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It also has a lot to do with the type of miles you put on the car. Stop and go short distance driving won't probably render a surviving car for that many miles. Hence my wife's cars not going past 150K miles. In our case is the pile up of age and all the "small" things that end up scraping the car.
1) How is the older Sports Car that u bought. I forgot what u bought?
I ended up backing out of the deal with the Mustang so I never took delivery of it. I just bought a Subaru Legacy a month ago but it ended up being junk so I am selling it to the shop it is now in.
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Originally Posted by johnfrisco
2) How can you survive driving a car in Las Vegas heat with no A/C? I couldn't survive driving a car in NJ without A/C.
I really do not have a choice. I bought the Subaru because it has cold a/c, but it ended up being a piece of junk that needs to much work. I work 15 minutes away from work so I just grin and bear it.
I have 151K on my Audi now and it's 10 years old. A lot of stuff is simply wearing out on it, requiring constant maintenance to the point there is always something that needs fixed. I addressed most of mechanical stuff recently, but it needs new speakers, paint touch up, door trim fixed, hood strut replaced.
I am getting to the point of how much more do I want to sink into it. Mostly it runs fine otherwise.
Hopefully I can keep it as a beater and buy something newer to run for business trips.
I really meant it when I said don't let anyone else drive your car. I believe a car that has been driven by only one driver has a much better chance of making high mileage, than one that has been driven by several drivers.
I believe a car, like a pair of shoes or a kitchen knife, subtly "learns" how to "live" if it is driven by the same person all the time. Everything you do to a car is a form of abuse, and the car learns to accept a tolerance of abuse within a certain range. If an event happens outside that tolerance range, it pushes the car beyond its accustomed limit, and that event reporesents a life-shortening abuse-peak.
Also, you yourself might be perfectly capable of learning to get 300K out of a car. But that doesn't mean that the other driver is also capable of doing so. Every minute that the car is under the control of a 120K driver, its lifetime is being pushed back toward 120K.
We see foreign cars with 250K and more almost daily here at the shop and I get this type of question all the time. I have a flyer I give out to my customers that breaks down a maintenance plan.
Engine oil every 3 months or 3K, (5K for synthetic)
Transmission, diffs, transfer case fluids every 3 yrs or 30K.
Coolant Every 3 yrs or 30K
Brake fluid flush every 3 yrs.
Check brake pads every 5K
Maintain tire pressure every month in summer, twice a month in winter.
Accessory belt(s) every 5 yrs or 50K or when they make noise.
Timing belt at 8 yrs or 100K
Mass air and t-body cleaned once a year.
The list goes on and on..
We will also sit down with each of our customers and do a step by step maintenance plan for their particular vehicles based on condition, mileage, driving habits etc. When we say something needs to be fixed we pull the customer into the shop and show them exactly what we're replacing and why. We also point out future repairs and give them a list of recommendations based on what we showed them.
The highest mileage car we care for right now is a delivery truck. It's a 1998 Tacoma 4 cyl, auto 2WD p/u with 714K on the clock. I met the guy when I was working at a toyota dealer and he started coming to me once I opened my shop. I've worked on the truck since new and we've worked on it here in the shop since it had 200K. The motor, trans and rearend have never been out of the truck. He follows our maintenance schedule and truck runs like new.
Hoping to get 300k miles out of my BMW. It's at 185k now and still has the original fluid in the original transmission... (no dipstick or really any way to do a proper fill). As a daily driver, it's got a couple minor things wrong with it that don't affect driveability, so they may or may not get adressed. Still looks good in and out, however. But I'm not a fan of trying to make an old used car be a new car, as you can sink thousands of dollars chasing new car perfection when it's not necessary for the longetivity or enjoyment of the car.
I've 125k miles on a 1999 Grand Cherokee that looks and drives like new.
My only tips are:
- Regular oil changes.
- Gradual starts and stops.
- Keep it in a garage / out of the weather.
- Follow the maintenance schedule.
- Never go 4-wheeling up in the mountains, except for short, gentle spells.
- Keep it clean.
All good points except the leaving in a garage, If you live in a place that layeth down the salt during winter make sure the garage isnt heated
because if it is heated all that salt accumulation under the car will start to become very active on eating the metal as the car warms up in the garage and everything starts to thaw.
Regular waxing is also important as it protects the paint which protects the metal. Basically a car will last forever as new parts can always be installed,rust however will spell the deathnell for just about any car..
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I guess it is half way through its life.
