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Longest Lasting Car On The Road

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  • thedarkwolfthedarkwolf Member Posts: 70
    My parents are cheap and drive just about every car they get into the ground so I have seen lots of 200k+ cars.

    Current
    96 ford t-bird 4.6l auto 245k miles
    Its only had a few minor problems.

    93 ford taurus 3.8l auto 204k miles
    Trans is about dead and its ate a couple alts and a/c parts

    mine 67 ford galaxie 390 auto 243k miles
    I rebuilt the engine at 220k and the trans is getting weak.

    Past
    77 mercedes 280e 220k-300k(it only showed 175k but the odemeter only worked when it felt like it)
    Lots of little stuff and lots of jerry rigging over the 12 years they owned it but the engine and trans were solid. The body was it major weak spot. By the time we gave it to my uncle the bottem of the fenders, doors, and trunk were more or less gone :).

    mine 81 dodge mirada the amazine /6 auto 195k miles
    It was a /6 do I need to say anything else :)

    82 ford mustang gt 302 4 speed 250k atleast
    It had low oil pressure and started blowing rear main seals every 10k miles or so.

    81 dodge rampage 2.2l 5 speed 280k
    The only thing I remember going out was the a/c compressor and something in the trans.

    There were a bunch of others but I was too young to care when we had them :).
  • jmm8111jmm8111 Member Posts: 7
    My parents keep cars until they die so here goes their list:

    1979 Buick Regal 3.8L V6 -- 142,000 miles, two waterpumps, three exhaust systems

    1985 Buick Regal 3.8L V6 -- 189,000 miles, still strong when son totaled. Two waterpumps, four exhaust system (from cat. back), one transmission (before mentioned son dropped it into reverse at 75 miles/hr).

    1993 Chevy Lumina 3.4 -- 218,000 miles NOTHING. Traded after totaled.

    All cars got manufacturer recommended work. Oil changes every 3000 miles with Dino.

    Now for me--

    1996 Geo Metro -- 190,000 miles, nothing, only recommend maintance. Traded it when I needed something nicer.
  • crossedrealitycrossedreality Member Posts: 72
    My father's '92 Ford Explorer is getting up there...

    260k+ Miles, original engine, 4th transmission (2 replaced under warranty), 3rd A/C compressor...
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,022
    after reading some of these posts of high-mileage 90's cars, I don't feel so bad racking up 54,000 on an '00 Intrepid in only 2 years. Some of you guys have me beat by a long shot (not only on the miles, but the average miles-per-year).

    Darkwolf, I saw an early 80's Cordoba in the junkyard on Saturday. It had just come in, and hadn't been parted out yet, although it had stock #'s written all over the body panels and glass. Ready for processing, I guess. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it still looked to be in really good shape. I was almost tempted to ask how much they'd take for the whole car. Judging from the condition of the interior, I'd guess it had less than 100K miles on it. Just past the break-in period, I guess!
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    I was poster#26. My car now has 174,400 miles as of today, Nov 14th, the car's seventh year birthday. At this rate it should hit 200,000 miles by Nov 2002.

    I seen some people mention doing/keeping spreadsheets to figure cost per mile their vehicle is costing them. Can someone enlgihten me with the details as how to do this. I'd like to see how my car is doing. Thanks.

    Leo
  • dwillems1dwillems1 Member Posts: 1
    Hello everyone.
    It's my first post, so I hope I'm not being too rude. ... but the topic intrigued me.
    My longest lasting car is actually a truck...a 1988 Chev Silverado 4x4 2500. I have to brag about the mileage though - 408,231 miles! Even my mechanic can't believe it. The weird part is that it runs better than most of the other vehicles I've owned.
    I don't know if the 350 is the original engine but by the looks of the truck when I got it two years ago, someone used it for a LOT of highway driving in some kind of service company. The body isn't awesome and I've done a lot of body work on it, but mechanically it's amazing - the only 'major' work I've had to do was a $450 exhaust system rebuild. Other than that I add a bit of oil now and then and drive the daylights out of it. Gee, at this mileage it's not like it's going to depreciate :-)
  • ocmomocmom Member Posts: 2
    1991 Previa, bought late 1990, 274,000 miles, runs and looks good. Always used Mobil One oil.
  • ndancendance Member Posts: 323
    For some reason I'm a little bored this evening so I've broken out of my normal groups...

