Have you owned a vehicle for 15 years without internal engine problems

My daily driver is an 03 Civic that I bought new. This September it will turn 20. I've had a few costly repairs done in the past few years - head gasket, clutch and MT rebuild (input shaft and clutch release bearings went bad). Other than that, normal maintenance. I've been very happy with it and hope to drive it at least another 5 years.
 
We own a 95 diesel Mercedes since 2007, the only engine related things it needed were oil changes, glowplugs, a water pump and a belt. The only engine that did fail was the only newer one we had.
 
Have 2002 camry 4 cylinder 312,000 miles change oil ever 3000 miles castrol 5w-30 and a fram oil filter. no engine problems but did change exhaust twice
 
I have owned a vehicle for 15 years without internal engine problems from using overpriced oil that was changed 2 soon.
 
I came across this description of an engine warranty from Pennzoil for 15 years or 800,000 km. (Roughly 500,000 miles)
It’s not so much the warranty, but have you owned a vehicle for 15 years without any internal engine problems?

My 2008 Chev Suburban 3/4 ton with a 6.0 LS engine is now 15 years old and has not ( knock wood) had any engine problems except for worn out engine accessories not dependent on oil lubrication. It has just short of 250,000 miles. I used mostly Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 and for the last few years have been using PP Euro 5w40 and PP Euro LX 0w30 in the winter. It’s only a coincidence that I used mostly Pennzoil products. ( or not). I was attracted to the Pennzoil rebates mostly, but it looks like Pennzoil has served me well. Perhaps others can chime in with their 15 year experience.

View attachment 144809
Shell (Pennzoil)makes awesome oils
 
14 years on the Tacoma... close enough? The spec is conventional 5w30 but it gets full synthetic with an oversize filter. Also I run oil change intervals 6-7k miles when the recommended interval is 5k. No internal engine issues, runs awesome at 185k.
 
Parents had a good two decades of problem-free motoring from a '98 Sienna and '01 RAV4. The Sienna did need a valve cover gasket at just over 20 years old but otherwise going strong (rusted out exhaust, no need for the van) at the time of it's retirement.

RAV4's still here, only issue has been an emissions CEL that seemingly nobody could solve for a good chunk of it's life - sensors, $X-spent-emissions-waiver-paperwork, etc. Mom tells me it just got fixed for good last year with a new cat.

We're probably bound to break that streak (also an 07 Corolla that moved on) thought since after those we now have a '12 Sonata, '13 Elantra and my own '16 Sorento in the family, all with 4-cylinders. All are going well so far, fingers crossed though! (the Sonata did need a new fuel pump on top of the engine.)
 
I've owned the Ridgeline for 16 years and the M35 for 15 years. Neither one has had any engine problems, and neither one uses any measurable amount of engine oil between 5K mile intervals. Granted that mileage driven is on the low side. Not sure the new comparable models are as durable.
 
Our 2003 Accord. 265,000+ Miles, only had regular service to the engine, including timing belts and front crank seal. The cam seals were replaced at the first timing belt service, but they weren't leaking then, and also weren't leaking at the 200k service, so I left them. The car uses maybe a 1-1.5 qts over the 7500-mile OCI. Other than that, starts and runs perfectly. Wife has been putting a little over 12k a year on it.
 
I came across this description of an engine warranty from Pennzoil for 15 years or 800,000 km. (Roughly 500,000 miles)
It’s not so much the warranty, but have you owned a vehicle for 15 years without any internal engine problems?

My 2008 Chev Suburban 3/4 ton with a 6.0 LS engine is now 15 years old and has not ( knock wood) had any engine problems except for worn out engine accessories not dependent on oil lubrication. It has just short of 250,000 miles. I used mostly Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 and for the last few years have been using PP Euro 5w40 and PP Euro LX 0w30 in the winter. It’s only a coincidence that I used mostly Pennzoil products. ( or not). I was attracted to the Pennzoil rebates mostly, but it looks like Pennzoil has served me well. Perhaps others can chime in with their 15 year experience.

View attachment 144809
My Silverado with the 4.8 LS engine has 240k miles, 10,500 hours. It has only had 2 water pumps, all the idler pulleys/tensioners, one alternator (the original had not failed yet though), and a starter.
Currently it needs an oil pressure sending unit (reads 135psi all the time now) and the oil level sensor (keeps telling me check oil level, when it's full). I also got an oil filter adapter gasket to replace the leaking one.
I replaced the valve cover because the PCV was smudged up causing oil usage. After doing that the oil is still almost at the full when I change it around 4k miles. Other than the valve cover and the little oil leak, nothing has gone wrong with the engine.
I have a 47 year old engine in my Oldsmobile. It got a lot of new gaskets and a timing chain but no internal failures yet. Unknown mileage but I put 110k miles on since 2007.
I had my Caprice until it was 37 years old and I didn't have any engine problems, it appeared to be original, but I can't confirm if it may have had a camshaft replacement back when it was newer. I was born the same year it was made.
 
1996 Crown Victoria - 360,xxx miles - retired due to severe rust on frame / suspension.

1975 Chevelle 4-door - unknown mileage - I was probably the 3rd owner of the vehicle. It had a 350 engine and automatic transmission. It was unfortunately totaled after some blind guy turned in front of me while on lunch break years ago.
 
My vehicles range between 20 - 35 years old. Mileage between ~2.0k to ~445k. No engine failures. All engines are original to the chassis/frames.
 
Yep. Current 2004 Corolla with 270,000 km and now sold 2006 ML 500 at 160,000 km.

Corolla used: M1/PP/Castrol 5w30

Benz used: M1 0w40 or PPE 5w40.
 
Engines of the Chevy and Mazda in my signature both had internal repairs within 15 years, but nothing for which the oil could be blamed, and no catastrophic engine failure of any kind.
My former landlady was still driving her '55 Chevy (same engine as my '54) when she died in '88. No engine repairs.
My brother's '85 VW Jetta went over 15 before they gave up on the shift linkage. It got a new oil pump slightly after the warranty expired, but that was VW's fault, not the oil's.
 
Drove my old 1987 740 Volvo wagon for 370K miles until 2009, 22 years. My 1997 Volvo 960 has 141K miles, 26 years, and my 2010 Prius has 113K miles 13.5 years and none of them have had any engine issues. I did replace the turbo charger on my 87 Volvo at 242K miles because it seized. That was after 15 years of running dealer bulk Pennzoil conventional 10W30.
 
Back
Top