Cars that last a million miles

[brig2221]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

It's pretty cool to come back to this thread to see all of the people who have listed their cars and their mileage's. I am almost to the point to where it will be a badge of honor when my car reaches over 100,000 miles, and I won't be happy till it makes it to 200,000 miles. I have my doubts about the old Explorer and whether or not it can get there, but I certainly won't fail for a lack of trying.

I don't know what clicked inside me a year or so ago, but I can honestly say that I will never purchase an expensive car in my life, not because of not having the means, but because of how terrible of an investment they really are.

Like Dave Ramsey says, I'm going to find and buy a 1 year old car with 15-20K miles on it, letting someone else take the depreciation bath, not me.

[Gruntina]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

Hmm.. my fiance drives two vehicle... A 1964 Ford pick-up. He still drives that thing to haul in home improvement stuff and his plants for his yard. Its rusted but it still serve it's prupose. The other vehicle he still drives and is also running good is his 1986 jeep. I never did think to look at his mileages on them. This article got me curious now.

My fiance is a ford technician...aka grease monkey. He can make anything last.

[tabbycat31]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

just the title of this thread bugs me right now because my car just died and I need to replace it.
Luckily I have incredibly generous parents who have a spare car, and told me that it is mine until after tax season (I work as a tax preparer for a well known company) when I have more time to actually talk to dealers, test drive, etc.

[Coleroo]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

my parents have always been that type - they refuse to get a new car and make payments. Growing up (i was born in 1982, they were born in the 40s) I was always embarrassed by our old "clunkers" ...like the green lizzie we had - it was lime green, had to have been from the 70s and was a mile long. I went to a private school the whole time (13 years) and always felt like the poorest one there and would be embarrassed to have mom or dad drive up to get me (in elementary dad would actually park in the back and WALK to the car line where everyone was pulling up to pick up their kids so i wouldnt be embarrassed by them going through the line in front of everyone). It was not till the past couple years that i TRULY realized just HOW MUCH of a sacrifice my parents made - the private school cost over $230 a month, not including all the extraneous school fees (band, choir, art, competitions), and girls had to wear nice dresses / skirts. That would have easily covered a NICE new car payment anytime through out the entire 90s decade!! Now that I am married with my own mortgage and a 365$ new car payment I just *had* to have back in 2004, i realize what they did for me... And they have never once complained or threw it up in my face how they sacrificed, or tried to make me "realize". They just sat back and waited for me to learn it on my own (lesson learned).

oh but wait... what was the point of this thread? oh oh yeh... cars that go a million miles. Mom and Dad still buy used cars - they've never paid more than $2500 for one. The car mom has now is a 94 plymouth sedan, still runs great, great heater and air, rides smooth - i checked it yesterday and it has over 163,000 miles on it. Dad has a 1989 chevy pick up work truck (he's self employeed as a fence man) he's had for about 4 years now and im sure it has over 200K mi on it. They also swear by chevrolet celebrities models, saying they were always one of the best used values they've ever bought.

Just the yesterday mom was talking about how things nowadays seem to be made cheaply and "for quick disposal". Being from the 40s, mom and dad also say theres a LOT of things that they would own for years that today it wouldnt last more than 3 years. Take mom's side by side GE frigadare refrigerator - it's older than I am!! Dad got it for her in like, 1979 or 1980. It's still the perfect fridge. Mom took a spell a few years ago thinking she wanted a smaller, newer one - she had it for 6 months and it broke down! She couldnt stand the new thing and had dad bring the old side by side back in from storage. She also has a big microwave she bought back in the early 90s when (regular!) walmart first appeared on the surface. It still works awesomely (10+ years and still going strong!). She got a little white microwave 4 months ago thinking she wanted something newer to match her new cabinets - and it started shooting fire out last month and... yep.. back out comes our good old trusty old microwave. lol My granny had an upright freezer for 40 years that was still working when she died in 2001. Newer washers and dryers have also been horrible compared to used older heavy duty ones mom has had in the past that seemed to last forever - the timing mechanism on the dryer she bought at lowes 3 years ago is already broke (it wont shut off automatically).