    FWIW, I have friend with a 356 convertible with over 500k (I think 520k, but I'm not sure). Do I win a cookie?
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,022
    I did my spreadsheets in Excel. Each one has 4 columns. First column is the date, second column is a description of the cost, third column is the $ amount, and 4th column is the mileage of the car. There's a sum total row at the bottom for the cost, and a cell that divides the total cost by the total miles.

    If you want, I can email you one of my spreadsheets, and you can play around with it to suit your tastes.
  • suvshopper4suvshopper4 Member Posts: 1,110
    ndance: The judges had to consult about your case, as it was not your car you reported on. Hearsay, I say. But in the end, it was decided that, yes, you do win a cookie. Look in your internet files folder. It's already there.

    Thanks for playing.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    356 with over 500K? And how many engines? (my guess--5)
  • q45manq45man Member Posts: 416
    We have two customers each with slightly over 300k on their cars. We have maintained them perfectly and both have orginal engines, differentials, transmissions [mostly highway miles in South].
    Yes they have spent money AC, PS, shocks, timing belts, reseals, suspension, wheel bearings, some displays,etc.
    We do total fluid exchanges every year [$600]and I doubt they spend more than 10 cents per mile on maintenance and repairs but again $2500 per year would seem excessive to many but cheap to LUX owners.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Good maintenance is never expensive in the long run. I spend a lot on maintenance myself.
    Of course, you need a good car to start with!
  • suvshopper4suvshopper4 Member Posts: 1,110
    q45man: You're right - $2,500 a year in maintenance does seem excessive to me.

    -ss4 (non-lux owner)
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Depends on the car, though. If it's a complex car out of warranty, like, oh, a
    BMW 7-series, an older Benz, a Jaguar or Porsche, you'd better spend $200 a month on it or suffer the consequences.

    You have to remember that there's something unheard of before that will happen to the cars of 2001. Once they are out of warranty, if something major goes wrong with them, many of them won't be worth fixing,

    Case in point: Early 90s luxury imports....you blow an engine you've blown $10K, and many of those early 90s cars are barely worth that as good running used cars.
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    I sure am interested in those excel spreadsheets. I appreciate your time and effort in sending them. Now I can figure out what my Toyota is costing me. My emial is leomort@hotmail.com

    Thanks,

    Leo
  • vetteryanvetteryan Member Posts: 21
    I am interested too.

    vetteryan@hotmail.com

    Thanks
    Ryan
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,022
    I have that spreadsheet at work, but I'll email it to ya in the morning when I go back in. Hey Leo, did my email come through okay?
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    Yes, it was here this morning. I didn't have a chance to open it and play with it yet. Thanks,

    Leo
  • carguy62carguy62 Member Posts: 545
    '89 Accord LX-i H/B with ~153000 miles. Only repairs other than routine maintenance were a water pump and distributor. Original muffler lasted 130K miles. Problem is my commute over the last five years has only been 20 miles/day, so the miles are barely moving up.
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    didn't notice in your spreadsheet, but do take into account car insurance for the cost of operation per mile on your vehicles?

    Leo
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,022
    funny, but Ryan asked me the same thing! To make it really accurate, I guess I should take insurance into account, along with gasoline. It's just that before I got my Intrepid, I mainly drove older cars with lots of miles on them, and only had liability insurance. My insurance would've been the same no matter what I was driving. Now that I have a car with full coverage, I guess I should take it into account though, as it can vary from car to car.

    As for fuel, I kept that out partly because I was just lazy! I used to deliver pizzas, and sometimes filled up several times per week. There's no way I would've been able to keep very accurate records. Usually what I do is just figure whatever tank of gas I'm on into the equation. For instance, if I just drove 300 miles and it took $15.00 to fill up, the car was costing me 5 cents a mile in fuel, which I just mentally add on to the other costs. I do keep a log book in the car that I use to write down the date, mileage, $ amount, and # of gallons for that fill-up. If I got the ambition, I guess I could transfer all that info into the spreadsheet some day!
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    what a coincidence. Well, I don't keep track of what I paid for car insurance from year to year. While I keep track of my mpg for fuel, I don't keep track of the cost. I guess if you don't include these two items, you could call it the cost of maintenence per mile whereas if you include the two you could call it the "total" cost of ownership per mile. ???

