1 million mile Corolla !!!

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Dr. T

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National paper (National Post) had an article today in the "Driver's Edge" section regarding an Edmonton lady who has 986,500 km on her 1989 Toyota Corolla. She admits the single most important fact was her religiously changing the oil (herself no doubt - right [Wink] ) every 5,000 km ("give or take a few hundred clicks"). A local Toyota dealership owner is slated to give her a new Corolla in exchange for hers to feature it on showroom floor. She says the engine was never touched, but the transmission went at 873,000 km. Rad lasted 901,000km...and tie rod ends to 930,000km. These last 2 sound fishy to me though...no rad will survive 14 Canadian winters!
 
Sorry, forgot to add....no mention of type/brand or grade of oil used.
 
I just posted a thread in the General section on the 1 million km 1996 Town Car a few minutes ago, what a coincidence! Check your Mississauga News for that article Dr.T. By the way, your title says one million mile when it should say 600,000 miles. [Smile] [ August 08, 2003, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]
 
I was kinda wondering: a) what's so special about 1Meg miles?, but then again, I own a Volvo.... b) then I read the car hasn't even hit 1meg Km yet.... yawn.....no doubt you heard about Irv's 1800?
 
Don't forget about the million mile Accord reported in the Washington Post. He uses Group III Syntec! Has this been discussed before? New poll, Patman? What's the longest you've kept a car? For me, 205,000 miles (328,000 km) on an '88 SAAB 9000 turbo. Pablo, what's Irv up to now, 2 million miles? Jason [ August 09, 2003, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: quadrun1 ]
 
Pablo, It's kind of interesting. The new Volvos, to me, are some of the nicest looking sedans/coupes on the road...but in becoming so good looking, they seem to have lost that "built like a tank" image they used to convey. As an owner, whatdaya think? (Given their legendary durability, maybe you still have one of the "Abrams" versions?) [ August 09, 2003, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: pscholte ]
 
Quadrun, I did do a post on who has the highest mileage vehicle, it's in the General section. I think it was about 2-3 months back. About Irv's Volvo, is he truly on engine #1? Or has it been rebuilt a few times? Has he ever disclosed his oil brand and interval?
 
New Volvos won't last. Nice and reliable, but the white motor just isn't the red motor. I'm not a crazed purist. I own an 855. The motor has shown some great numbers, but 400K miles, 500K? Hmmm... My 1985 245Ti (turbo intercooled) - 238K miles of HARD turbo driving is just starting to break in [Big Grin] Longest miles I have had a car (puny I know - I'll post at the 250K mark) Irv hit 2,000,000 MILES last year (or was it 2001?). I got a sore a$$ just thinking about this thread...I just can't sit that long.
 
Patman - Irv rebuilt at 800,000 miles or so - getting a little loose, but not putting out a smoke screen. After that point there is a little murkiness to me - don't get me wrong - it's all documented by Irv (everything is) and by Volvo. I have HEARD (rumor mill) that the lower end bearings have been replaced "a couple times". But it's safe to say that he isn't doing rebuilds every 300K miles or so. As for oil - 3K changes and whatever oil was on sale is the verbal.
 
800k is EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE! It's too bad the new ones aren't as durable, but then again the new ones are more powerful too. I'd rather have a shorter engine life but then have the 300hp V70R, as opposed to getting 800k out of an engine that only makes 150hp. It's nice to get high mileage, but I want those miles to be fun as well! [Smile] That's why I like the LT1 engine, a recent thread on one of the message boards showed a few guys who have gone over 200k and still race their cars all the time, and still put down over 300hp. The LS1 engine is more powerful than the LT1, but it's reliability is somewhat unproven so far. I think if you get one without oil consumption or piston slap, it's got a good chance of going 250k. I know this isn't Volvo territory, but for most people it would take them 15-20 years to drive 250k anyways. And most enthusiasts I know wouldn't mind replacing their engine every 10 years, then they'd build it up more powerful. [Smile]
 
