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When properly maintained, well-built cars can last an impressive amount of miles.
In this infographic, they used data from iSeeCars to determine which cars are the most likely to reach— or even surpass—the 200,000 mile benchmark.
Sadly most people don't want spend time and money on maintenance. They just do what is absolutely necessary.
This might be why European cars aren't so popular here or even get a bad rap - to be reliable and last very long time, which they do over there - they need to be correctly maintained, and that's what most people don't want to deal with.
If I were to have guessed, I'd have thrown out the same numbers that Visual Capitalist is reporting from the data - typically 100k miles when I was a kid (1960s-70s), and 200k miles now.
It's quite variable though, and some of that certainly comes from the individual car model's design and construction details, and a lot can also come from the individual owner's willingness to maintain and to repair the vehicle over time. Many people will do the right thing when the car is fairly new, but as it gets older, they're not as excited over it anymore, it's not as shiny and perfect as it used to be... the cost and frequency of maintenance and repairs become greater, and, they may even reason that it's not worth that much anymore so they won't spend money on it. Of course forgoing maintenance and repairs just hastens the car's demise.
While I am sure there are lots of exceptions, I suspect there are some general correlations between the owner's income and car lifetime, as well as the car's original cost and the car lifetime - because these factors can translate to a general willingness to do the right thing.
Last edited by OutdoorLover; 01-14-2024 at 06:57 AM..
The company I worked for ran Ford vans, mostly Econoline 250's. Most were overloaded. Driven by multiple drivers and pretty much abused their entire service life. Most went well over 200,000 miles without major problems. Mostly brakes, tires and transmissions.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by OutdoorLover
...., I suspect there are some general correlations between the owner's income and car lifetime, as well as the car's original cost and the car lifetime - because these factors can translate to a general willingness to do the right thing.
I will guess Zero correlation for owner income, or cost of vehicle.
I would expect a reverse correlation.
Wealthy owners (including Warren Buffet) might hold onto their favorite cars, but don't rack up zillions of miles. They have other options for getting around.
Drivers who rack up zillions of miles, are not interested in using expensive cars. (Thinking of the many couriers, contract mail carriers, and long range commuters). Zero of them desire, or would consider an expensive car worth the risk. Their car is a tool. An effective tool (since it's making / saving them very hard earned money)
I had a 2004 Silverado 1500 which I loved. It only had 13x,000 miles on it when I sold it in the Spring 2019 so I clearly didn't put many miles on it. Age might be an even bigger vehicle killer imo.
One thing I didn't get from the rating chart el nina shared was the Suburban and Yukon being so high in the SUV category but no mention of Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra in the truck category.
Chevy Silverado and Suburban are almost identical in the powertrain part only the cabin shape is different.
So, why would the Silverado not hit the same mileage average? If it did/could, then why wasn't it listed as Suburban's mileage would kill all trucks listed.
The only reason my Silverado's tranny crapped out was because like most, I believed the "100K mile fluid" nonsense but the tranny fluid used was not a 100K mile fluid, more like a 50K (at best) fluid. Those who waited too long (passed 60K miles) were doomed to have it rebuild. This was the reason why I was seeing all the odd recommendation of random "expert" online telling not to flush the transmission fluid if it had already passed 60K miles. The "sludge" actually keeps the gears* working so to speak. I thought such logic was ludicrous so I changed my around 96K miles. Within a few days the Torq converter broke and the truck was at a transmission shop.
I believe, if you don't have a lemon or any inherently faulty major components, if you do the maintenance timely and using correct fluids/materials, you effectively and proactively eliminate 98% of the major issues with the vehicle.
Of course, this doesn't cover any abuse that is caused by the driver, weather or any other unusual variables.
I agree with those who suggested more frequent maintenance routine:
If applicable, do the oil change every 6-7 (max) months or 5K-6K (max) miles using the "correct" oil type regardless of brand. Typically, the vehicles seem to last a lot longer when the driver does their own maintenance. Perhaps, Toyota could include that detail in their research.
