Getting 300k miles out of a vehicle

Originally Posted by Patman

life is too short to driving boring cars
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THIS X100
 
Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by Railrust
To each their own but I think if you're going to the distance in a car you're much better off doing it in something known for reasonable repair costs. IMO


But what fun would that be?
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Seriously though, if you're going to sit behind the wheel of a car for 300k plus wouldn't you rather do it in a fun German sports sedan? Yes it could cost a lot more, but life is too short to driving boring cars
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Honestly you have a very good point, and if you drive a lot...say 25,000 plus a year, I find it better to do it in a car you love. However there is a price, a price I got tired of paying. Lol. In the end I guess owning an older BMW is cheaper than buying a new car.
 
I believe in keeping it as simple as possible the less would go wrong. I have 225K miles on my truck. Normal wear items only. I do have an airbag light on
but I am not going to fix it. My next truck I am leaning towards the chevy colorado 2.5 I4 with the 6 speed auto transmission in the w/t trim. I still on the fence about the ford ranger but wished they offered the 3.3 v6 in it (non turbo). I am waiting for the 2020 nissan frontiers to come out before making my mind up.

I may just drive this truck to 275k miles before purchasing my last truck I will ever buy. I change out 2.5 qts of trans fluid every so often. Needs to be done now.
 
Originally Posted by passgas55
I believe in keeping it as simple as possible the less would go wrong. I have 225K miles on my truck. Normal wear items only. I do have an airbag light on
but I am not going to fix it. My next truck I am leaning towards the chevy colorado 2.5 I4 with the 6 speed auto transmission in the w/t trim. I still on the fence about the ford ranger but wished they offered the 3.3 v6 in it (non turbo). I am waiting for the 2020 nissan frontiers to come out before making my mind up.

I may just drive this truck to 275k miles before purchasing my last truck I will ever buy. I change out 2.5 qts of trans fluid every so often. Needs to be done now.

If you plan on keeping your next truck for many years/miles, go to YouTube and search for Colorado timing chain replacement. It's a MAJOR job. It has a timing chain on the rear of the block for the balance shafts that needs to be replaced (at the same time) that requires removing the transmission. I like the looks of the new Ranger but would never buy one for it's overstressed 4 cylinder. I would be hard pressed to buy a new vehicle which is why I'm keeping my old and simpler junks.
 
Exactly, the Blackstone engineers who study and test oil full time say on their own website that there is very little difference between brands and many of them use conventional oil in their own vehicles. An Aug 17 newsletter on the Blackstone website titled "which oil is better?" basically states that as long as it meets the OM requirement one is not much better than another.
 
Originally Posted by BJD78
Exactly, the Blackstone engineers who study and test oil full time say on their own website that there is very little difference between brands and many of them use conventional oil in their own vehicles. An Aug 17 newsletter on the Blackstone website titled "which oil is better?" basically states that as long as it meets the OM requirement one is not much better than another.


But are they simply basing that on the wear numbers they see in testing? If so, I'd have to disagree. We can't use wear numbers in UOAs to compare one oil to the next.

I still believe that the quality of the oil you use does play a role in the longevity of your engine. That being said, if you generally don't go much beyond 150-200k before trading it in, then your oil choice isn't as big of a factor as someone who wants to go 300k or more. And even though my past history has shown that I don't keep my cars long enough to reach those huge milestones, that hasn't stopped me from treating every car I have owned as if that is the end goal.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by BJD78
Exactly, the Blackstone engineers who study and test oil full time say on their own website that there is very little difference between brands and many of them use conventional oil in their own vehicles. An Aug 17 newsletter on the Blackstone website titled "which oil is better?" basically states that as long as it meets the OM requirement one is not much better than another.


But are they simply basing that on the wear numbers they see in testing? If so, I'd have to disagree. We can't use wear numbers in UOAs to compare one oil to the next.

I still believe that the quality of the oil you use does play a role in the longevity of your engine. That being said, if you generally don't go much beyond 150-200k before trading it in, then your oil choice isn't as big of a factor as someone who wants to go 300k or more. And even though my past history has shown that I don't keep my cars long enough to reach those huge milestones, that hasn't stopped me from treating every car I have owned as if that is the end goal.



I would say if you disagree, then call or write to the Blackstone people as they are the ones who conduct the test and wrote the article. There are millions of vehicles with well over 300K that made it there using regular oil just like there are millions that made it past there using Amsol or Mobil 1 or some other synthetic. More likely that suspension and body will wear out well before the engine will make it much past 300k. Anyway , I am not splitting hairs,use whatever oil or brand that works for your vehicle or application. That is the crux of the article Here's the linc , from Blockstone, interpret as you wish. Aug 17 ENG pdfhttps://www.blackstone-labs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Aug-17-ENG.pdf
 
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I've always found it cool to see a 15 or 20 year old truck in excellent condition with original drivetrain because it was taken care of. My goal is to get 300k out of my vehicle minimum. I'm okay with having to do some wear and tear items along the way, but my goal is to get the most out of my vehicle without any major overhauls. I do all the maintenance on it like clock work. Down to greasing ujoints, door jams, you name it. Currently at 50k, so I have a long ways to go. I recently switched to walmarts supertech 5w30 synthetic. I know it's a decent oil, I did some research before buying it and people seem to approve it for being a good oil. It's got all the latest certifications and all should be good to go, right?

