Thanks, earthworm.

I also have a 2000 Nissan Maxima with 58,000 miles. It's also maintained. Wondering if I'll get comparable longevity as the 1996 Explorer (meaning, car life vs. SUV life, American vs. foreign made).

This should be interesting.

A vehicle is a vehicle , IMO, the Explorer and the Datsun will have about the same life span....They do not, of course, share the same parts, but in many cases the component design is the same.. They could well use the same steel and the same plastic...

The proponents of regular maintenance are correct..But some cars need more maintenance than others. And some vehicles are harder to work on than they should be.
Generally, the European cars are at the bottom(we have owned two Honda, several Chevrolet, one Ford, two Plymouth, a Rambler or two, many Saab, some VWs,even a Mercedes.
Euro cars also have a weakness to rust out ! And the huge "fun to drive" advantage that they had has diminished..And the German build quality ?? A myth from the past...

I have a 1993 Ford Escort which I gave to my daughter.It has 290K and still going.Only engine work other than regular maintenance was replacing a valve seat 6 years ago.It also still has original tranny.

RE: High mileage stories
Posted by: earthworm (My Page) on Sat, Jul 30, 05 at 9:16

Trouble is, there is nothing exacting nor scientific about any of this.
======================================================================================================================== The original post asked for ""HIGH MILEAGE"" stories. Alot of Folks have sent in thier PERSONAL stories about thier cars' mileage. So EARTHWORM, EXACTLY what type of SCIENTIFIC research would you like to see ? Here's a "Scientific" approach for ya, we read the post, Thought about it (there's some scientific activity at work), then replied (Yet another bit of scientisism) You never cease to amaze me with the pollution that spews from your piehole.

Are you going through and looking for posts from Earthworm so that you can add your comments to them?

Brianl703

NO. I look at the various topics in here and enjoy reading them, yet most of the time when I read a response from Mr. Worm, it is either wrong, off topic, or he somehow manages to compare the posters original question to an incident HE HAD with a SLOB, oops I meant SAAB. If he answers with something that seems to be good sound advice, I will certainly applaud that as well. Anything else ?

You must take your medication before you post, SoCal, and give it time to take effect - a lot of time !

And Brian's observation is correct.

Back on topic .
The GM cast iron V6 could well be the most durable engine for the high miles..

But the Volvo 740, with 240K miles, 15 years is right up there.She still ran well, 95% original, may have needed a new starter motor..
And Volvo does have one of the million mile cars.. I have heard of a Saab with 800K miles - for SoCal's benefit !

RE: High mileage stories
Posted by: earthworm (My Page) on Wed, Aug 31, 05 at 13:33

You must take your medication before you post, SoCal, and give it time to take effect - a lot of time !
And Brian's observation is correct.

========================================================================================================================

Worm,

I half expected you to start in with the name calling, par for the course, and you also proved to me that you don't pay attention to the postings. Re-read what you wrote (see above) about Brians "OBSERVATION". If you go back and READ Brians post, You'll see that it's NOT an observation, it's a QUESTION. And as far as Medication goes, I dont think there is a Pill that's strong enough to allow me to slip into a vegetative state while you drone on and on about SAABS, or give your goofy half educated guesses on topics you know nothing about ! Why don't you go outside and watch your Grass grow. That should Tax your Brain for all it's worth.

Forgive me for coming to that conclusion. But the main reason I brought it up is that you did the same thing on ANOTHER thread, "Which old beater do I repair" in which the last post was from ME on Thu, Apr 28, 05 at 10:34 and you posted in it on Sun, Aug 28, 05 at 20:48 (four months later, by the way) to inform everyone about your opinions of Earthworm.

My question is the product of an observation, by the way. I wouldn't have asked the question if I hadn't observed what I went into more detail about above.

