3 Million Mile Volvo

[FirstNissan]

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-first-car-to-3-million-miles-.html

Now how many Oil changes is that? Did he use Syn or dino?
This guy is insane!

 

[shrooms]

Nothing insane about it. Goes to show how great Volvo's were.

He started with dino and then later he switched to syn....maybe.

 

[ARB1977]

That's pretty awesome for sure. I wouldn't dought he changed the head gasket as preventive maintence.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Miles seem to change but been discussed before in this thread.

and this thread.

And this thread from 2005.

And discussed in this thread.


Here is the search...

 

[Shagger]

I have 279K on my Mazda 626 and I am pretty proud of it, but WOW, that's just 10% of this guys mileage?!?

 

[rshaw125]

Never have believed this. Too much driving required. Engines back then would not last more then 120,000 without a rebuild.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Never have believed this. Too much driving required. Engines back then would not last more then 120,000 without a rebuild.


huh??

120K on a Volvo redblock before it needs rebuilt? You obviously know absolutely nothing about this engine.

This guy's entire life is driving this car. What's not to believe?

 

[MetalSlug]

He spend way much time behind the wheel lol. I bet the engine been rebuild at least 2-3 time. I like the paint job ^^

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Never have believed this. Too much driving required. Engines back then would not last more then 120,000 without a rebuild.


huh??

120K on a Volvo redblock before it needs rebuilt? You obviously know absolutely nothing about this engine.

This guy's entire life is driving this car. What's not to believe?


I recall Irv being interviewed in the early 1980's. The engine was not original even by then. In fact, if my recollection serves me correctly, he complained that one new engine only held up for about 300,000 mi. At that time, he was running Castrol GTX 20w-50 every 3,000. His biggest advice for vehicle longevity was to "touch up paint chips before the rust starts".

He's still done very well with a nearly 50 year old daily driver . . . with a little bit of help from Volvo along the way, I suspect.

 

[rshaw125]

Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Never have believed this. Too much driving required. Engines back then would not last more then 120,000 without a rebuild.


huh??

120K on a Volvo redblock before it needs rebuilt? You obviously know absolutely nothing about this engine.

This guy's entire life is driving this car. What's not to believe?


Lets say the engines last 250,000 miles (doubtful) that would be 12 rebuilds. Just for the engine. Using 1960's,1970's,1980's quality oil. Don't believe it.

 

[brelandt]

there is a video linked to his wikipedia that goes into his maintenance. according to it the engine was rebuilt 2 times.

 

[Vikas]

He is (was?) a school teacher. Do you know any school teacher who needs to drive all day every day for decades? Do you know how much gasoline/oil/maintenance is needed for that kind of mileage and do you think on a school teacher's salary, you could afford to keep the car moving all the time? More importantly, how are the kids in the school doing? Are they doing well on standardized tests? Where does he find time to teach when he on the road all the time?

Logic is such a hard concept to most populace!

- Vikas

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
He is (was?) a school teacher. Do you know any school teacher who needs to drive all day every day for decades? Do you know how much gasoline/oil/maintenance is needed for that kind of mileage and do you think on a school teacher's salary, you could afford to keep the car moving all the time? More importantly, how are the kids in the school doing? Are they doing well on standardized tests? Where does he find time to teach when he on the road all the time?

Logic is such a hard concept to most populace!

- Vikas


? He was commuting 125 miles a day? I know several teachers, including those in my immediate family, and the fact is they work fewer hours than most people--and they're off all summer.

The guy has no hobbies besides driving, and keeping that car running isn't that expensive. And gas wasn't $4.00 a gallon for most of his driving. You're going to have to do better than that if you're going to debunk this. Maybe call Mythbusters.

 

[itb242]

The mileage is legitimate. Irv likes to drive and enjoys road trips. The engine was rebuilt the 1st time and basically didn't need it. The B20 was just rebuilt for the 2nd time (sometime in 2010 by a friend of mine). Irv receives little support from Volvo and generally uses Castrol as Volvo has a deal with Castrol.

 

[Vikas]

OK, 125 mile a day commute, 5 days a week, 625 miles a week. Since driving is his hobby let us add 375 miles over the weekend. We are now running 1000 miles a week.

In a year, you have 52K miles on the car.

In 10 years you would be doing half million miles.

In 20 years, you would be doing a million miles.

If you are looking to do 3 million miles, it will take SIXTY years at this rate.

- Vikas

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
OK, 125 mile a day commute, 5 days a week, 625 miles a week. Since driving is his hobby let us add 375 miles over the weekend. We are now running 1000 miles a week.

In a year, you have 52K miles on the car.

In 10 years you would be doing half million miles.

In 20 years, you would be doing a million miles.

If you are looking to do 3 million miles, it will take SIXTY years at this rate.

- Vikas


You do realize he's had the car for over 40 years, right? Add in the fact that 1) he was off in the summer, so he could then go on a bunch of road trips, and 2) he retired at some point, so he could drive even more, and the numbers all add up. This isn't like that Ford truck guy who claimed a million miles in 2 years or whatever, where there would have had to have been 30 hours in each day for the maths to add up. And remember, this is a guy who's hospitalized himself from fatigue from driving too much... IMO, it's legit. Insane, but legit.

 

[Patman]

I find it odd that after all these years people still don't believe in Irv Gordon's achievement! I remember first hearing about him when he hit one million miles, and he's been around long enough, and shown up at enough events that he couldn't possibly be lying about his mileage all this time. It's 100% legit, I have no doubt in my mind about that. If it wasn't, someone would have let the cat out of the bag by now.