200,000 miles or more in a car? (vehicles, gaskets, tires, truck)

[Hemlock140]

I have over 150k on a 1997 Escort that I use just to drive to the park & ride to catch the bus. I'll drive it until it drops, at 30 mpg, and let my newer ones rest. If you check Craigslist there are many cars with over 200,000 for sale.

[MOKAN]

The best way to gauge which car brands are seeing the highest mileages is to go to autotrader.com or cars.com and do a nationwide search and sort the listings by mileage from highest to lowest. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Saab, Volvo, and Volkswagen seem to fair the best. Many are in great condition with well over 200K miles. One reason for this is, of course, superior engineering, but it's also the fact that those who can afford these cars tend to pay to have them taken care of, keep them garaged, etc., as well as the fact that ethusiasts, who also tend to take good care of their cars, buy up many of the one-owner, relatively-low-mileage models that come onto the used car market.

[Falconman]

many people dont know it but the ford areostars run 200k or more with few engine/tranny problems. The were built solid .Cant say that for the windstars though, they give trouble.lots of it. I agree 100% that using autotrader to gauge just whats out there is a very good tool. Craigslist is not

[pault2]

my 2004 astro van, which I bought new, just turned over 188,000........and its still got the factory brakes! Had to replace the transmission @ 160k, but other than that it's been a solid performer.

[SuperSparkle928]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Can you explain how Volvo went down the hopper after being acquired by Ford?

I know that Ford has used Volvo's engineering to improve regular Ford products. I'm not sure though what, if anything, Ford did to lessen the quality of Volvo. On the other hand, I do know when GM owned Saab they put a lot of GM parts into new Saabs.

While having great, long-lasting drivetrains, Volvo didn't have very good materials quality. The seats and paint for instance would wear out in under 100K miles on many cars. Hopefully that's changed.

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Just comparing my 244DL to the S80 (I know, not very scientific)

244DL:
-- Sheetmetal was virtually armorplate
-- Ultra reliable (never even had to replace the clutch after 200K)
-- Very easy to repair
-- Parts were not that expensive.
-- Fit/finish of virtually all aspects of the car were very high
-- The seats and paint looked as good as the day I bought it new.
-- Heating fan motor bearings usually fail at about 150K miles, requiring the removal of the dashboard to repair (ouch)
-- Can do much of the work yourself

S80:
-- Sheetmetal is essentially Reynolds-Wrap foil
-- Mediocre reliability. Electrical gremlins, MAF sensor replacement at 100k
Usually something fails at each service
-- Suspension... tired of replacing tie rods and other components
-- Fit/finish is excellent, though the leather seats are wearing out
-- Parts are mega-expensive, and some things you can't replace yourself, because they are tied into the computer that knows the serial numbers of the component, and requires a dealer to replace (like the MAF)
-- Heating fan motor bearings usually fail at about 150K miles, requiring the removal of the dashboard to repair (you would think they would have fixed this design problem over the 28 year period between the two cars)
-- Way too much plastic
-- (The refrigerator is a cool option though, no pun intended)

I KNEW I should have kept the 240 (though with only something like 114 horsepower, it wasn't exactly a barn-burner).

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Be glad you have a GM van, our Dodge minivan tranny died at 198926 miles... It is headed to the crusher, tho runs great and still has all gears but 3rd. I did replace the plugs and wires at 120k, and water pump ($13) at 160k

Why is it going to the crusher then? It's not dead. On these forums people say a car "died" when it just needs a little "surgery". It's so confusing.

[snofarmer]

We have a toyota 4runner with 198.562mi it woun't be long now.
The olny engine work was a recal,for the heads and a timing belt.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by dkf747

Why is it going to the crusher then? It's not dead. On these forums people say a car "died" when it just needs a little "surgery". It's so confusing.

Vehicle value if pristine..l.= $800

Needs $2500+ in repairs)
Tranny; $1200
Heater core $700 (dash airbag removal)
Tires $300
PS repair $300
eventually steering components $1000
I can find a replacement for under $1000. Why spend $2500 to fix a dead dog? (I also shoot my dogs if they require too much $$$ to repair... I'm farm kid, that's what you gotta do sometimes.)

Crusher = $250 / ton = ~$400
Engine / EZ parts to sell (alloy wheels, new rotors / interior parts, hitch...= $500

It only gets 22 mpg, tho is very handy. I can get a 'canopy' for Snowbear trailer (towed by 50 mpg VW's (that DO NOT USE GAS / OPEC) to meet most van needs).

I keep a fleet of over 30 VW diesels alive...(some 30+ yrs old) I have little time to dink with worn-out USA iron (except my Dodge Cummins, and MACK, and tractors, dozer, backhoe...)

[us66]

Originally Posted by Falconman

many people dont know it but the ford areostars run 200k or more with few engine/tranny problems. The were built solid .Cant say that for the windstars though, they give trouble.lots of it. I agree 100% that using autotrader to gauge just whats out there is a very good tool. Craigslist is not

Agreed, except for the overdrive transmission, but I think it's somewhat cheap to fix as transmissions go. Don't let the van rust, however. They were absolute rust buckets until about '94 or '95. The Post Office used some AWD Aerostars around here; they might still use a few but I know they auctioned off most of them. They also used 3.0L Windstars, which they recently auctioned off; you can spot these buckets of bolts a mile away since they still have the window bars. These are most commonly spotted either as cable subcontractors (must not be much money in doing that) or broken down on the side of the road (I've seen more than one on the side of Interstate 94).

Originally Posted by MOKAN

The best way to gauge which car brands are seeing the highest mileages is to go to autotrader.com or cars.com and do a nationwide search and sort the listings by mileage from highest to lowest. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Saab, Volvo, and Volkswagen seem to fair the best. Many are in great condition with well over 200K miles. One reason for this is, of course, superior engineering, but it's also the fact that those who can afford these cars tend to pay to have them taken care of, keep them garaged, etc., as well as the fact that ethusiasts, who also tend to take good care of their cars, buy up many of the one-owner, relatively-low-mileage models that come onto the used car market.

VWs are strange. Get a well-built one (preferably not made in Mexico- Germany is best and Brazil is okay) and take care of it and it's a heirloom piece...get a bad one and neglect it and you may as well have bought a Cavalier. Either way they command good resale values. The W8s are better avoided because there's a lot of maintenance involved.

Want to see a lot of high mileage cars and trucks? Some of the GM dealers in mid-Michigan consistently carry cars with up to (and occasionally over) 300K. The Chevy dealer in Grand Blanc (I think that's the one) had a Tahoe with 300+ on it for $4000. Ouch. I saw a Camry with 400K at a suburban Toledo Toyota dealership but I'm not sure if it was for sale.

[M3 Mitch]

200K miles or more on any decent car, with only normal maintenance like tires, brake pads/shoes, is pretty routine. I have put 175K on the Scirocco since I got it a few years back with a new clutch, brakes all round, and new bearings/rings in the engine, it seems to be as good as it ever was, mechanically, and it's in a much better state of tune than when I got it.