Brian703:
First I want to say that I was not directing my comments towards you directly. If it came across that way,I certainly didn't mean it and I apologize. Below you'll see that I attached Earthworms response to the Lady that asked, "Which old beater do I repair". As you can see by his reply, Which BTW is the FIRST reply to the posters question, he tells her to "JUNK BOTH CARS & BUY A HONDA".
If you go back and read the Ladys post, you'll see that at no time did she ask if she should junk both and if she did, what Vehicle would be a good choice to replace them with. But he doesn't stop there, he then goes on to tell her about his precious Saab and that He's going to drive it till the doors fall off. I didn't see anything in her post that asked about a Saab, or how many miles have people accumilated on thier Cars. The point I'm trying to make is when someone asks a question here, or at any site, they want an answer TO THE QUESTION, not an OPINION from someone who obviously doesn't know the real answer in the first place. Here's an example to what I'm talking about & how it can cost someone alot. A co-worker of mine came to work one morning and he was obviously upset about something. That day at lunch I asked him what was wrong & he told me that the previous Friday on his way home, his car didn't seem to be running correctly so when he got home, he started doing some research by calling a couple shops & explaining the problem and also doing some online investigating of his own. He ended up at a well known Automotive forum and posted his problem, he gave what he thought was an accurate description of the symptoms and hoped to get a response that would lead him in the right direction. What he got was a guy who SOUNDED very knowledgeable, had been a member of the site since its inception, and gave what my friend thought was a solid answer. Turns out that the guy had no clue as to what he was talking about and my friend,not knowing any different, took the Car to THE DEALER and asked to have the Car repaired. He left the Car and upon returning,he was suprised to see his Sister and Brother in law there,turns out that they made a suprise visit from out of state on thier way to a Dealers Convention of some sort. His Brother in law is the Service Manager at one of the biggest BMW Dealerships in the southwest so of course my Friend tells him about the Car. After hearing the story, Randy, my friend, and his Bro. in Law go down to the Dealers service Dept. and ask to speak with the service Manager. Don, Randys Brother in law, asked what had been done to the Car so far and they tell him that the Mechanic is working on it now. They all go to where the car is and Don speaks with the Mechanic and asked him what is the diagnosis. The Mechanic tells him that Randys Car needs a Valve Job and that the Car would be done the following Friday if they "rushed it". At this point Don pulled Randy aside and told him that the shop was ripping him off and did he want to spend all this Money on false repairs. They finally got the Car out of there, 4 Hrs later, and took it home. Don looked at it and found a vacuum line that had worn from rubbing on the intake Manifold, replaced it, and the car fired up and runs fine. I should tell you that Randy could not get his Car out of the Dealers Shop until he paid them for the time that had already been spent on the Car, $376.89 . All that and it would have originally cost Randy about $3.00 had he spoke to someone who knew what they were talking about. My point here is that many people that log onto the net then try and find an answer to a problem are really Gambling and when they find a reputable site, like here, they are counting on the answer given to be somewhat correct. I only hope that there aren't alot people as trusting as my Friend.

RE: Which old beater do I repair?
Posted by: earthworm (My Page) on Fri, Apr 8, 05 at 12:03

Junk the two and buy a Honda.The repair/service record of the '88 Accord was much, much better.
The weak-link for Honda was lousy and greedy dealer service.

Both of these cars must have amassed a ton of miles in severe service..
Have your mechanic make up an estimate for the two; I have a '96 Saab 900S, 144 K miles, intend to drive until 200K w/o any major repairs..

So that works out to less than $400 per year for the Ford Explorer; this is ,IMO, below average.

The great,economical Honda would have been more than that $400, had it been dealer serviced all of the time..
DIY savings are greater than one can imagine..

Back in 1998 when I was living in England I picked up a 1990 Vauxhall Astra Belmont 1.6GL with 150,000 miles on the clock. There were a couple of things wrong with it, the passenger side electric window didn't work and it needed a new carburettor but after they were fixed it was an excellent motor. I had it a couple of years and would still have it now if an inexperianced driver hadn't pulled out in front of me at 60 mph. And while I was exchanging insurance details with that driver, someone else drove into the back of it with such force that they turned it from a sedan into a hatchback.

When my insurers towed it away it had 198,000 miles on it.

