The Half-Million Mile Man (500,000 mile VW)

[DuckRyder]

http://blogs.menshealth.com/half-mill-man/the-automotive-autopsy/2012/04/19

Little light on tech, but...

Quote:
His explanation: I used synthetic oil, and changed it every 5,000 to 7,000 miles.

 

[OneEyeJack]

I'm at 421k with an 84 Civic wagon and synthetic oil and the head has never been off. My life is slowing down and I probably won't make it to 500k.

 

[e40]

"I mostly used Castrol 5w-40 Syntec."

In another section of his blog he indicates the high cost of maintaining the car, $24k over the time he had it. But he must have had a shop do everything. If it were my car I would probably have spent half that amount. 97 oil changes represents about $2500 DIY. (4 Quarts of M1 + Mann filter). 4 timing belt jobs DIY probably cost as much as 1 at a shop.

Also indicated are 3 serpentine belts and 2 thermostats. I wonder if those were separate trips to the shop, vs changing them at the same time as the timing belt.

http://blogs.menshealth.com/half-mill-man/the-high-cost-of-cars-and-women/2012/03/06

 

[Artem]

Nicely put together video, that's for sure.

I'm not at all surprised that the engine looks and measure good inside. It's been proven time and time again that with proper maintenance, any engine can go 1 million miles!

 

[needsducktape]

Funny, because that is the 1.8T motor

-When I owned an Audi A4 1.8t, I received several recall notices and class action lawsuits. (I think they are known to leak oil onto the timing belt and prematurely wear out head gaskets but don't quote me)

I've always considered the motor kinda junky as a result.

 

[rshaw125]

VW from that era. Loads of quality issues.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I imagine he has a 15 passenger van of electrical engineers following him around to fix all of the random electrical gremlins?

 

[Smokescreen]

$24,000 in maintenance = the cost of the car.

Even if he did timing belts every 60K miles at $1000 (around here its usually $600-800 a pop) that would only be $8,000 in belts. $2500 in oil changes puts him at ~$10,000. Throw in $5,000 for the serp belts and thermostats, brakes etc). Not sure if tires were in there, but that would be a few thousand.

What the heck did he repair for the remainder of the money??

This guy although the machine was maintained/repaired well (except for the huge dent in the drivers rear 1/4 panel) I would be shocked to see him get another car like this one. At the current rate of spending it would cost him near $50,000 to take him to 1M miles, but the costs would accelerate with time as more and more things aged. To me that is terrible return on investment. If anything he has showed me that car was terrible to own because of the high cost of repairs and maintenance.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We own a 2004 Savana 3500 van that weighs 9200 pounds every day of its life with about half a million miles on it. Original engine, etc. still runs great and works every day but Sunday.

Frankly these days I expect around 200-300k miles as normal service.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
$24,000 in maintenance = the cost of the car.


He included a fender and 2 car stereos in that price. Hard to say if it is reasonable or not without knowing exactly what it includes.

 

[needsducktape]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
$24,000 in maintenance = the cost of the car.

Even if he did timing belts every 60K miles at $1000 (around here its usually $600-800 a pop) that would only be $8,000 in belts. $2500 in oil changes puts him at ~$10,000. Throw in $5,000 for the serp belts and thermostats, brakes etc). Not sure if tires were in there, but that would be a few thousand.

What the heck did he repair for the remainder of the money??

This guy although the machine was maintained/repaired well (except for the huge dent in the drivers rear 1/4 panel) I would be shocked to see him get another car like this one. At the current rate of spending it would cost him near $50,000 to take him to 1M miles, but the costs would accelerate with time as more and more things aged. To me that is terrible return on investment. If anything he has showed me that car was terrible to own because of the high cost of repairs and maintenance.


A whole lot a wiper blades?!

 

[901Memphis]

I didn't watch the link but did he factor tires into the math?

 

[Mark72]

I'm firmly convinced after being a member here for quite a while that this guy could have gotten the same results using conventional. Driving style, engine design and maintanence is what got it there...not synthetic.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: Mark72
I'm firmly convinced after being a member here for quite a while that this guy could have gotten the same results using conventional. Driving style, engine design and maintanence is what got it there...not synthetic.



the 1.8T is a known sludge prone engine with a VW specific 502.00 oil spec that only synthetics meet. Many of these cars lived premature lives from regular 5w30 at quick lubes. this is and engine that i highly doubt would live a 500k mile life on conventional oil.

 

[Umibozu]

500k miles...:yawn:


Let me know when he hits 1 million.