Shops often do a sloppy job. I have seen so many times (watching carefully from a distance), the oil change guy puts the drain bolt back in before the oil changes from a constant flowing line to drips. Not good, almost like changing only 90% (?) of the old oil. The remaining 5%-10% old oil is likely to degrade the fresh oil much much quicker incidentally shortening not only the effectiveness of the oil but also its overall duration.
I think all these types of little things add up over time....
Given that cars and trucks have topped a million miles, clearly it's more than the miles people talking about how cars barely last 100K are talking about.
The company I worked for ran Ford vans, mostly Econoline 250's. Most were overloaded. Driven by multiple drivers and pretty much abused their entire service life. Most went well over 200,000 miles without major problems. Mostly brakes, tires and transmissions.
Personally, i'd call a transmission failure on a modern vehicle a pretty major problem. Especially when you're talking $4k as a general starting point for the repair.
One thing not taken into account here.. Where the car is. You get up into the Rust belt.. It's not the miles, it's the years. 8 years in upstate New York.. Vehicle is probably ready for the crusher from the frame rotting out.
Something else not addressed. You're mentioning work vans.. Which.. In general, likely have more highway miles than city driving.. Which can make a difference.
Someone mentioned vehicles that have gone a million miles. Usually, those have had a transmission and engine replaced/rebuilt.. at least once.
Most people.. When it comes to putting $5k into a $2k vehicle.. They send it to the junkyard. You want to spend the money.. Most any vehicle can go a million miles, in a low rust area.
Personally, i'd call a transmission failure on a modern vehicle a pretty major problem. Especially when you're talking $4k as a general starting point for the repair.
One thing not taken into account here.. Where the car is. You get up into the Rust belt.. It's not the miles, it's the years. 8 years in upstate New York.. Vehicle is probably ready for the crusher from the frame rotting out.
Something else not addressed. You're mentioning work vans.. Which.. In general, likely have more highway miles than city driving.. Which can make a difference.
Someone mentioned vehicles that have gone a million miles. Usually, those have had a transmission and engine replaced/rebuilt.. at least once.
Most people.. When it comes to putting $5k into a $2k vehicle.. They send it to the junkyard. You want to spend the money.. Most any vehicle can go a million miles, in a low rust area.
I agree.
A million miles??? Maybe the body/frame travelled 1,000,000 miles, but the brakes, suspension components, and drivetrain didn't go that far, at least not without rebuilding, along the way.
A million miles??? Maybe the body/frame travelled 1,000,000 miles, but the brakes, suspension components, and drivetrain didn't go that far, at least not without rebuilding, along the way.
I recently retired a 2003 Golf TDI with 1,002,000 miles. Of course it required repairs along the way, but the engine block, crank, pistons and rings were original and so were a handful of other parts. From my spreadsheet: initial purchase $18k, fuel $73k, maintenance and repairs about $115k, plus insurance and miscellaneous -- total cost of ownership about $223k, so about 22 cents/mile. Given that almost all those miles were work miles and tax deductible, that car made a lot of money for me.
i run a fleet of medium duty and light duty vehicles and have for decades. in the early 80's we switched the medium duty trucks to isuzu and the light duty to toyota and honda, they were good for 150-200 k miles with little to no repairs. the old chevy and ford medium duty and light duty vehicles would need full rebuilds on drive trains,(including motors, transmissions, front ends, rear ends) before 100k. now, those same models of isuzus, get over 300k before any major repairs are necessary. but, i have noticed the american made light duty vehicles are matching up with the foreign made in the last couple of decades. (and that is a good thing, so we have started buying some amercan made again)
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,690 posts, read 57,994,855 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PullMyFinger
The company I worked for ran Ford vans, mostly Econoline 250's. Most were overloaded. Driven by multiple drivers and pretty much abused their entire service life. Most went well over 200,000 miles without major problems. Mostly brakes, tires and transmissions.
Were these powered by the 300ci I6?
We ran those engines in high mileage 1T pickups and only needed valve jobs every 300k miles. The bottom end held up very well. I don't recall replacing transmissions, but occasionally a clutch. Very heavy laden ~500 miles / day weekdays. 2x 500 miles each of Fri, Sat, Sunday. (2 shifts / day)
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