatever make going to be? You remember the J.D.Powers survey showing Acura in the top 5 from a few months ago, right

___I might be nuts but renting a junk (well maybe not that bad given my daughter is a manager with Avis and we could have picked up a rental for just taxes), is a heck of a lot more risky than driving the X over any length of any American/Canadian highway that I know of.

___Good Luck from Glendale ...

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

I agree with most other posters.........take the X.

Rental car probably has a better chance of breakdown. Acura TLC service should cover any problems.

As DEZRVIT stated, most things happen close (25 miles or less) to home, so get out of town quickly. I once heard of one guy that beleived the 25 miles or closer to home theory so much that he moved 50 miles away.

:2:

Have a great trip in the X and let us know how it went when you get back.

 

I agree with most of the above comments, take the X and enjoy it. I've had some bad experiences with rentals and would rather feel safe and confident with what I'm driving. We're taking a 10,000 mile 30 day trip through your country next month and I know I'm taking the X and can't wait.

 

Feliz,

You'll need an oil change along the way. Have you thought of that and located a dealer along your trip?

 

We recently came back from a 2000mi. road trip in our '03 X. Went flyfishing and took it offroad on rocky dirt trails. Even used the VTM-4 lock on a couple occasions. The X performed like a champ.

 

ahh...to rent or not to rent.

It depends on what kind of long trip you're going. I am from SoCal, so if I am taking a trip to Vegas, I am renting. But, if I am taking a trip to San Francisco, I am taking my X because I want to drive my X along Pacific Coast HWY and enjoy the breath-taking view of California coasts on my X.

It should boil down to, will you enjoy driving your X on this trip?
You don't buy a nice new X to keep the mileage low for better resale value.

Have a fun trip.

 

Feliz,

You'll need an oil change along the way. Have you thought of that and located a dealer along your trip?

I've thought of it but haven't made any arrangement with a dealer. Our travel arrangements are pretty flexible, I was hoping to run into an Acura or at least a Honda dealer some where along the way or even go out of my way to find one if I have to. Don't worry, I'll look after the X.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. That's what I'm leaning towards.
Mileage is actually not the biggest concern to us. The biggest concern is being stuck somewhere and not being able to drive back home. For rental, I know I can just call the rental car company and I'll get a new car. If I'm driving my X and involved in an accident that makes the car inoperable or the car got stolen, I'll need to wait and get that fix before I can head back home. This is definitely not something that we want to deal with 1000 miles away from home. TCL doesn't cover accident right?

I know this kind of thing doesn't really happen a lot but if it happens, my wife will definitely freak out.

Funny someone mentioned that "25 miles closer to home" theory...we've never driven our X more than 25 miles away from home yet so this definitely applies to us if anything happens to our X.

 

10,000 miles in a month! That's a lot of miles. Are you going from Van to Florida??

I agree with most of the above comments, take the X and enjoy it. I've had some bad experiences with rentals and would rather feel safe and confident with what I'm driving. We're taking a 10,000 mile 30 day trip through your country next month and I know I'm taking the X and can't wait.

 

Hold on 3500 miles a day in 7 days is 500 miles a day. That's at least 8 hours of driving a day. That's not a vacation, that's work.

I'd take the X for a trip like that.

 

10,000 miles in a month! That's a lot of miles. Are you going from Van to Florida??

Probably not Florida this trip but Texas for sure. We like El Paso and I'd like to get to the Space Center in Houston. Tennessee, NC, Mississippi, Georgia are in the plans. I married an American so we've been going down for a month or so the past 37 years visiting friends, relatives and sight seeing. Had a lot of great times and I can't recall one bad experience, just traffic is getting to be a hassle in some areas for a visiting old-timer. Sorry for getting off-topic.

 

Miles & Depreciation

Hate to tell you this BUT your X is going to depreciate whether you drive it or not. If I remember correctly, the X does pretty good but it still will depreciate 50% ($20,000) over the 1st five years of ownership.

 

Long Trip Might Be Good for the X

You mention that you [typically I assume] only drive the X a distance of 25 miles or less. I would think that a nice road trip would be good for the X. Short trips on hard on engines (so I am told). My experience is that occasional long trips are actually better for the engine. Wouldn't hurt for a mechanic or knowledable person to jump in on this and comment.