    Leo
  • arjay1arjay1 Member Posts: 172
    Now we are finding the truly anal car freaks.
    I keep two separate spreadsheets for all me cars.

    Sheet number one just tracks gas mileage. After every fill-up I enter the date, the mileage at fill-up, the number of gallons and the cost of the fill-up. The spreadsheet then calculates the MPG for that tank, average MPG over the life of the car, sums the total fuel used in gallons and in dollars over the life of the car. This has become a habit and my wife even complies for her car. Every time we get gas we just write the mileage from the odometer on the top of the receipt. Then I just enter the info from the receipt into the computer.

    Sheet number two calculates the operating cost. At the end of every month I enter the total fuel cost for that month (from the first spreadsheet), any taxes, insurance, payments, maintenance costs and repair costs (these are separate columns). Then I enter the starting miles on the odometer at the beginning of the month (this is the ending miles from the previous month) and the ending miles (this is the mileage from my last fill-up of the month). The spreadsheet then calculates the total miles driven that month, total miles driven since owning the car, total cost for the month, total cost since owning the car, cost per mile for the month and average cost per mile since owning the car. The spreadsheet then also keeps a running total for repair costs and maintenance costs.

    It's interesting to monitor all the costs over the life of the car. What becomes very apparent is how small of a percentage of the total cost is from maintenance.

    If anyone wants, I can e-mail these Excel spreadsheets as well.
  • suvshopper4suvshopper4 Member Posts: 1,110
    So tell us, what does it cost you to operate your car, and what year and model is it?

    Also, have you considered including the purchase price on your spreadsheet, plus any loan interest, and computing the cost-per-mile of ownership (not just operation)?

    Curious. Thanks.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,022
    I put the down payment and monthly payments for the Intrepid down on my spreadsheet. I haven't even tried to calculate out the value of the car though, because that's money I won't see until I sell or trade the car.

    I think my Intrepid's averaging about $.22 a mile, + about $.06 a mile for fuel, + $.02 a mile for insurance (2 years of premiums so far, $560 a year, divided by 55,000 miles).

    So I'm right around $.30 a mile, which, interestingly enough, is about what the government allows you to write off if you use your car for business purposes. I think it's actually $.35 a mile or something like that.

    $.30 a mile probably sounds really high, but keep in mind that includes a $2000 down payment, + $347.66 a month in payments. If I do 2000 miles a month, just the payment is coming out to about $.17 a mile!
  • suvshopper4suvshopper4 Member Posts: 1,110
    I remember reading in a magazine article at least 7 years ago that a new Ford Escort would cost over 45 cents/mile to own and operate. The article was blasting the IRS for allowing such a meager amount as an expense deduction (back then it was about 28.5 cents/mile). I didn't see the Escort cost computation; I'm sure loan interest and depreciation figured into it (int and deprn are big tax issues).
    Now I'm starting to think I want to compute my ownership costs...
    "We have the technology."
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,022
    ...I was happy if they'd more or less maintain around $.10 a mile, + gas, + insurance. When I delivered pizzas, I figured that the tax writeoff just about covered the gasoline I was putting into my Dart.
  • arjay1arjay1 Member Posts: 172
    My Operating Cost spreadsheet does include the payment each month. I have tried to add in everything to get a true cost of ownership (even our yearly Personal Property Tax here in Missouri). I have these at home. I will try to look tonight and provide what I have for all the cars I have calculated. What it definately shows is that when you keep a car for only a short amount of time the cost per mile is very high.
  • engstuengstu Member Posts: 1
    I've got an 89 Mazda 929, just hit 187K. I the 3rd owner (I think) Bought it at about 133K from this old couple 2 years back. Got a good deal! Original engine, tranny overhauled about 60K. Great for long trips, at least 20 (buffalo to NYC or Detroit) Only stranded once when timing belt slipped off tensioner at 170K because I didn't change the leaking seals. No major problems other than it's an old pre-lux car and repairs cost a bit more than average. Engine is strong, and the car is smooth and feels much better than most cars I've been in. It's a good old car, can take a lot of abuse, and gets up to 20/28 when I take it easy.
  • mikegold_1966mikegold_1966 Member Posts: 138
    My neighbor bought it brand new in 1980 and it is a wagon. He changes the oil every 3K or 3 months whatever comes first with Quaker State. He will not look at another motor oil for any of his cars.
    It doesn't leak any oil!

