bragging rights

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TRLWNC7396

TRLWNC7396

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TRLWNC
I was having a conversation with someone the other day, and a question came up. I figured that this was a good place to ask it, since neither of us had a good answer. So, it's a bit of a poll.

Here's the question: How long have your cars lasted, or how well are they lasting (how many miles, how much maintanence, how do you like it, etc.)? If you have kept a car till it died, what was the final mileage? Then, how did it die (engine, computer or wreck), or did you sell it?

This will be fun to see what comes out. I know that I have a few cars that I can list, though I don't remember final mileage on all of them.

So, here's to start:

1969 Ford Van (302 V-8): parked at arround 250K miles, finally junked in 2003.

1982 Datsun 210 (my first car) sold by my parents at over 100K miles (after I got speeding tickets and they didn't want to pay for me any more)

1982 Datsun 210 (different car, actually over a year later) sold by me at over 100K miles

1983 Toyota Camry (POS-someone else wrecked it and it wouldn't drive straight) trashed after I boiled the engine over (finally) at (hmm...) 160-200K

1994 Chevy Corsica (3.1 V6) current driver. Going strong (real strong with this engine!) at 144.6K miles. I've replaced the plugs and wires, water pump, radiator (I overfilled it and it leaked), alternator and serpentine belt/tensioner, and nothing else! It's been an awesome car!

1997 Chrysler T&C LXi (3.8) Been a nice family car, but had to replace the instrument cluster circuit board (for $700 after all of the labor($500 for the board)) and it's still going strong at (hmm... didn't look) 150-155K miles.

Let's see what everyone comes up with. I literally want to see every brand and find out how long they lasted. It will be fun to see what gets put in!

P.S. but we don't need 2 pages of your wreck. Just one or two lines will suffice, thanks.

Enjoy!
 
My dad, last week, sold our 1984 Mercedes 300SD - It had 248,xxx Miles on it, with no significant problems since we purchased it about five years ago. I have no doubt that it'll last past 300,000.
 
I went looking a little further, and saw that this idea isn't new. :sick: But, I was reminded of another car, though I didn't own it. My dad got a first generation Toy. Camry, and drove it to over 300K, then sold it to my brother who drove it until it died at close to or over 500K.
 
trwnc
I went looking a little further, and saw that this idea isn't new. :sick: But, I was reminded of another car, though I didn't own it. My dad got a first generation Toy. Camry, and drove it to over 300K, then sold it to my brother who drove it until it died at close to or over 500K.
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20 times around the Earth! Quite an advert for the reliability of Toyota.
 
my sister had a 30k vauxhall nova she wrote off :( there goes the lowest mileage (and previously unmolested) nova of the time to a reckless driver >.<
my rover 214 is coming up to 105k no problems at all, had it for 5 years, exhaust and cam belt changed but no actual trouble. well, apart from the lil shunt >.>
 
We had a statesman that my parents bought new in 1993. By 2000 they had racked up 400,000km but by then we had some new cars and it became a use every now and again car. finally sold it a few years back with about 460,000km. Went pretty well and had no major work other than alternator / fan belt / plugs / leads.
 
I've had two cars die on me, one was in Spain that was a SEAT Ibiza, fortunately it did near a city so I wasn't left with a £100 taxi fare. I don't know exactley what went wrong with that since I just left the car there but I think it bust it's intestines when it ground to a halt, a lot of oil under the car put it that way.

The only other car to die on me is a Peugeot 306, it was a 1.9 diesel and the head gasket cracked, it just wasn't worth fixing especially since I was looking to replace it anyway. The mileage on the SEAT was 170k.
 
Sold my '93 Accord with 223,000+ on the dial. It was driven in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

I think it'll run to 350,000 if the current owner maintains it reasonable well.
 
My dads crx is closing in on 300k, I think its around 295 right now. That thing is awesome, the body is falling apart around the engine and it gets 40 mpg 👍 The doors had huge holes rusted into them so how did he fix them? You know the foam in a can? Imagine that, inside of the door. Now the window doesnt go down all the way. The car has like 3 or 4 different shades of red on it too. :)
 
I had a 1985 Buick Somerset until 2001 that had over 300,000 miles. I cannot say exactly how many because the digital odometer at 300,000 just said "FULL." If I had to guess I would say it got to around 305,000.

