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My 94 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with the 5.7 LT1 motor just hit 180,000 miles on it and the engine still runs smooth as if were barely broken in. Sure it has a couple of oil leaks, but it runs and sounds great for being 20 years old now.
I am pretty meticulous about my cars, especially preventive-maintenance, so I am always doing something to it even if the car doesn't need it right away such as the fuel filter, throttle body cleaning including the IAC valve and I think this is why the Caddie hasn't given me trouble.
One thing that the majority of car owners completely neglect, is replacing the catalytic converters including the O2 sensors. People don't replace those items until they outright fail, which in turn can cause problems with excessive exhaust backpressure that can burn exhaust valves, cause poor fuel economy, engine overheating and a host of other issues. So by simply just replacing your CAT's even just one of them, can improve your engine performance and reduce the risk of engine damage over time. Your O2 sensors is another small replacement part that can do wonders and help improve your vehicles emissions, performance, and gas mileage. Even if the car is running fine, I don't think if your car has a 150,000 miles on it, that your O2 sensors are still "100 percent" healthy and free of disease. Most likely they are slowly dying and aren't as accurate nor as sharp as they once were when they had a 100,000 on them.
I replaced the CATS and the O2 sensors on my Caddie probably around 172,000 miles, and the car ran so much better than prior to the repairs, it felt like the car weighed a 1000lbs less because the CATs were badly plugged up and the sensors were tired.
Everything still works on it as well which is either luck or the fact that GM actually built these cars to last. The latter is what I believe.
Basically any of Ford's and GM's 90's Body on Frame full size cars are durable, long lasting vehicles that can take a beating. These cars don't know what high mileage is that's how well made their drive trains are.
I think the GM's B-D bodies are better built than Ford's Panthers from my experience, and will give you less headaches and repair cost in the electrical and suspension department. The Panthers are usually plagued with all kinds of weird electrical gremlins although everything else about them are good. From 94-96 LT1powered Cadillac Fleetwoods, Caprice, Impala's, Roadmasters was the best years in reliability and in performance IMHO compared to likes of the Town Car, Grand Marquis and Crown Vics. GM made shiit cars in the 90's, but at least they didn't mess with a good thing with these particular models.
Last edited by sdlife619; 04-01-2014 at 05:13 AM..
I don't know why people like to drive cars "till the wheels fall off". I trade them off before 100k and buy brand new every time. That way I am always driving nicer, modern vehicles and don't have to worry about major repairs, generally just a set or two of brakes and tires. I trade off at about 80-90k right before the value of the car drops like a rock and the factory warranties expire. That ends up being about every 4-6 years which is enough time to not have to worry about depreciation of buying a new car.
Works for me. Only upside down for the first couple of years and when ready to trade, have some equity for new car.
I like driving nice cars. I did my time with high mileage rust buckets in high school and college and tried keeping new cars beyond 100k miles. Done with that.
You keep a car for 120k miles and you risk a tranny fail etc. Just one repair like that is equivalent to a higher payment of just always driving newer and dependable vehicles. And the value of the car quickly becomes worthless on a trade.
I don't know why people like to drive cars "till the wheels fall off". I trade them off before 100k and buy brand new every time. That way I am always driving nicer, modern vehicles and don't have to worry about major repairs, generally just a set or two of brakes and tires. I trade off at about 80-90k right before the value of the car drops like a rock and the factory warranties expire. That ends up being about every 4-6 years which is enough time to not have to worry about depreciation of buying a new car.
Works for me. Only upside down for the first couple of years and when ready to trade, have some equity for new car.
I like driving nice cars. I did my time with high mileage rust buckets in high school and college and tried keeping new cars beyond 100k miles. Done with that.
You keep a car for 120k miles and you risk a tranny fail etc. Just one repair like that is equivalent to a higher payment of just always driving newer and dependable vehicles. And the value of the car quickly becomes worthless on a trade.
If your popping trannys at 120k miles you should either learn how to drive properly or stop buying POS.
Any car or truck model made today should get to 200k with basic maintenance. Recent cars need far less attention then the cars of the past. And that does include models made by manufacturers that people look down their noses at. I've even gotten an 1988 Dodge Caravan to 250k (around the year 2001) when the transmission finally fell out and it limped to the scrap yard in first gear. Also had a 1993 Olds cutlass convertible with 375k when I sold it 5 years ago (I still see it from time to time so its still on the road). My great uncle got his beloved Mercedes to over a million miles. Maintenance goes a long way, if people did it, most cars would stay on the road far longer. Most people don't even do the basics so that's why a 200k seems like a high mileage car.
I agree.
The best car I ever had was a 1994 Saturn SL1. We had over 340,000 miles (and still going) when we sold it in 2009. All I ever did was the scheduled maintenance. Always. No matter what. Sometimes, it seemed like a pain but over the long term, it undoubtedly saved me thousands.
If your popping trannys at 120k miles you should either learn how to drive properly or stop buying POS.
Just gave it as an example and don't act like the chances of rebuilding a tranny doesn't skyrocket when you get past 120 or so. But it could be anything or a combination of things. Replacing struts, timing belts, alternators, catalytic converter you name it. I just worry about the very basics and then let somebody else drive it and try to get it to 300k miles.
I just have no interest in driving a ten year old car with 250k miles on it. None what so ever. I'll just take the consistant car payment and always have a pretty nice car.
The Toyota Tacoma is by far the most long lasting vehicle on the road. I've owned several over the years and could not kill those things even when I tried.
The Toyota Tacoma is by far the most long lasting vehicle on the road. I've owned several over the years and could not kill those things even when I tried.
Agreed I bumped into a guy in CO that had over 350k orig engine and tranny same model, the 22re from Toyota is just about bullet proof. Consider this..........that is the same engine used in the Hilux which is driven in Africa, flipped over right sided and drive away.
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