While the LT1 and LS1 are definately better engines then the old small block that does not say to much. The difference is that most Corolla's will go 200,000 with nothing but new plugs and regular oil changes 1 set of brake pads and new struts and a batery. THe LT1 and LS1 will have to have ever single sensor under the hood replaced, go through 2-3 sets of rotors and 6 sets of pads, a water pump, distributor,2-3 alternators, 2-3 starters, air pump, 2-3 sets of hub's, and a transmission if automatic and 2-3 (flywheel/cluth kits) is manual trans. I should add that you will probably need to replace the body control module, console door, both window regulator motors twice as well. Fun factor definatley goes to the F and Y bodys but for the money you pay for a F body or Y body you should be getting a heck of alot more durability and the engines should never have piston slapp or oil consumption issues! People never mention all the things that get replaced either under warranty or out of warranty. The way I drive I would be lucky to get 200,000 out of a Corolla!! The Corolla is the cheapest car Toyota makes and I have often critized the low cost short cuts Toyota has made with the Corolla. I would hate for anyone to look at the Corolla as the mark of quality. They are a great econo car though. Their power trains are usualy bullet proof!! [ August 09, 2003, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]
 
quote:
Originally posted by Al: My only question would be ... Why??? [freaknout]
I would guess due to a very sound mechanical design coupled with proper maintenance.
 
Pablo I am glad that I am not the only person that has some reservation about the new engines every car company seems to be putting out. I have these same issues with my new Toyota. I like the power and fuel efficency that my new Camry's 4cyl puts out but question it's durability. Toyota has made every thing so ultra light and low tension in this engine I can not see it lasting more then 200,000-300,000!!! They have reduced the weight of everything in this engine to the point that you would think they were build an F1 engine to spin to 17,000 RPM's! I am being optimistic based on past reputation of Toyota but not holding my breath. Volvo is doing the same thing I take it?
 
quote:
Originally posted by MolaKule:
quote:
He uses Group III Syntec!
Problem is, the Group III Syntec hasn't been on the market that long for his car to have used it for that length of time, unless he drives a lot of miles each day.
It says in the article, that it is a 94 Honda Accord. Castrol brought syntec (pao based at that time) 5w30 to market in 1992. It became GIII based in 98 IIRC. It is possible he used Castrol Syntec the entire time, though not the same formulation. [ August 09, 2003, 01:18 PM: Message edited by: sbc350gearhead ]
 
quote:
Originally posted by JohnBrowning: The way I drive I would be lucky to get 200,000 out of a Corolla!! The Corolla is the cheapest car Toyota makes and I have often critized the low cost short cuts Toyota has made with the Corolla. I would hate for anyone to look at the Corolla as the mark of quality. They are a great econo car though. Their power trains are usualy bullet proof!!
Well, Corolla is Toyota's cheapest car in USA but not in Europe. Have you ever heard of toyota yaris? It is a small car mainly for city use although there will be a turbo model with 1.5 liter pumping out nearly 160bhp - that's 51bhp more than the Yaris T Sport launched in 2000... Now, about Corolla...It is a very Very reliable model..toyota doesn't make discriminations in tearms of quality in any model. web page Corolla is the one of the best selling cars in Greece for 30 years!! and number 1 selling car in the first six months of this year.Its reliability reputation is legentary. Quess which company holds the first place in the top ten selling table in Greece......Toyota and not only this year... Quess which company
 
quote:
difference is that most Corolla's will go 200,000 with nothing but new plugs and regular oil changes 1 set of brake pads and new struts and a batery. THe LT1 and LS1 will have to have ever single sensor under the hood replaced, go through 2-3 sets of rotors and 6 sets of pads, a water pump, distributor,2-3 alternators, 2-3 starters, air pump, 2-3 sets of hub's, and a transmission if automatic and 2-3 (flywheel/cluth kits) is manual trans. I should add that you will probably need to replace the body control module, console door, both window regulator motors twice as well.
I had an 87 Corolla that went 300k miles with minimum maintenace. Just cheap dino oil every 3k and plugs. Tough little car. Car would still be running but my cousin forgot to put oil in it and the engine seized. It burnt alot ofoil.
 
Since I don't know where this woman drives let me hypothesize. First in Edmonton just about everybodys' car carries a block heater and I'm willing to bet she uses this all the time in winter so cold starts are not problematic. This is something the article forgot to mention. Second, if she drives a lot in Alberta, then she is doing a lot of straight road highway miles without too many hills. The easiest load on any car. If she drives the Edmonton Calgary corridor then the suspension is not subject to bad roads. There are patches but anyone who drives this highway a few times knows which side and where to avoid. I'm willing to bet though that she has repainted the front of her car a few times. So 1 million kms in Alberta is ( I think ) not that hard if proper maintenance is carried out.
 
Harrydog's links proves my suspicion all along. Wow. I have long held that the late 80's early 90's Honda Acuras were the best built vehicles and they were at the crest of their technical and build superiority. For example a 1990 Legend is a truly excellent vehicle, the ratings and build inspection and flawless engineering shows it. A reliability rating of .98 that is near perfect. My 1989 is nearly as good as it was when it was three years old when I picked it up. So far everything original except some suspension wear pieces.
 
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