Then the original clutch went out and would have cost more than the value of the car to get it fixed. We donated it to charity.
 
FoolKiller
I had a 1985 Buick Somerset until 2001 that had over 300,000 miles. I cannot say exactly how many because the digital odometer at 300,000 just said "FULL."
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:lol: That's absolutely classic.

So far the vehicles that have lasted the longest for me are my current Camaro w/241,6xx miles and I had 2 Nissans with over 165k miles (~168k and the other ~189k). All of the other 13 or so cars I've owned have been less than 130k miles.
 
So far my longest is the family Toyota Camry that has done 194,000 miles... I think my Jetta (at 172K) comes second-closest in total running order. Both will likely be replaced soon, my brother ditching the Toyota for a P71 (probably) and myself ditching the VW in favor of a Miata.
 
I drove a '98 Camry from 27,000 to 183,000 as of oct. 31 2005.
Only had one problem at almost exactly 125,000 (it was the water pump).
Overall it was extremely reliable and served as an excellent commuter for several years. I greatly enjoyed the car's total value even though I always craved a sports car.
 
YSSMAN
So far my longest is the family Toyota Camry that has done 194,000 miles... I think my Jetta (at 172K) comes second-closest in total running order. Both will likely be replaced soon, my brother ditching the Toyota for a P71 (probably) and myself ditching the VW in favor of a Miata.
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DO IT! I'm getting another P71 in about a month unless I find a SUPER DEAL on something else. P71 FTW! I'm sorry, but I just love those cars...so much fun and so cheap and they last for-freaking-ever. There's one locally for sale that has over 338k original miles.

Kent
I drove a '98 Camry from 27,000 to 183,000 as of oct. 31 2005.
Only had one problem at almost exactly 125,000 (it was the water pump).
Overall it was extremely reliable and served as an excellent commuter for several years. I greatly enjoyed the car's total value even though I always craved a sports car.
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I've heard from several people that the late 90's Camry's had an issue with the water pump (and thermostat obviously).
 
JCE
DO IT! I'm getting another P71 in about a month unless I find a SUPER DEAL on something else. P71 FTW!
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Hes working at a Ford Dealership now, so he feels out of the loop. Hes been considering it for a long while, so I'm personally hoping that he picks up a former Michigan State Police cruiser with the push-bar out front...
 
YSSMAN
Hes working at a Ford Dealership now, so he feels out of the loop. Hes been considering it for a long while, so I'm personally hoping that he picks up a former Michigan State Police cruiser with the push-bar out front...
Click to expand...

If he doesn't get one with it on PM me and I can give you the ultimate hookup for *cough* Law Enforcement or Emergency equipment that you the citizen can buy. ;)
 
Well, my uncle had a Ford Escort last well over 350k miles.

Which is absolute insanity. IT WAS AN ESCORT. Of course, one door fell off the hinge... Got welded shut...
 
I've recently bought a 1992 Honda Accord for winter trashing duties (winter beater much? :D) with 334 000 kilometers on it (or roughly 208 000 miles, still a young'un!) that still drives better than a new Chrysler product. It's a bit rough around the edges, with rust and dents, obviously normal on a 16 year old family sedan, but it truly still rides and drives like a charm. With a bit of maintenance I don't doubt it'd go well past 400 000 miles.

I get bored with cars too early to rack up real mileage in them, unfortunately.
 
72 Impala.
Had 3 motors:
The oringal 350 that blew up
A 383 that would have cost too much to rebuild
Now has a 260/350tq Crate Motor and I have a set of 1.52 lifters laying in my room waiting for the summer to be installed :)

Two transmission rebuilds.
Two Rearends:
The Stock pegleg that ended up crapping out in the late 70's and got replaced with a 3.55 out of either a truck or Kingswood Wagon.

