Dad's old 3/4-ton Chevy work truck had 1,000,000+ documented miles. We re-ringed one cylinder, replaced the timing chain, and rebuilt the transmission once. That poor truck spent its life doing OTR truck tires, hauling probably one ton of tools all the time, all around the state of Georgia. Dad sold it for $500 to a kid who walked across town to look at it. I told dad he should have contacted GM to let them know the old beast lived so long.
1
2
-
July 1, 2011 11:34 a.m. slefain SuperDork
-
July 1, 2011 11:37 a.m. mndsm SuperDork
209k on an unmodified mx6 GT I paid 400$ for. Apparently the transmission's been rebuilt at some point. Engine for the large part, appears un-repaired other than wear and tear items.
-
July 1, 2011 11:44 a.m. GrantMLS Reader
I miss my 66 122s, had 300K miles but new york rust took it..
I got around 940K miles on oringal engines though its spread out over 4 cars! -
July 1, 2011 1:35 p.m. Ian F SuperDork
foxtrapper wrote:
I think that engine's only been rebuilt once, at around 600k miles. Otherwise, it's just regular oil changes.
I'm afraid that's not true. The engine was rebuilt quite recently by a local (in SE PA) Volvo racer. The block had already been bored to max, so it was sleaved. Obviously, there was a desire to keep the original block rather than going for a less expensive alternative. The trans has been rebuilt a few times... but nothing out of the ordinary. The real key to the car's longevity is Irv maintains the car by the book and has so since he bought it new.
My '03 TDI wagon is at 253K and climbing... At my current driving habits, it'll pass 300K sometime next year.
-
July 1, 2011 2:11 p.m. Travis_K SuperDork
We have had a lot of high mileage cars too. 1992 Sentra, totalled at 335k with original engine. 1983 Mercedes 300SD, purchased with the odometer stopped at 376k, still my daily driver, 1996 Subaru Legacy, 380k, engine replaced at about 370k due to emissions issues from high oil consumption, 1995 neon, engine locked up at 365k, I didnt figure out until after I bought a new junkyard engine and pulled the old one that the engine was still good and it was locked up from a clutch cable washer jammed in the flywheel.
-
July 1, 2011 3:18 p.m. sanman Reader
You know, as a New Yorker, I want to know how he managed to keep the thing from rusting all these years while putting so many miles on it.
-
July 1, 2011 3:26 p.m. Twin_Cam SuperDork
Rumor had it that an early SL1 made it to 600K miles on an original engine and trans, and Saturn wanted to buy it from the guy to take it apart to see how it lasted so long, they even offered him a new one free, but he refused.
The highest mileage car I've ever owned was that Maxima I had for about 5 months, 231K. What a piece of crap. It looked and ran like it had 3 million miles, I'll tell you that much. My current DD is only at 146K. Haha ONLY.
-
July 1, 2011 9:17 p.m. DirtyBird222 SuperDork
Highest mileage I've seen working for GM are a lot of work trucks with 300k+. While working for Honda I saw a lot of CD5 Accords with 400k+ and 500k+. My mother has a 2001 C5 Corvette with a T56 that's about to hit the 200k mark, on the clutch that it came with from the factory as well. It needs a rear main seal and rear engine cover seal though, might wait for the clutch to go to replace those tho.
-
July 2, 2011 12:19 a.m. Vigo Dork
All i can add is that my DD has 312k on the original engine and i run 0-20w in it.
-
July 2, 2011 12:24 a.m. 92CelicaHalfTrac SuperDork
I've seen a lot of Acura Legends with really high miles looking and running like new.
-
July 2, 2011 1:10 a.m. Trans_Maro Dork
475,000 on the 22R-E in my moms '87 4-runner before we sold it.
The body rotted away but the engine was great.
Shawn
-
July 2, 2011 6:38 a.m. KATYB HalfDork
guy with an on old toyota pickup and 22r that was a customer of mine had 1265000 the last time i saw his truck.... all record kept in this 8 inch thick binder. so he could prove that is was the original motor
-
July 2, 2011 7:24 a.m. Woody SuperDork
I put 300,000 on the '89 Civic Si that I bought new.
Rocker panel rust and a bad sunroof seal (hmmm....connection?) finally took it out. The original clutch was changed at 212k, even after several seasons of autocross use.
Best car ever.
-
July 2, 2011 11:05 a.m. M030 HalfDork
My mom's 1987 Mercedes 300D had 774K on its original engine (and turbo!) when she finally traded it in. The Mercedes dealer was shocked, as the 3.0L I6 turbo diesel engines of that vintage are supposedly the "bad ones" that "always blow up."