    He has had routine maintenance such as replacing brakes, exhaust, belts, seals, batteries etc. He did have to re upholster the seats and put in new carpeting.

    Car is driven daily 30 miles round trip to work. Body is in great shape with no rust! He did Ziebart the car when it was new and takes the car back each year for an annual re spray. It must work since there isn't any rust!
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    Andre and others,

    I compile the cost of ownership for my '94 Toyota Paseo. Did it at home with pen and paper so hopefully my math added up right after 7 years of ownership. Figuring in the downpayment, payments, and early payoff(guesstimate), plus ownership over seven years at mileage of 175,000 I came out to $0.13/mile.

    I guesstimated the insurance at around $750/yr for 7 yrs (purposely errored on high side) which came to $0.16/mile

    Conservatively estimated 35 mpg for gas over the 175,000 miles = 5000 gallons of gas. Which I guesstimate an average of $1.25 per gallon for gas. Finall cost of ownership for everything= $0.20/mile.

    So all told, my Toyota Paseo is cost me 20 cents per mile to drive.

    Compiling the data sheet did shed some light regardimg my car's maintenence records.

    Leo
  • suvshopper4suvshopper4 Member Posts: 1,110
    leomort: Interesting computation. Shows the cost benefit of buying an economy car and keeping it a long time - lower gas costs (35mpg?!), with the loan payments at zero after a few years. And the longer you continue to drive it, the less your cost/mile will be (unless you run into serious repair costs), because the original cost will be averaged over even more miles.

    And I am envious of your annual insurance cost.

    -ss4
  • rs_pettyrs_petty Member Posts: 423
    I'd offer that the largest percentage of ownership is depreciation. Most vehicles will lose 35-50% of their initial price in the first 2 years. If you traded every couple of years your cost per mile would be astronomical (probably closer to $.75/mile than if you keep it for a longer term.
  • tboner1965tboner1965 Member Posts: 647
    There is a Palm application called AutoMobil that you can enter your fill ups, maintenance or even payments and insurance.

    It figures your cost/mile, MPG and projected annual mileage for that vehicle.

    I was kinda shocked for a while when the 87 LeSabre spiked to $0.39/mile after rebuilding the transmission, but that was in October and I just started collecting data in August.

    So I expect it to drop back to a reasonable under $0.20/mile over the next year or so.

    FWIW

    TB
  • kit1404kit1404 Member Posts: 124
    I have a 1988 F-250 that goes to the dealer tomorrow afernoon - after I drive to town and run errands. It finally needs a new fan clutch. And, the gauges are a little hit and miss. This thing has 160,000 miles of fairly hard use. So far the only major problems - replaced the clutch at 135,000 miles because it just seemed like a good idea. It had a new timing chain/gears at 100,000 plus a new alternator/water pump and outside of just normal stuff - that's about it. Yes, this old dude goes thru tires pretty fast - it is a very heavy 4X4 truck and good luck going much past 20,000 on all-terrains that need to work hard in mud and snow. Like I said - Ford didn't get represented well here with their trucks -just had to respond.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    It's kinda funny from my perspective. Some of the high mileage cars and trucks mentioned in these postings are vechiles that really don't have stellar reputations for reliability.

    Which go's to show...you never know, I guess.

    And..WOW! some of you sure drive a lot!
  • ndancendance Member Posts: 323
    Geez, I forgot I mentioned the 500k+ mile 356. I'll ask how many times the motor has been gone through, but 4 or so times seems reasonable. Oddly enough, I seem to think that the generator lasted until 2 years ago, and the steering box is untouched. Those cars are a good example of something that can be kept running forever (due to simplicity, quality of materials/construction, and current value) if corrosion problems are kept at bay. Maybe there's something longer lasting about Belgian-built Porsches.

    Thanks everybody for all the cookies.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    In theory, you can keep any car running forever if you're willing to invest in it and IF you can keep the tin worms out of it. I've kept some truly miserable cars running quite well, but it did take a lot of effort. I always demand that my cars run reliably and safely and take me wherever I wish to go. No "nursing" for me!

