1 Million Mile Tundra - Vic Shepard does 1 Million miles for second time

Vic Shepard hit 1 million miles with his second Tundra. As many know, he did this once already in 2016 with his previous 2007 Tundra, powered by a 2UZ 4.7 L . His current truck that just hit 1 million miles is a 2014 Tundra with a 3UR 5.7L V8. He states he did 10K oil changes with 0W20 at the dealer, and did not replace the timing chain. He said he never serviced the transmission or replaced the coolant. The transmission was replaced at 800K miles. He replaced two alternators and the rear wheel bearings as well. Here is a video with an interview:


He's lost a lot of weight. He's driving a lot but is making big bucks working for the oil fields.
 
I have a 2GR car, it blows my mind how long it takes to warm up even when not that cold AND pulling hills, common characteristic of that motor though.
Try leaving it on airport for 7 days, just to come back, 10 degrees, baby crying wants to breastfeed and you have to idle it to warm it up.
I installed block heater, and still VW and BMW warmed up much faster (all there in insulated garage).
 
I have a 2007 Tundra 4.7L with 380,000 miles. Bought it used in 2010 with 20k miles.

Dealer serviced. Every 80k to 90k miles I have the timing belt and water pump replaced, along with every fluid...transmission, diff, transaxle, PS, coolant and brake (first couple times the service advisor would argue about "lifetime fluids"...now he just says "sure"). Surprisingly the torque converter started acting up at around 355,000 miles and it wasn't a whole lot more to just replace the entire transmission at the dealer. Second alternator replacement last month. Couple U joints, and a couple noisy drive pullies over the years. Never done a wheel bearing...yet. Installed Bilstein yellows on it at around 130k. They are still going strong, without issue.

Most common failure is the air pump...replaced like four times. First three under warranty or extended emissions warranty. Last one three years ago, was on me...$2100! Otherwise, just oil changes by me, tires and occasional brake pads. Rotors are still original, turned only once. We occasionally tow our two horse trailer. Otherwise just used for commuting and hauling hay and alfalfa bales to the barn.

I buy Toyota oil filters 6 to 8 at a time on sale for $3 or $4 each. Use synthetic oil, whatever is on sale, Mobil synthetic, QS or Kirkland Sig 5w-30 (5w-30 is what is spec'd in the manual and on the oil filler cap). I change it every 6k to 7k and grease the driveline at the same time.

Mostly driven by the GF, I detailed it for her last weekend. Polished the headlights too. It gets pretty filthy going to the barn several times a week.

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10K oil changes with dealer oil and reached 1 million miles? I don't believe it, it is not possible without using boutique oil ;)

That is impressive with that transmission never being serviced reaching 800k though.
 
Big question, is Toyota going to give him another free one? I would assume one of the $80k+ LTD Hybrids.

Yeah, that has to be a lot of gas... He needs to link up and be sponsored by the Fuelly app (Heck, go full Ricky-Bobby and throw Waze, Buccees and Bass-Pro shop decals on there)

Imagine how much it would cost to run a BMW 1m miles using dealer service 😲 😲
 
Imagine how much it would cost to run a BMW 1m miles using dealer service 😲 😲
I have a 2001 BMW 540 M-Sport with 376,000+ miles. I replaced my third alternator at the BMW dealer recently, as it came with a "lifetime" part and two year labor warranty. Second "free" replacement. They last a long time, so I never get free labor, but the part is free...still they got me for a couple dollars shy of $1000 in labor and a few ancillary parts. That was with a 15% discount, lol.

I generally use my independant BMW specialist...he is easily 1/2 to 1/3 the cost and does very good work. He laughed when I told him about the most recent alternator replacement, stating he could have done it with the same rebuilt Bosch alternator for $900. He said they are identical, one comes in the BMW box, the other in a Bosch box. He's directly compared them, as some of his customers demand OEM parts only from the dealer. BMW gets $1350, in the Bosch box around $550.

I quit using the BMW dealer for most stuff on the car (other than counter parts) about 7 or 8 years ago, or it would not make financial sense to keep the car. It probably doesn't still, but I love the car and it drives wonderfully. I've replaced everything mechanical multiple times. Only the engine and transmission are original, never been rebuilt. I'm having the front control arms, steering center links, end links, etc all replaced today...full rebuild of the front...then alignment. Third time in its life. Steering centerlink has some play and not worth replacing peice meal, so doing it all...that goodness for the FCP Euro lifetime warranty on parts.

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I hurt for him....

2 million miles divided by an average of 50 miles an hour is 40,000 hours.
2007 to 2025 is 18 years, or 2,222 hours of driving a year, or 277 days of driving per year at 8 hours a day.

That seems like a miserable life to me.

I hear you. I just can't imagine anyone needing to drive that much. My 10 year old Jeep doesn't have 20,000 miles on it yet. My 7 year old Toyota is about the same. My 34 year old truck just rolled 167,000 miles.

I'm going to Walmart tomorrow. That's about 16 miles round trip. So I gotta get rested up.
 
This brings up two thoughts in my mind.

Does this support the idea that cold-hot cycles are really as bad for the drivetrain as people have purported? This truck has probably very little cold starts.

Or is it more that highway miles play a bigger role in accumulating high miles with little drivetrain wear?
 
I have a 2001 BMW 540 M-Sport with 376,000+ miles. I replaced my third alternator at the BMW dealer recently, as it came with a "lifetime" part and two year labor warranty. Second "free" replacement. They last a long time, so I never get free labor, but the part is free...still they got me for a couple dollars shy of $1000 in labor and a few ancillary parts. That was with a 15% discount, lol.