[Crystallas]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

99 Escort that I put 260k miles on before that was passed onto another family member. It has 410k on it now, and still running strong.
We just donated a 93 Lumina that had 380k on it. It was still running fine, but the transmission was slipping around 2nd gear. Easy fix, but it was time to retire her for a more economical car.
But the cats meow has to be the 600k we had on a 1988 Plymouth Gran Fury. It ran fine when we junked it. We couldn't keep it because it wouldn't pass emissions. It would cost about $200 at the time to get it up to standards, but that was too much for a car that was worth maybe $100.
My sisters 99 Grand Am is close to 300k and its in top shape.
My 97 prelude, 96 probe, and 92 daytona all failed to hit 150k.
My 05 GTO hit 60k before I had costly problems with it. But those would have easily been remedied.
2001 328i that didnt hit 100k before the upkeep was more than the vehicle was worth.
Last but not least, a 95 Eclipse that didn't even make it to 100k, even with 2 engines.

Mind you, I have been working on cars all of my life, and have worked on a few crews in my time. I knew how to fix every one of them, it just didn't make sense.
Now I have a 07 Fusion, and barely have 1k on it, knock on wood LOL.

If you want a million mile car. Look at a diesel option.

[morningstar]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

I had a Subaru from '84 to '91 with 260k on it with the original clutch. Why I gave it to my sister, I'll never know. My sister, niece and nephew all drove it for the next couple of years -- still with the same clutch! The only thing I ever did to that car besides oil changes, brakes and tires - was a heater core. I don't know what the mileage ended at when the floor finally rusted through and they didn't think it was worth it to fix. After all that they got money for it when they drove it to the junk yard. Cars after that, not so great, a '91 Mercury (escort type) (got to 144k before being totalled) and a '96 Dodge Stratus (too big of a car for the 4 cylinder engine - oh well)

I now have another Subaru, a 2001 and am hoping for the same wear as with the first one. I have 119k on it but have encountered some problems thus far. The dreaded computers are giving me a fit, that engine light argghhh! But I'm hopeful.

It is wonderful to hear so many great high mileage stories, happy motoring all!

[cschin4]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

I really would like to drive more than one car in my lifetime. After awhile, it just gets boring driving the same car.

[bjl584]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

Currently:

2005 Elantra =38000
1999 Blazer = 98000
1994 Sonoma Pickup = 115000

[Ima saver]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

I agree with csch. My husband's motto is "life is too short to drive ugly cars" I had a t shirt made for him with that saying and a picture of our three "pretty" cars!

[CHUBROCK]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

2 years ago I purchased a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. To date I have put over 70k on this baby. I hope that Nissan will give me a free car when I hit 1 million miles!

[Broken Arrow]

Re: Cars that last a million miles

My 96 Corolla's up to 129,000 and still running fine (knock on wood)

Mine is a 97 Corolla. It's got 155,000. And yes, I too am knocking on wood.

[jasminecox]

That's so cool.

[JustBill]

Since this is a 9 year old thread, it would be interesting to see if the OP still has that 2000 Explorer and how many miles it has now.

[TexasHusker]

The Toyota Landcruiser is designed and manufactured to go to 1 million miles without a major repair.

Mine has 105K on it (the Lexus version), and I hope to trade it someday for a UN Peacekeeper white version.

[greenskeeper]

engines today should go at least 200k without repair if properly maintained. The problem is the transmission (automatic) and other parts start to wear out.

Our trucks have the International T444E engine (powerstroke) and they are at 194k and 242k miles. Neither engine uses any oil.

The only "major" repair for either truck was the vacuum pump that supplies vacuum for the brakes since it's a diesel. The wife was still able to limp home with manual brakes so it didn't leave her "stranded"