Despite going in all "well-informed" and buying the stuff at walmart, the price was so cheap I got this feeling that maybe I should 2nd guess the oil. No disrespect to anyone, but realistically I am just reading all this information on the internet. Who knows what kind of misinformation may get compounded over time, and realistically how many of the so called experts on here have chemical engineering degrees with experience in this specific field? Okay, enough of discrediting you guys. Point is that I'm just trying to go about this with a few grains of salt. What I did is to compare VOAs of premium brands to the supertech. I noticed pennzoil ultra 5w30 and supertech are very similarly packaged. I made sure the VOAs were done sometime in 2018 so the information isn't from some old packaging from say back in 2003. I noticed even though the additive packaging was similar, in terms of what additives they used and what they didnt use, the pennzoil and other premium brands just has a [censored] load more of everything. Is getting more additives worth it or is it just diminishing returns? In other words, is paying more for the extra additive concentration a worth while investment on say 5k OCI, given my goal with the truck? In the long haul do you think the supertech will noticeably dirtier oil rings on the piston? I'm just trying to figure out why brands like mobil 1 and pennzoil feel the need to have higher concentrations of additives. Is the additives whats driving the cost of these premium oils, or is the price just to create the illusion of superiority?
It's not that complicated. Buy a Toyota. And use full syn for oil changes.
 
I know some good old boys with that kind of mileage on their Ford pickups. Ask them how often they change their oil and they laugh. They add some fresh oil when it gets below normal on the dipstick. Really. No kidding. That is not just 300K on the vehicle, it is 300K+ on the factory original engine!
 
Pay attention to fluids. You'll be ahead of most car owners just doing that. I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma with around 225K miles on it. It still looks/drives like new and I've had to do very few repairs on it--mostly wear and tear items.

i change the oil with a quality synthetic and OEM filter every 7500 miles. I change the transmission fluid with Mobil 1 ATF every 30K miles, although I'm moving to a 50K mile schedule now because the fluid looks perfect coming out at 30K miles. I also drain/fill the coolant every other year. Mine has zerk fittings, so I lube it with Amsoil synthetic grease every time I change the oil. I've changed the diff oil once to Mobil 1 75W90 (at around 130K miles) and plan to do it again soon. I don't off-road or anything like that, so I think 100K miles on diff oil is probably OK...especially seeing as how so many people never change the factory fill.

All in all, I'm hoping this maintenance schedule allows me to keep driving my truck indefinitely. I live in the south so there's no salt/rust to contend with. I plan to get 300K miles AT LEAST. But we'll see--some idiot could run into me and total it tomorrow.
I know your reply was from a few years ago. Is she still on the road? Here’s my beloved 2002. Ran like a top, 190K. Sadly I traded it in for a 15 double cab. Not hating the 15, lol. Hopefully in the next 3.5 years my son who will be 16 will drive it. I babied the 2002. I’m doing the same to the 15, currently 107K. 896E5809-997A-4C29-8494-C62E83DF6529.jpeg
 
I know some good old boys with that kind of mileage on their Ford pickups. Ask them how often they change their oil and they laugh. They add some fresh oil when it gets below normal on the dipstick. Really. No kidding. That is not just 300K on the vehicle, it is 300K+ on the factory original engine!
patch on my shoulder, pick up your weapon and follow me!

nice avatar.
 
Well I had a 2007 Honda Accord SE with the 2.4. I traded it in back in June for a 2021 Honda HRV Sport with the 1.8...My Accord had 384000 on it and still ran great and still took trips back and forth to FL from KY. It still had the original water pump and altinator. I did all of the req maint. Changed oil every 5000 with filter and used whatever syn oil was on sale with a tuff guard Fram filter. Used only Honda coolant and Honda DW1 tranny fluid and did drain and fill on both. That 2-4 is a great engine..Mine still had the wishbone suspension on it and handled great for a 4 door car..
 
Have had a couple 200k and a 350kk.i It ain’t about the oil viscosity, or oil filter brand…here in the road salt belt it’s the number of years. After a dozen years or so, other things rust out…
No kidding. Just patched a rust hole on my 10 year old 230k car. Toss in typical potholes trashing suspension (often caused by freeze/thaw cycles) and I tend to think 10 years is good enough, everything on the car may be uniformly worn.
 
I know some good old boys with that kind of mileage on their Ford pickups. Ask them how often they change their oil and they laugh. They add some fresh oil when it gets below normal on the dipstick. Really. No kidding. That is not just 300K on the vehicle, it is 300K+ on the factory original engine!
Yes, that's the case for my Tacoma. 305000 on the original engine. But she does get 'er oil changed.
 
The biggest question is how do you and your spouse feel about driving a twenty year + old car? For instance, a 1999 car won't have side air bags, a safety feature that might have come in handy during those winter collision videos that were recently posted. I actually do have one car that is 19 years old, just say'n.
Side curtain airbags were around before becoming mandatory safety equipment in '98. The problem with aging cars is that that airbags eventually expire. There's usually a sticker on the door jamb that says when the airbags need to be replaced but hardly anyone ever does that. How well does a 20-year-old airbag work? 🤔
 
Family members and I have had to retire lots of vehicles. Each was retired for a failure or major problem that was completely unrelated to fluid changes and maintenance. If you're changing fluids proactively, it's unlikely the engine, transmission, or differential will fail over lubrication or wearing out. It's going to be something else. Expect that.

Keeping a vehicle past 300+ miles will ensure you'll find that "something else", probably lots of them. Rust is a big one. The debate earlier in this thread about Supertech v. big name brands of oil? Sideshow.

Every daily or frequent driver reaches a point when trying to keep it on the road by continuing to repair it makes no more sense. Being afraid of taking a long trip with it is the first sign. Being constantly afraid of a breakdown or being stranded in normal use is the next sign. Start looking at replacements at the first sign. Get a replacement at the second sign.
 
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