I paid 750 for it, the carb & electric window reapairs cost £200. The insurance company offered me £1250 after I'd had it two and a half years. I bit their arm off and emigrated.

My current vehicle is a 1999 Opel Astra 1.7TD, purchased in 2002 with 67,000 miles on the clock. Now has 153,000 miles. That's nothing for a diesel. I'd like to pass the million mile mark in at least one vehicle and intend keeping this until the wheels fall off.

Cheshire,

How common are diesels in your country?

What kind of mileage are you getting on your 99 Opel Astra?

GG

had a 77 buick limited with 225000 on it when i sold it looked good and ran good. also had a 68 v.w. beetle with 250000 on it. there was alot of those old air cooled beetles way up there in miles.

97 chevy P.U. 1500 305 V8 auto 276,000 miles oil changed every 5k or so. I just drove out to Denver Colo. and back from TN added over 3000 miles in one trip. I expect to get at least 400k before retiring this truck. I think high mileage (I guess high mileage is over 250k??)is easily attainable with any vehicle that is properly maintained. Note: this truck has had numerous repairs performed (2nd trans) but it is still running the original engine. The repair work was still much cheaper than new truck payments LOL.
Note: I was really impressed with the last set of tires (MICHELINS) I had on this vehicle, I got 92,000 miles out of that set and could have gotten several thousand more but wanted a new set for the Denver trip! that is almost twice the mileage I had been getting out of other brands of tires these are well worth the extra dollars IMHO. We can discuss high mileage tires here also, right?

Thought I'd mention that the new Ford owner's manuals suggest replacing the tires every 6 years regardless of mileage. Apparently they deteriorate due to age and the concern is that the likelyhood of a blowout goes up quite a bit after 6 years.

Jeez, I have so many vehicles with more mileage than all of your posts I think.
my chevy astros have as follows.
1987 Chevy Astro van purchased new, changed oil transmissions and rearend gears regularly, 479,000 and counting.
1988 astro 185,000 spun rod berring. purchased at 160K with no known service history, but knew it was not great...
1989 astro 348,000 tboned a 82 granada at 35MPH DEAD VAN
1990 astro started leaking oil at 275K and I let the LW drive it on the condition she checked the oil... spun rod...
1997 Suburban 288,000 miles still running fine, 26MPG 42Gal tank ... OUCH at 3.00/gal to fill this puppy! 1982 Mecerdees 300SD turbo deisel 288K 1979 300D deisel 396K and lots of other high mileage vehicles too.
oh, I ran a HVAC service company... lots of driving.
basically, service and maintain vehicle. and the ENGINE will last a very long time. the rest of the vehicle will wearout and need replacement at regular intervals... doorhandles, transmission, rearends, springs, fuelpumps, etc..........
John

I am totally inspired by your stories of long-lived cars. What do you suppose is the diff. between one that exceeds 200K and one that dies at less than 100K? I am looking at used cars in Vermont, and apart from the rust issue, those that are MOST affordable are the ones that have a LOT (approaching 200K) mileage. I am looking specifically at a SUburu Legacy Wagon, an American model I can't remember, also wagon, and a 1991 Volvo with nearly 200K, but it's my dream car. It has the service history and all. How much can I really expect a car with 150-200K to last if I get it serviced when appropriate and make sure all repairs are made in a timely fashion? In other words, is it totally ludicrious to drop a couple thou for a car with this kind of mileage. I do have a kid and I do care about reliability. But I haven't been driving long and am a bit of a novice in regards cars. I don't see the point in buying new.

2000 for a 91 with 200K and full maintenance records? sounds like a good deal to me. the volvo will require some expensive repair parts when they fail, and not as many garages work on volvo as chevy, but they have the "boxy but good" slogan.
very durable vehicles and highly crashworthy. your kid may not like the look of the vehicle, but in an accident would appreciate it.
if you keep up the maintenance you should have a good 100K or more left in the car.
more still if you can afford to rebuild what does fail.
John

I just test drove a 1983 Mercedes 300SD Turbo something with almost 346000 miles on it. It was still running very strong and ran great on the street and freeway!!