    Given that pretty tough standard, definitely some cars have been harder to encourage up to that standard than others. Some cars seem to need "nursing" all their lives...they don't want to work too hard; other can take anything you can dish out. I guess you might say some cars are just a bit "fragile" and require lots of maintenance.
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Member Posts: 1,711
    I have a '93 Volvo and tend to keep up with the latest in Volvo trends. According to one reputable web site, Irv Gordon, the man with the highest mileage car in the world, has 1,971,000 miles on his 1966 Volvo P1800 to date. He will break 2 million miles sometime in the spring. This is a record that will probably never be broken. This Volvo still keeps on running and running and looks as if it will never break. My friend's two '96 850s (5-speeds) have over 130k on them each and he has no plans to sell the cars ever. He would like to get to a million, just like Mr. Gordon did 15 years ago. Good luck, Irv!
  • alcanalcan Member Posts: 2,550
    He sure racks up the miles. He had 1,690,000 miles on it as of February 1999. (see post #22)
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    He's also done some engines of course. I'd have a broken back driving that far in a P1800.
  • dhanleydhanley Member Posts: 1,531
    According to the site, he's done one rebuild at about 800,000. So he has about 1,200,000 miles on the current rebuild. Not to bad, eh?

    dave
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Actually I did read that but I don't believe it. I mean, I do believe the miles but not the rebuild part. The miles can be counted on a wheel meter but the rebuilds can't be monitored. I think he's cheating wildly on that part.

    I can tell you absolutely that a B18 or B20 camshaft will certainly not last 800,000 miles. It would be lucky to go 80,000.
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Member Posts: 1,711
    To be more precise, Mr. Gordon had his engine rebuilt at 675,000 miles. His reason? "It was getting a little noisy." And you are correct: Since when does a camshaft last to 800,000 miles?
  • ndancendance Member Posts: 323
    I expect he used a combination of Slick-50 and toilet paper oil filters.
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    Seems like we have a lot of people here who expect, even demand that their cars last a long time with minimum repair/maintenence cost.

    So let me ask everyone, What mileage do you expect/demand you car to acquire with minimum repair/maintenence cost???

    What $$$ limit do set for car repairs/maintenence before deciding it's no longer worth it???

    Leo
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think there is a point when the structural integrity of the car comes into question, and thus the safety of it. Maybe that Volvo p1800 puts around all day every day at 45 mph as the owner continues to circle the globe on secondary roads, but for someone like me, who stresses a car, I'd be very concerned about safety as a car pushes over 200K-250K.
  • leomortleomort Member Posts: 453
    Plus, here is another consideration. With the average driven mileage being 12K/y, who's going to want to be driving that car for the next 20 years???

    Leo
  • ndancendance Member Posts: 323
    I don't doubt that age by itself is enough to cause problems. I'll bet that sheet metal and/or structural steel somehow work hardens over time and becomes more brittle. In addition, seat belts probably lose elasticity due to air pollution or ultraviolet.

    As far as willingness to spend money, I think it depends entirely (for me) on how interesting the car is. If I had, say, an early Bronco and it needed a new C4 (or whatever those have)...no problem, spend the 600-1000 dollars. If I had a zillion mile Ford Explorer needing a new transmission for 1500 dollars or whatever, I'd sure think twice about it.

    In terms of beaters...I'd say somewhere between 500 and 1000 bucks is my point of pain. Any more than that is a no-brainer, less is a no-brainer (if it implies throwing the car away or not). Where the whole thing gets tricky is in estimating *future* repairs and whether you are throwing away bad money after good.

    As far as demanding minimum repair or maintenance, I'm not really wired that way. What I *hate* is absurdly high repair costs, especially for subsidiary systems (A/C maybe, or seat butt warmers). If you own a 1971 Chevy 1/2 truck, probably the most expensive thing you could fix (aside from extensive body work) is the engine at 1000 or so dollars new (with warranty) from GM. If you own a late model, out of warranty, M5, the skies the limit. I'll bet there's dozens of subsystems (like ABS, for example) that could cost multi-thousands if the planets were lined up just right.

    This is probably a statement better suited to the 'disposable car' thread, but I think that over time people are becoming hyper-aware of warranty mileage and time limits. I'll bet there are serious shelfs in car values as the more complex models fall off warranty. V12 BMW's may well last 250,000 miles, but the potential for costing an arm and a leg (maybe both legs) is an obvious reality.
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