High Mileage Vehicles

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Dec 31, 2017
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Location
SE British Columbia, Canada
I noticed lately that Bitoggers are mentioning their cars have survived for 200,000, 300,000, even 500,000 miles almost as if it's routine. Certainly Bitgoers cars last longer than the general public but I'm thinking it is more rare than some of us think.

I invite anyone interested in mining data to come forth, but this is what I found. The USA ( for which good data exists, has 269 million car registrations.) Apparently the number of vehicles with over 200,000 miles is about 2%. The number of cars with over 300,000 miles is 0.1%. Not sure how they know the mileage.

Anyone want to offer up some better data?
 
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On a similar thought, my wife has a generation 2 Rav4. We rarely see them on the road now. Used to see them everywhere 10 years ago. Where did they all go? They didn't all wear out from mileage.
 
The data speak for themselves.

But it's my contention that consumers simply tire of their cars before they get to 15 years (which is about when they reach 200,000 miles).

Any decent car can get to 200,000 miles with reasonable car, but folks will rationalize the purchase of a new car long before their old car is truly worn out.

Just had a great UOA on my wife's 2002 Volvo. It has 240,000 miles on it. Running perfectly. There is no reason to replace it, other than getting "tired of it".
 
I've done 250k on a couple of cars, but they were total rotboxes by the time they got there.

Around here, mechanicals aren't the limitation. The body/chassis is. While it can be done, keeping rust and rot off of the vehicle for long enough that it reaches some of those high mileages can be quite the feat. Also, while I haven't been in a car accident since I was a teven, keeping a vehicle on the road 15-20 years without a major accident seems like it's becoming less and less likely as the decades roll on and traffic increases.

If any of you bother to peruse the local junkyard, I think you'll find that nearly every vehicle in there is either rotten or was totalled in an accident. Majority ran and drove as they passed through the junkyard gates.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
The data speak for themselves.

But it's my contention that consumers simply tire of their cars before they get to 15 years (which is about when they reach 200,000 miles).

Any decent car can get to 200,000 miles with reasonable car, but folks will rationalize the purchase of a new car long before their old car is truly worn out.

Just had a great UOA on my wife's 2002 Volvo. It has 240,000 miles on it. Running perfectly. There is no reason to replace it, other than getting "tired of it".


But where do they go? Doesn't someone else buy it and keep it on the road?
 
Our '93 Civic (bought new in '93) has a little over 300K on it. For the first 250k miles I was doing 3 month / 3k mile oil changes with dino oil, high mileage after 75K miles.
After I came across this wonderful site I was able to move up to 5K OCI and now do 7,500 mile OCI using synth oil.

This car is my wife's baby. She has been driving it for half of her life and doesn't want a new car.

Several years ago the car was rear ended by a teenage girl while on her phone. The damage wasn't too bad but the car was considered a total loss by the other driver's insurance company.
There was no way that we were going to let the car go for amount that the insurance offered so we opted to keep the car and go thru the salvage title process.

It took about three months for the process. That's how much my wife loves her car.

CAR1.jpg
 
I too hear of the 300,000 miles plus stories, but they are few and far between.

So many factors make it so difficult - if you live in the rust belt, you can forget about it unless you've been treating your car from the very beginning with some sort of yearly rust prevention system. Then people just get bored, they want new technology, it gets tiring. There's also the point where owners say...is this worth it? Is the next $1,000 repair worth it for a car that's already consuming a quart of oil every 1,000 miles and needs frame repair? That's when people generally bow out.

The furthest I've gotten is 287,000 miles in a Honda Accord, owned since new. Did all the repairs and maintenance myself - yet one day I looked under there and there was a hole in my subframe...actually replaced it along with the power steering rack (which was leaking). Drive around for another year but it was just one thing after the other. The thi just wouldn't right anymore, didn't matter what I did. It wouldn't idle properly and it was consuming a quart of oil every 1,000 miles like clockwork. Always did 3,000 mile oil changes (it was back in 1999 before the longer changes were in vogue). And that was it...sold it...didn't want to do it anymore.

I really appreciate the people that take their cars the distance (500,000 and beyond). It takes a lot of commitment. Keep in mind not all these cars end up rotting into the ground in junk yards. Some go on to live another ten years in Mexico and the islands...where emissions don't exist and these things get driven in warm weather. No one cares about rust, holes in frames or worn suspension parts. They just shake and smoke their way through another 200,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by Astro14
The data speak for themselves.

But it's my contention that consumers simply tire of their cars before they get to 15 years (which is about when they reach 200,000 miles).

Any decent car can get to 200,000 miles with reasonable car, but folks will rationalize the purchase of a new car long before their old car is truly worn out.

Just had a great UOA on my wife's 2002 Volvo. It has 240,000 miles on it. Running perfectly. There is no reason to replace it, other than getting "tired of it".


But where do they go? Doesn't someone else buy it and keep it on the road?


Most of the time. Probably traded in.

But second owners aren't like the BITOG demographic.

The cars get minimal care, and when a large repair comes up, the car is junked.

Or repaired "on the cheap".

And that consumer goes through the same rationalization about how "expensive" it is to keep an "old car on the road" and junks it to buy another used car.

People tire of cars all the time...and then rationalize the new purchase.
 
I have a 400K plus Subaru Forester that I just gave up on... the little things were getting aggravating.. a/c quit working then i fixed it and it quit working again.. a few brake line issues. I havent driven it for 2 years it is just sitting and rotting. I need to fix one more brake line leak and get it sold so that I dont have to pay taxes on it again.

My neighbor has a 500K plus Subaru Legacy that was parked due to a cam sensor.

Neither vehicle ever saw any kind of synthetics or high end oil filters. Everything else just wears out and you get tired of fixing little stuff just to get to work.
 