Indeed, the Volvo is quite a good vehicle, the company is "on the stick"..That Ford was able to buy them is much to their credit, and poor GM gets stuck with Saab (another excellent vehicle, IMO), but NOT what GM really needs..
Ford manufacturers a good line of trucks, I think, and now Volvo will show them how to design and build good cars..We owned a '89 740 model, sold it last year with well over 200K miles - engine and trans and the body still in good original condition..

My SD is quite aged in the seat and radio department, did you buy the car? I got mine for free, but it has a problem with the battery, and I have not the time to track down the short, but with the price of gas, I am considering converting it to run on used veg oil like greasecar or the similar sites are promoting... free fuel sounds pretty good to me.
John

My 95 chevy Lumina with over 170,000 miles would'nt start yesterday evening. The headlights were bright, so the battery seems ok. I tried jump starting it as well, no success. I think the starter went out. Had to get it towed to the shop. Waiting for my mechanic to call.

Try to find a Volvo 240 with less than 150,000....just about impossible. My 1992 has 186,000. A local parts supplier for yrs used nothing but volvo 240's. They bought them used and normally had 100,000 + miles when purchased. One guy who worked there told me they estimated most of them after 5 or 6 yrs had 400,000-600,000 miles on them. For some reason the business has gone to using Honda Civics now.
The old 240's were built like tanks. Unfortunately, they feel very pokey by today's standards....not enough power.

I might as well chim in too. 1994 Taurus G.L. 3.8.
887,342 K.M. ( 551,368 ) miles. Original trans and motor and original owner. Got a letter from Ford last year. They
want to see the car. I think it is a joke. Haven't seen them yet. Body has been completely redone. My wife's car.
She drives 60 miles one way to work and stays in the city but drives about the same mileage playing mom's taxi with
her daughter and dead beat girl friend every second day.
The oil and filter in that car is changed every month regaudless of mileage and the fuel filter is changed every
6 months. Transmission oil and filter and antifreeze have
been changed 4 times already. Every 30 days that car is brought into my garage jacked up and gone over from front to back. That car CAN NOT break down on the highway in winter at 40 below. Her life is at stake. Gives me something to do and keeps me out of the bars. all my cars
are treated the same way. My 1975 F150-460 has 328,032 miles on it. If the batteries,yes i put 2 batteries in it,
are good and not plugged in at 20 below F. and it doesn't
start you can have it. this sounds a little extreme but i
pass at least 3 to 5 cars stranded on the highway every week. Mine is not one of them. John G. will agree with me
100 percent. All engine and transmission failures are dirt
and heat related. Just my input on this topic.

Posted by John_G (My Page) on Thu, Jul 28, 05 at 16:44

My brothers 90 Ford F150 4.9l has 340,000+ and is still going...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SUUUUUUUUUUUURE IT DOES. Why don't you pull the other leg, it's got bells on it. Lololol, that was very funny, good humor there.

I've a 86 cutlass with about 25,ooo miles on it.
Only needs $20 in the gas tank every three or four months.

My 95 chevy Lumina with over 170,000 miles would'nt start yesterday evening. The headlights were bright, so the battery seems ok. I tried jump starting it as well, no success. I think the starter went out. Had to get it towed to the shop. Waiting for my mechanic to call.

Well it turns out the passkey system failed, thus not allowing me to start my car. Had to replace the ignition cylinder.

The car runs great, but the repairs are starting to add up. I'm convinced the engine and trans will out last the rest of the car. Hopefully I can go thru 2008 with lower maintenance costs.