I once had an 1987 VW Jetta that lasted to 385K on it's original (gas) engine, but the (manual) transmission had been changed once.
-
July 2, 2011 12:25 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork
Currently @ 348,000 on my Integra. Ventilated the block at around 210k, but that wasn't the cars fault. That was after about 10,000 noisy miles following a nasty "money-shift" at a track day at TGPR. Replaced the motor with a 40-50k jap motor, and this one's doing great with almost 200k on it. No leaks, no smoke. I drive 80 miles a day just to and from work (not including weekend travel.) Usually around 24,000 mile/year.
Needs quite a few bushings but still handles pretty well. The seats are literally falling apart though. 200,000 miles of 200lb. man-ass crawling in and out takes its toll.
Currently debating on doing maintenance (t-belt and waterpump. Ugh.) tune-up and fixing the A/C, selling and buying a hypermiler with A/C, or driving till she dies.
-
July 2, 2011 6:32 p.m. Feedyurhed HalfDork
I have a friend with a full size Chevy van with a SBC 350 that's just short of 1 million miles. Original block and trans with mostly only maintenance items being replaced. It's used for business/deliveries.
-
July 3, 2011 8:55 p.m. Wally SuperDork
My Escort was at 28X,XXX when I totaled it Aside from the Air flow sensor and exhaust it just had regular wear items done. The wife's 02 Malibu is at 285k and besides wear items it has had the intake gaskets done, an alternator, and trans cooler lines. At 158k the Cadavalier has had an alternator, radiator and fans, ane valve cover gasket done.
-
July 3, 2011 9:22 p.m. Taiden HalfDork
My new to me Impreza has 297k miles which is 478k kilometers
-
July 3, 2011 10:16 p.m. donalson SuperDork
wow we've got some serious millage cars around here...
i've had a few 240k cars... '85 tercel and '89 volvo 745ti my current car is a little shy around 220 or so I think...
-
July 3, 2011 10:57 p.m. triumph5 Dork
sanman wrote:
You know, as a New Yorker, I want to know how he managed to keep the thing from rusting all these years while putting so many miles on it.
Actually, I know Irv because I sold him his drugs.
At the local pharmacy, that is, during my first two years of college. A regular guy, and that was his Daily Driver. One of the reasons for the lack of rust was washing it after it snowed, getting the road salt out of/off the Volvo ASAP. I hadn't heard about the recent resleaving of the engine. I do know it was rebuilt once. The key to its longevity was to treat it with "by the book" maintenance. And, yes, he DID have a bit of a long commute to work. Glad to hear he's still around and enjoying life.
-
July 4, 2011 12:04 a.m. CanadianTercel New Reader
My 92 legacy turbo had 333,000km and the original clutch when I owned it earlier this year, forgot to mention that thing.
-
July 4, 2011 10:01 a.m. chandlerGTi Reader
I forgot about a E28 528e that I had over 400k on. Auto trans changed at least once, at 395k when I bought it. I sold it to a guy who was joining the Navy and wanted something to drive in Chicago before deployment.
-
July 5, 2011 6:42 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork
For all the ballyhoing about the high mileage on that car, I've wondered about the sort of miles on some of the cross country trucks and such.
Not sure how you'd count that with the slider or glider changes they can do. Not that I know how many miles are on those trucks before they do one of those changes.
And the engines in locomotives. I've no idea how far or long they tend to go in service.
-
July 5, 2011 7:48 a.m. Ian F SuperDork
I got bored a few years ago (and the g/f jokingly talking about becoming an IRT'er...) and searched out used OTR trucks. Well over a million is normal. Over 3 million is not uncommon. Most easily go a million or more between rebuilds.
There's never been any question about there being other vehicles with more miles on them. Irv just holds the record for the most on a privately owned and operated vehicle.
-
July 5, 2011 6:55 p.m. familytruckster New Reader
265K miles on my 03 Protege5, original engine, trans is all original except for half the case (cracked the old case from debris on highway) runs like a champ. First timing belt at 209K. Clutch around 250K, Stupid car drives better than my 318 that has all new/upgraded suspension. 140 miles a day commute 1 hour 35 minutes each way. Put 1200 miles on it in 3 days after driving it home from the dealer.. Nothing but normal wear items, brakes, oil changes, front wheel bearings...Interior was perfect until I gave it to the wife.