My highest mileage car was an 89 Volvo 740 with 336,000 miles. Totaled in an accident. I maintain my cars with the assumption that I will have them forever. All the fluids get changed regularly. They get washed weekly and waxed 2-4 times/year. Everything gets written down and all receipts saved. Selling a car that has been meticulously maintained with all records is simple. And I always get a much higher price.

Plus I really enjoy owning a well maintained, clean, freshly wash and waxed car.

Sam
 
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I think a lot of this has to do with where a vehicle is located during it's operational lifetime, along with how much you drive. A car located in the Rust Belt of the Midwest, is not going to last as long as one that lived out it's service life in Arizona or California. It just isn't, regardless of the care it gets. The newer vehicles will last longer, but not as long. They have more composite materials built into their construction, along with Stainless Steel, as well as Aluminum. While there is no getting around road salt's corrosiveness, the greater use of non ferrous materials will help longevity.

I have had my 2015 Jeep for almost 4 years now. And our 2018 Toyota will be one year old next month. Neither one has ever been driven in the rain yet. The only time either have gotten wet is when we washed them. There is no way you can compare that to a daily driver in the Rust Belt. Winter or Summer. Oil and filter changes are very important regardless where you live. But they can't make up for mother natures revenge.

My 1991 Ford F-150 was always garage kept until this past March when we bought our new Toyota. It's been parked outside, (sheltered by the side of the house from the Sun for at least half of the day), for the last year. It is showing more signs of weathering than it has in the 27 years before. Granted most of the time I drove it while working, I was working nights. So the exposure to UV light was minimal. But the undercarriage looks like the day I drove it home from the showroom on August 22, 1991.
 
Where did they all go?

Junk yard....crusher....parts....overseas. All those high mileage Crown Vics, Caddys, Lincolns, Park Avenues, Grand Marquis, etc. have considerable demand overseas when they're only worth $500-$2000 here in the USA.
 
Sunlight truly is unkind on a vehicle , paint & interior .

I am thankful I do not live in the rust belt .

We put 160,000 on the engine of a Chevy Lumina 3.1l . At that point the transmission went out , for the second time . Would have probably lasted longer if we had had it serviced , both times . But who knows ? If I had it to do again , we would have .

Sold it for $ 300 . Would have cost close to $ 2000 to have had the transmission repaired / rebuilt .

That is the most miles we have ever put on a vehicle .
 
There's still a good percentage of the population that lives north and the climate is the limiting factor on the vehicles.

I had a Prelude that made it to 230k miles and body just gave out. I'm surprised it didn't break into pieces toward the end of it's life. Not much at all mechanically wrong. Enthusiasts for that car that live in SoCal and other southern places were well over 300k miles with no problems and still running strong.
 
If not in the rust belt, the final straw usually becomes the transmission. Not many transmissions make it to 300,000 miles. Transmission fluid changes help, as does oil spraying the car body in the rust belt. So, if you are prepared to spend $2,000 on a car not worth $2,000, you'll have a much better chance of making the 300,000 miles.
 
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One general thought is, people who keep their cars beyond 170K are more tolerant of repair. The higher the mileage, the more tolerant they are of elaborate repairs.

My personal record is 204K, and the car is still actively being driven. The car has been hit, is rusting, and we have no love for the car. My tolerance for the car is fading. We only keep it because it runs well and hasn't needed any elaborate repairs yet.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
If not in the rust belt, the final straw usually becomes the transmission. Not many transmissions make it to 300,000 miles. Transmission fluid changes help, as does oil spraying the car body in the rust belt. So, if you are prepared to spend $2,000 on a car not worth $2,000, you'll have a much better chance of making the 300,000 miles.


Good point, once a major component goes at say 300,000 miles like a transmission, you have a choice...dump a couple grand into in hopes you make it another couple years, or move on. Most move on. And I don't blame them, I've seen some pay $2,000 for the rebuilt transmissions or refurbished units, only to have them fail a year later. Seen it with engines too...spend $4,000 on a rebuilt engine, have it installed and have the thing explode a year later with no recourse.
 
I wonder how they'd know that? Kansas doesn't track mileage because no inspections, and as far as I know neither does Missouri. Now if it's retitled it might get recorded. I wouldn't image many of those are seeing dealers, independents wouldn't record it.. Would be interesting to see how they're getting that data. Rust is the killer here but alot of those head south of the border after 10 years or so. The Festiva has 256k but runs great, no longer drive it on the highway so just going to roll it till the rearend comes off, figured I should be able to drag it off the road at least.

IMG_0123.jpg
 
I've owned several that got really close...

In college I bought a 1998 Grand Prix with roughly 230K miles. I drove it for three years, not a spec of rust, running great with around 270K miles on it. Only things I did to it were plugs and oil changes.

I had a 2004ish Audi A3 with well over 250K miles. No rust, interior even still smelled new...just a beautiful car, not a single thing out of place. Only thing I did was a poly transmission mount and fuel pump follower. Sad to see this one go...

Bought a 1998ish Honda CRV with 270K miles. I did the timing belt when I first bought it, as well as plugs and radiator. Was dirty, but still totally functional. Daughter rear-ended someone within a year (guessing she was on her phone).


Honestly today I think if you can keep rust at bay, 300k miles is not hard at all...
 
I made it just over 300K miles in my 2006 Santa Fe and then the camshaft let go. I'd still be driving it because it wasn't using any measurable amount of oil at that point and short of wear/tear items like Alternator/Battery etc. it was really good to me. The second was our 1986 Dodge Caravan with a really bad 2.6L 4 cylinder oil burning engine. It died of an electrical fire just shy of 300K miles but trust me that was a feat in itself because the engines were really bad.
 
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