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

[Sam_Julier]

In our family, all Volvos:
1993 240 wagon
2000 V70
2007 V70

 

[KJH]

I have owned a dozen or cars at this point, all bought used at around 100-150kmiles and driven hard. The only internal engine problems I've had are a timing chain breaking on a very abused Nissan KA24 and a headgasket failure on a GM 3600 V6. I've never had problems with knocking or catastrophic internal failure. All cars I've owned had well regarded engine designs, and I've used every brand and tier of oil out there on all of them.

TBH, for well designed engines that has a regular OCI, I dont think bearing wear is a concern at all under 250-300k miles. I have basically no concern whatsoever on the effect of bearing wear specifically when choosing one oil over another for a regular daily driver, as long as the oil is Group III or above and has the most basic of certs. I have no doubt that some oils prevent wear more than others but the degree to which they do is too minuscule in the long run to waste thought on.

The only interest I have in the difference between oils for daily drivers is application specific if the engine in question is prone to stuff like piston ring deposits or timing chain wear. The only time I would concern myself with the "meat and potatoes" of the oil is in high performance track applications.

The only instances I've seen of cars that started to knock or blew up were very poorly maintained(10-20k jiffy lube OCI), bad design/manufacturing(hyundai, recent GM 4cyl etc) or very heavily modified(mostly turbo builds).

 

[PimTac]

Yep. A 1992 Mitsubishi Expo that ran till 2012. The transmission went out. The engine was fine. It would have lasted longer but teens were driving it for the last few years.

 

[SatinSilver]

Currently driving one...2008 RAV4 V-6. Never an engine problem.

What about the other one? I remember you had two of them.

 

[ammolab]

We have a 1998 Jeep Cherokee. only issue has been a $50 water pump.

 

[IndyIan]

A 95 Neon headgasket is my major engine failure so far, nothing oil related. The Neon was 17 years old and nearly 200k miles with a happy engine when the wreckers took it due to rust.
I guess if you are one of those medical couriers who do 100k miles a year, it would be interesting to see if they would warranty an engine for stuff like oil burning from dead rings? Sometimes the fine print requires a silly 3k mile OCI so you'd be paying them double your engine cost anyways....

 

[SatinSilver]

I guess I would ask, what’s the definition of engine internal problems? Because manufacturers will try to skirt actual oil consumption, and call it “normal”.

But yes, I made it 17 years with a 1999 Honda Accord 4 cylinder. By the time it reached 280,000 miles it was drinking around a quart every 700-800 miles. But I never had the thing opened up replacing something. I did have an EGR valve failure, a VTEc solenoid failure, several valve adjustments, the usual leaking gaskets. I replaced the idle air control valve (because it was stalling too often).

But no head gaskets, broken camshafts, actuators, holes through a piston, burnt valves, etc.

But nowadays??? I’d be worried about three things...oil control rings, timing chain wear/tensioners/guides, and valve timing actuators.

Noticed same thing with my '99 Accord 4 cylinder. Caught it early and replaced the pcv valve with an OEM one. Started using Valvoline Maxlife 5w30 red bottle at this time and no more measurable oil consumption.

 

[nomas]

I've never owned a vehicle that had internal engine problems . I don't consider water pump replacement an "engine problem ". I had a couple of transmission problems over the years though .

 

[JeffKeryk]

Please. My Oldsey is 58.

 

[dubber09]

VW Jetta bought new in 1997, traded in 2014; 2L 8v, 375K km when traded in. No engine issues.

 

[Revving2Redline]

We have never owned a vehicle that's lasted 15 years. My mom was driving from Kansas City to Wichita every weekend as a kid so we can get 50,000 miles on a car in no time at all. I don't think I've ever had a car do less than 200,000 miles with the current record being over 500 in the 15 Accord. I learned here early something that makes sense. For most drivers if you buy a over-the-counter synthetic and you change it in the filter at a reasonable time, do the drains and fills of the other fluids and drive your car in a reasonable profession and get it up to temperature at least once a week you usually won't have a whole lot of problems during the duration of 200,000 miles. If you drive like a little old lady and don't go very far it doesn't matter what kind of oil you put in the car you're not doing the car or the oil any favors. That's why it was very common on Sundays after church for people to go out on car rides. My mom reminded me it was a time for everybody to spend time together and a chance to get there car up on the highway and blow the stink off of it

 

[zuluplus30]

Yes. Multiple vehicles in fact.

OEM specified lubricants over OEM specified intervals is all that 99% of engines will ever need. The likelihood of something else taking an engine out in 15 years that’s not lubricant related is exponentially high. That’s why from Pennzoil’s standpoint this is not a high risk “warranty”.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Yes my 2007 Honda Accord SE with the 2.4... Had 386000 on it when I traded it in last year... NO engine issues at all...Had original water pump and Alternator too...

I had the same setup, 2005 CR-V 2.4L, 284K when I traded it. Original everything minus the A/C compressor. That is the only major thing I needed to replace, ever. And that was at 240K.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Yes my old 2004 Toyota Corolla. These newer GDI engines I'm not sure about how many people are going to be able to do that. Without taking some steps to deal with intake build up.

 

[hrv]

I had the same setup, 2005 CR-V 2.4L, 284K when I traded it. Original everything minus the A/C compressor. That is the only major thing I needed to replace, ever. And that was at 240K.

I own a 2021 Honda HRV Sport with the 1.8.... I wish the 2.4 was still around and in my HRV.. The 1.8 is a good engine..not much power...but I really liked the 2.4 it had more pep and I would get 35 mph on the highway right up until I traded it in...

 

[repairman54]

Time is not a great measure of good / bad or failures. It's mileage. Things do not fail if they never are driven far enough.
Coworker bought a '84 vette new, sold it in '19 with 34k miles on it. All the rubber parts were coming apart but not enough miles to even start to put wear on engine internals.

 

[FishFry]

I had my '02 Ford Explorer for 17 years. No internal problems with the engine. Only let it go when the trans went. I scrapped it, big mistake. For what vehicle's are going for these days, I should have fixed.,,

Same here - 2002 Explorer (RWD/V6), ex police interceptor - no engine problems so far (knocking on wood).

 

[Thumper3]

I guess I would ask, what’s the definition of engine internal problems? Because manufacturers will try to skirt actual oil consumption, and call it “normal”.

But yes, I made it 17 years with a 1999 Honda Accord 4 cylinder. By the time it reached 280,000 miles it was drinking around a quart every 700-800 miles.

See that would be my point. What is being claimed as "engine damage". Personally, if we're talking about oil then we're talking about wear. And drinking oil in large enough quantity to where you could put a MPG rating on it LOL well that is engine wear. And you had 280k miles, which most would call expected to start seeing consumption, but that's just over halfway through the Pennzoil warranty.

But yeah, this is nothing but gimmick.

Ted:
But why do they put a guarantee on the box then?

Tommy:
Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of sh*t. That's all it is. Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for right now, for your sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality item from me.

EDIT: Oh, an no I have never owned a vehicle for more than 10 years, and that was a 2002 Camaro Limited Anniversary, sold it 10 years old with 17k miles on it. Ran great, used Castrol. LOL

With the state of the new car market and offerings now, my current stable will be going over the 15 year mark.

 

[ChiTDI]

Yes! Every one I’ve owned since the mid-1960s.

 

[Thebigm]

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 2002 v6 Camry