Man this is an old thread that popped up. I may as well update my 1997 Chevy 1500 305 V8 auto that I had posted on a couple of years ago, at that time it had 276,000 miles on it. It now has 364,000 miles on it and the engine is running great, however it is on its THIRD automatic trans now. Constantly pulling a heavily loaded trailer does take a toll on the chevy trans. I would recommend a chevy truck over those little buzzy foreign jobs that are called trucks, Chevy Truck get U 1

Interesting stories. I had a 92 Thunderbird that had 225,000 on it and still running well when I sold it. Years of hauling dogs tho wore out the interior. Replaced it with a 95 Thunderbird that had a 136,000 on it when I bought it last year. Up to 156,000 now and I'd rather drive it than the much newer vehicles we have for the most part.

Lisa

Well it turns out the passkey system failed, thus not allowing me to start my car. Had to replace the ignition cylinder.

FYI.
If you are having trouble starting your car, and your car
has a passkey anti-theft system (chip in key). Try starting it in neutral. This bypasses the system temporarily. At least it worked for my 95 chevy lumina. Hope this helps someone.

-jasper

I remember a salesman from the late 1970's who drove nothing but Ford Crown Vic's. Supposedly an airplane mechanic fiend of his told him that the oil doesn't wear out and to drain the oil, change the filter and put the oil back in...then change the oil about every 4th or 5th filter change.
He claimed that the system must be okay because he never traded in a car with less than 150,000 miles and never had an engine related problem.
Back then the odometers only went to 100,000 and then went back to zero and started over. He would trade in a car after 3 yrs. that showed 50,000-60,000 miles. The dealer would say, "That's pretty high mileage for 3 years." Little did they know it was actually 100,000 more than showing or know his oil change theory. I always felt sorry for the person buying his trade ins.

You should feel worse for the honest dealer that took the car on trade and then ended up warrantying things that should not have been wrong on a 60K car. The worst part would be the new owner blaming the dealer as the rip-off when in fact it was the original owner.

Bought a volvo 1989 745 5 years ago at 247,000 miles for $550.00.

53,000 miles, all over New England, out to Yellow Stone Park and back again, it still runs as smooth as glass at 100mph. All cars, not just high mileage, need scheduled maintenance. With the right size socket set, a hanes bookand an occasional trip to the car wash, the only thing to keep us from trading our cars in is simply whether or not we're bored with them.

I'll drive mine till the wheels fall off. Then I'll fix em and drive it some more.

Volvo for life!

My friend has a Ford explorer with 456,ooo miles on it the inside looks like it but it's still running good.

I have 2 cars over 100,000 miles. 1 A Chevrolet 1995 Baretta with 117,000 miles runs real good just interior wear issues that I'm working on. 2 A Jeep Cherokee 1955 with 142,000 miles also running good with a/c issues.The most milage I've gotten so far is 197,000 from a 1982 chevy chevette.

my current car a 1995 ford escort base model just hit 455000, i've also got a 1984 pontiac fiero 4cyl, auto, that has just over 720000 on the odometer, mind you these are canadian cars so they are in km's but the both still run like a top. ( the fiero had the engine rebuit about 35000 km's ago, the escort got a new cluth 70000km's ago, other than that just basic mintenance and wear and tear )

My friend's folks have an '86 Mazda with about 350,000 miles (original engine and transmission) and a '96 Subaru Outback with somewhere in the range of 370,000 miles (the engine block has been replaced once in that one).

My Opel Vectra has 238,000 on the clock but I need to get rid of it now. The diesel particulate filter and catalytic converter need replacing so it won't pass its next test in 2014 unless this is done, and it will cost the wrong side of a grand to have this work done

Well, it's been 8 years and this blog is still going! I guess that counts a high mileage? I have two old Grand Marquis'. One '88, the other an '89. I was gonna sell the one with the most miles, but chickened out. I actually had a buyer, but I just couldn't part with it. It's currently up to 201,500 miles and still cruising. At this point, I just want to see how far it will go! See y'all in another few years!

My 2006 Vectra has just turned 240,000 and is knackered! Driven all over Europe in it.

"The retired school teacher who rolled into the record books by putting more than 2 million miles on his 1966 Volvo P1800 has a new goal. You guessed it: he's closing in on 3 million.