I generally use my independant BMW specialist...he is easily 1/2 to 1/3 the cost and does very good work. He laughed when I told him about the most recent alternator replacement, stating he could have done it with the same rebuilt Bosch alternator for $900. He said they are identical, one comes in the BMW box, the other in a Bosch box. He's directly compared them, as some of his customers demand OEM parts only from the dealer. BMW gets $1350, in the Bosch box around $550.

I quit using the BMW dealer for most stuff on the car (other than counter parts) about 7 or 8 years ago, or it would not make financial sense to keep the car. It probably doesn't still, but I love the car and it drives wonderfully. I've replaced everything mechanical multiple times. Only the engine and transmission are original, never been rebuilt. I'm having the front control arms, steering center links, end links, etc all replaced today...full rebuild of the front...then alignment. Third time in its life. Steering centerlink has some play and not worth replacing peice meal, so doing it all...that goodness for the FCP Euro lifetime warranty on parts.

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So great, and nice to hear FCP auto parts does lifetime for real. A few of their parts made into wife’s commuter 18 VW Tiguan with 195k miles all ours since new.
 
Wonder how much more gas with the 5.7 …
Oh, a LOT, I assure you!

But that 5.7, while thirsty, is about bulletproof, from what I’ve read and experienced.

In 9 years and 85,000+ miles - I’ve done brakes, tires, and oil changes.

That’s it.

Yeah, it’s thirsty, when pulling a trailer with a car on it - I get 10 on the highway. Unladen, I am lucky to get 17. On the highway. About 14 around town. But I knew that when I bought it. I chose reliability over efficiency.

Fuel is a predictable expense. Major repair is not. And a breakdown when far away from home is a huge pain. I didn’t want twin turbos, a water pump inside the block, variable cylinder management, or any of the other MPG tricks that added complexity.
 
I hear you. I just can't imagine anyone needing to drive that much. My 10 year old Jeep doesn't have 20,000 miles on it yet. My 7 year old Toyota is about the same. My 34 year old truck just rolled 167,000 miles.

I'm going to Walmart tomorrow. That's about 16 miles round trip. So I gotta get rested up.
My 2012 Tundra just turned over 21K miles.
 
Oh, a LOT, I assure you!

But that 5.7, while thirsty, is about bulletproof, from what I’ve read and experienced.

In 9 years and 85,000+ miles - I’ve done brakes, tires, and oil changes.

That’s it.

Yeah, it’s thirsty, when pulling a trailer with a car on it - I get 10 on the highway. Unladen, I am lucky to get 17. On the highway. About 14 around town. But I knew that when I bought it. I chose reliability over efficiency.

Fuel is a predictable expense. Major repair is not. And a breakdown when far away from home is a huge pain. I didn’t want twin turbos, a water pump inside the block, variable cylinder management, or any of the other MPG tricks that added complexity.
I doubt there was much if any difference between the 4.7 UZ and the 5.7 UR for fuel economy. The 4.7 was just as thirsty.

Vic claims he averages about 18 MPG in the video and calculated about $125K in fuel for 900k miles. I have had two Tundra 4x4s with 5.7 L engines and both could get 19-20 US MPG on the highway at about 70 mph cruise. My lifetime average on my old 08 was 17 MPG (16.9 to be precise). My 21 is slightly better so far but I haven't towed as much with it yet.
 
Oh, a LOT, I assure you!

But that 5.7, while thirsty, is about bulletproof, from what I’ve read and experienced.

In 9 years and 85,000+ miles - I’ve done brakes, tires, and oil changes.

That’s it.

Yeah, it’s thirsty, when pulling a trailer with a car on it - I get 10 on the highway. Unladen, I am lucky to get 17. On the highway. About 14 around town. But I knew that when I bought it. I chose reliability over efficiency.

Fuel is a predictable expense. Major repair is not. And a breakdown when far away from home is a huge pain. I didn’t want twin turbos, a water pump inside the block, variable cylinder management, or any of the other MPG tricks that added complexity.
I definitely prefer reliability and simplicity over high complexity and efficiency. I am finding it easier to put fuel in the tank than diagnosing and repairing things..
 
Oh, a LOT, I assure you!

But that 5.7, while thirsty, is about bulletproof, from what I’ve read and experienced.

In 9 years and 85,000+ miles - I’ve done brakes, tires, and oil changes.

That’s it.

Yeah, it’s thirsty, when pulling a trailer with a car on it - I get 10 on the highway. Unladen, I am lucky to get 17. On the highway. About 14 around town. But I knew that when I bought it. I chose reliability over efficiency.

Fuel is a predictable expense. Major repair is not. And a breakdown when far away from home is a huge pain. I didn’t want twin turbos, a water pump inside the block, variable cylinder management, or any of the other MPG tricks that added complexity.
Actually the EPA difference is minimal. Like 1 mpg difference on the freeway. I have a 2007 Tundra 4.7...and always wished I got the 5.7. Both engines are pretty reliable. Only issue with the 4.7 is the air injection pumps fail with great regularity. That and valve cover gasket leaks occasionally. 380,000 miles so far
 
I hurt for him....

2 million miles divided by an average of 50 miles an hour is 40,000 hours.
2007 to 2025 is 18 years, or 2,222 hours of driving a year, or 277 days of driving per year at 8 hours a day.

That seems like a miserable life to me.

I've got over 1 million domestic flight miles on commercial airlines and I NEVER want to step foot on a jet again. If I drove 2M miles in 18 years, I would sell every car I owned, never wanting to get in one again.

PS. I finally watched the video and he's a HotShot driver... mostly for the Oil and Gas Industry.
I worked for one of the big trucking companies, we had multiple 5+ million mile drivers (without a preventable accident). They love what they do enough to work well past retirement age.
 
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