Can Your Car Last 1,000,000 Miles?
How to Get to Super Miles and Beyond
When it comes to making a vehicle last -- I mean really last -- Irv Gordon is a superhero. The retired science teacher paid $4,150 for his 1966 Volvo P1800 when it was new (at that time it was nearly as much as his annual salary as a science teacher), and over the years he’s put 2.7 million miles on the car.
Gordon said that he spends less than $1,000 on vehicle maintenance and repair each year--and that’s averaged out to include the two engine rebuilds he’s had done over the 40-plus years of ownership.
Today a million miles, or even 500,000 miles, is still extremely unusual for a vehicle. But just as Baby Boomer aging and fitness experts are saying that 50 is the new 40, passing the 200,000-mile mark is no longer the rare occasion it once was.
Consumer Reports, through its annual questionnaire, has found that thousands of people have gone over 200,000 miles in their original vehicles without catastrophic failures or major repairs. The common thread of those who kept their vehicles, happily, to high mileage, according to CU deputy online automotive editor Jeff Bartlett, is that they started with a good car and took care of it.
Over ten years, the Subaru High Mileage Club has also gathered thousands of reports from Subaru owners who have driven their vehicles well into six digits. “It helps to have a solidly built vehicle to begin with,” said founder Rich Kahn, admitting that keeping up on maintenance and minor repairs is the most important aspect to driving a vehicle to high miles without undue expense.
In Gordon’s case, along with those of many other frugal high-mileage drivers, it likely also helped to start with a vehicle that had an enviable reputation for reliability and longevity.
Generally the less trouble-prone a vehicle is, the higher the chance it will be kept by its original owner to high miles, confirmed Bartlett, who says that owners will put up with unexpected repairs on a late-model vehicle to some degree -- especially if they like it -- but at a certain point they’ll give up if it’s cost-prohibitive. “As cars go beyond 100,000, it really becomes a concern what the cost of those repairs are,” Bartlett said.
On the other hand, if a vehicle is very cheap to maintain and repair, it might be a good choice to keep to high miles even if it’s not a standout for reliability. For instance, Consumer Reports editors were surprised to find that there were so many Ford Ranger pickups being kept to high mileage, until they realized that despite a just-average reliability record, it has one of the lowest overall maintenance and repair costs of any vehicle.
Dan Dillon, a technician for RepairPal.com, which provides repair information and price estimates, said that if you want to keep a vehicle to high miles you shouldn’t choose a high-performance model, as maintenance intervals are not only tighter but major repairs are typically more frequent.
The Post is originally from aol with title " Can Your Car Last 1,000,000 Miles?Today a million miles, or even 500,000 miles, is still extremely unusual for a vehicle. But just as Baby Boomer aging and fitness experts are saying that 50 is the new 40, passing the 200,000-mile mark is no longer the rare occasion it once was.
Consumer Reports, through its annual questionnaire, has found that thousands of people have gone over 200,000 miles in their original vehicles without catastrophic failures or major repairs. The common thread of those who kept their vehicles, happily, to high mileage, according to CU deputy online automotive editor Jeff Bartlett, is that they started with a good car and took care of it.
Over ten years, the Subaru High Mileage Club has also gathered thousands of reports from Subaru owners who have driven their vehicles well into six digits. “It helps to have a solidly built vehicle to begin with,” said founder Rich Kahn, admitting that keeping up on maintenance and minor repairs is the most important aspect to driving a vehicle to high miles without undue expense.
In Gordon’s case, along with those of many other frugal high-mileage drivers, it likely also helped to start with a vehicle that had an enviable reputation for reliability and longevity.
Generally the less trouble-prone a vehicle is, the higher the chance it will be kept by its original owner to high miles, confirmed Bartlett, who says that owners will put up with unexpected repairs on a late-model vehicle to some degree -- especially if they like it -- but at a certain point they’ll give up if it’s cost-prohibitive. “As cars go beyond 100,000, it really becomes a concern what the cost of those repairs are,” Bartlett said.
On the other hand, if a vehicle is very cheap to maintain and repair, it might be a good choice to keep to high miles even if it’s not a standout for reliability. For instance, Consumer Reports editors were surprised to find that there were so many Ford Ranger pickups being kept to high mileage, until they realized that despite a just-average reliability record, it has one of the lowest overall maintenance and repair costs of any vehicle.
Dan Dillon, a technician for RepairPal.com, which provides repair information and price estimates, said that if you want to keep a vehicle to high miles you shouldn’t choose a high-performance model, as maintenance intervals are not only tighter but major repairs are typically more frequent.
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