USA Today

"To keep the P1800 running well over such great distances, Irv has replaced the brakes at about every 100,000 miles. He never ignored odd noises, smells, or vibrations. He changes the oil every 3000 to 3500 miles, re-bushes the carburetor about every 900,000 miles, and gets about 1 million miles for every mechanical fuel pump. The transmission fluid and the ignition points get replaced every 25,000 miles. He also keeps it clean, diligently washing off winter salt and grime. Irv also doesn't beat the car, driving the manual-transmission coupe at moderate speeds and anticipating stops and hazards�"driving gently allowed the car's first clutch to last an amazing 450,000 miles. Gordon expects to cross the 3 million mark in July of 2013."

Read more: Million-Mile Club: The World's Longest-Lived Cars
Follow us: @PopMech on Twitter : popularmechanics on Facebook
Visit us at PopularMechanics.com

Well, now I have three cars. The 200k mile '88 Grand Marquis, 122k mile '89 Grand Marquis, and the newest addition to the panther family, an '89 Town Car Signature Series. White over navy blue velour. It has 82k original miles and is in show condition. Who needs three cars? I've tried to run an ad for the high mileage Grand Marquis, but no bites this time. I guess I'll just hang onto it and continue to drive it to and from work, while saving the miles on the other ones. Ford Panthers, with their 302 v-8's have a long history of going hundreds of thousands of miles. I guess I'm covered for the rest of my life in the car department.

I bought a 1995 Acura Legend in 1998 with 32,000 miles on it. It was a 36-month lease turn-in and was literally in PERFECT condition. It sat unsold on the Acura dealerâs used lot because it was the least expensive model, the L 4-door, with cloth interior and 5-speed manual transmission. But it was exactly what I wanted, White with Taupe interior, Bose stereo, Power seats with memory and (the best part) the sweetest 200hp 3.2L V6 Iâve ever experienced! I paid $26,000 out-the-door, which felt like a fortune at the time (I was 23).

I drove it 40-50k miles per year until I was t-boned by a commercial truck in August 2005. It had just turned 329,000 miles at the time and didnât burn a drop of oil (synthetic), the clutch had only been replaced once and the transmission shifted like new. Other than scheduled maintenance, the only thing I ever had to replace was the A/C compressor and two ABS sensors.

The impact was so hard the passenger-side door panel ended up breaking my right hand and forearm (it was in the middle of the car). The rearview mirror broke loose during the crash and hit me in the head just above my right ear. It left most of the glass mirror fragments in my head and took 38 staples to close the wound! I also had damage to two discs in my cervical spine that required a 3-level c-spine fusion the following year. But I was able to recover from all of those injuries, which was pretty amazing considering how bad my poor Legend looked.

I bought a 2006 Mazda3 Hatchback to replace it in December 2005. Eight years later, Iâm just past 190,000 miles and going strong!

404,000 in a 2001 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer

I had 330,000 on my 1996 Toyota Camry when I donated it to charity.

I have a 87 Plymouth Voyager, 2.2L 4-cyl, 5-speed with 245K on it and still going strong

wow. 13yr old thread. well, it is a high mileage thread so i would expect a long running narrative. arebella, what state do you live in? cali,ariz, texas? i would expect any car to last as long as owner keeps fixing things. no rust, unlike in MN

Ohio.....and it's been driven in snow, rain, and mud! The only rust on it was right above the wheels, at the edge of the fenders. We have another 2012 CRV with about 130,000 miles on it and consider it just broken in! I just bought a 2018 NIssan Frontier V6 with 4x4. My hubby had one back in the 90's and it went for almost 400,000 miles before it died.

i picked up an 06 equnox a few months ago. i was kinda surprised by the poor state under the rig. i am used to rust in mn but this thing looks like it sat in a swamp for most of its life. i removed the driveshaft and had to wear gloves to prevent tearing up my hands. my sis has an 08 nox i looked under it a few months ago and i swear her driveshaft is new. spotless, black paint. she had the fuel tank dropped for a leak and swears they had no item on bill for anything about driveshaft. kinda hard to hide a $500 new driveshaft in the bill