I've been told the odemeter has gone over back to all zero's once in it's long life. Installed the new motor at 90,613 and the car's od reads 96,702 currently. Either my dad or me are sure if it's 296,xxx or 396,xxxx
 
I've never owned with anything over 136,000 miles, but we had two high-mileage Lexuses come into the shop on a regular basis:

A '92 SC 400 with 440,000+ miles the last time I saw it, and a '90 LS 400 with 450,000+ on it. Both had the original engines and automatic transmissions in them, according to their immaculate service histories. I haven't worked there in over 6 months, but one of them surely has hit the half-million mile mark by now. Both had their original owners, so pride was at stake, I'm guessing. Needless to say, the interiors of these cars...not so nice: They stunk, they creak all over, they groan, they're torn up, and interior bits are missing.

But they're rolling testaments of the brand; customers would stop to gaze at them when they'd roll up to the service drive.
 
my 89 240sx

I have had it for about 5 years now here is my list of destruction:

5 motors

( 89 sohc )KA#1 189,xxx when i bought it threw rod at about 205,xxx
( 93 dohc )KA#2 106,xxx bad bearing and went up almost instantly
( 95 dohc )KA#3 72,000 drifted it ALOT and then boosted it lasted 2 years, exhaust valve went bad at about .. ripped apart set to receive full forged rebuild
( 98 dohc )KA#4 76,000 miles punctured oil pan on highway and spun a bearing
( 96 dohc )KA#5 90,000 going strong right now.... after KA#3 goes back in, ill rebuild this one also
3 transmissions
2 rear ends
8 clutches
and countless little things like blown brake lines etc etc etc
multiple curb crashes
multiple K wall brushes
what are tires lol

total down time inside of this time............ 3weeks if that much, i work very fast lol no choice at the time

still kicking.... when i get back from Iraq, i will be able to relive it of its duty of daily-drifter because ill be getting another 240 to drive daily.

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prepare for a LONG list, here

in order
'86 Mercury Marquis Brougham (fox platform midsize predecessor to ford Taurus), 157k to start, swapped for #2 even up. dealership could not start, so they cubed it!
'83 Chevy Celebrity,135k, slid into culvert and broke cross member, vehicle considered totaled, traded. NOTE: had Build Sheet under rear seat!
'83 Toyota Camry LE 5 door, circa 135k. underpowered and over-abused, traded with #2
'90 Chevy Lumina (grid Grill). sold to new owner, who promptly blew engine
'91 Ford Taurus GL. sold to junk dealer at auction for ten bucks!
'90 Plymouth Acclaim. currently parked, unibody has rotted, and was rear ended by brand new Camry (she destroyed the front bumper of a 25 thousand dollar car, and I got a 7 mm paint scrape!
'98 GMC Sierra K1500 shortbed. Owned one month, reposessed by former owner after being fired by said owner, who was NOT my boss, just another employee!
'92 Taurus LX. parked, hit a fawn, destroying mint driver's headlight bucket (stole the steel wheels off the 90!)
'92 S Blazer Tahoe. only 90k on when bought! 4wd failure lead to suspension damage, then it threw it's cam (4.3 Vortec type W engine)
'90 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6, 168k on purchase. currently driving. separate repair thread on here.
 
'84 Mitsubishi Scorpion. Can't remember mileage, first car, bent valves, sold.
'84 Holden UC Torana Sunbird. Originally 4-cyl, later 202ci worked 6. Defected, parted out, body donated to SES for training, bananad, cubed.
'86 Holden VK Commodore. approx 400k km, gearbox broke, cubed
'84 Nissan Bluebird TRX. Bought for $400 with SR20DET, No idea what mileage, radiator hose blew, overheated, cracked the block, cubed
'72 Holden HQ Belmont Ute. Been round the clock at least once, defected, sold, parted out, cubed
'88 Holden VL Commodore. Round the clock once to 500k (1.5m km), sold with transmission issues, later caught fire, still going.
'79 Mitsubishi GE Galant Sigma. 600k. Timing chain tensioner broke. Donated to SES for training. Bananad, cubed
'88 Toyota AE82 Corolla Seca Hatch. 300k km. Alternator, about to be cubed
'82 Nissan Skyline RDR30 Hatch. 300k km, currently sitting in my driveway waiting for me to get a head gasket for it
'87 Nissan Skyline HR31GTS. mileage irrelevant (nothing stock), awaiting engineering and rego.
'84 Holden Gemini. Paddock thrasher. 400k km. Rolled spectacularly into a dam, then thrashed until it died, torched, crushed by tractor, cubed
 

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